Has Your Faculty Advisor Ever Crossed the Line?

Hi All,

I'm a PhD student who is doing a project for a photography class. The project is about faculty-student interactions that can be broadly be described as "unprofessional," i.e., comments or statements that would not be permissible in a work environment in which there is an H.R. Department that holds everyone accountable for the way they treat others. For example, a former advisor once described my research interests as "half-baked" and "up in the clouds." Another person's advisor told recently them that "no one is going to you seriously, [because of your race and gender] unless [you change these things about you.]"

Does anyone out there have similar stories--ones of interactions with your professors (or even peers) that were not constructive, that were unprofessional, and that made you doubt your abilities as a person and even affected your motivation to pursue work in your field?

If so, I'd like to hear from you. My plan is to collect these stories and print them along side staged images that visually represent them as well as how the interactions affected your thoughts and feelings.

I have no interest in "exposing" specific faculty, individuals or departments. My goal is not to "blame" individuals for careless (if well-intentioned) remarks or particular teaching styles; nor is to shame any one person or department. I just want to catalogue (perhaps even build an archive) of these stories and translate them into still images. As such, please do not disclose your department nor your faculty mentor's (et. al.'s) identities. I will not include any identifiable information about you in the project: just your stories.

Ultimately, I'd like to present this project to the VPGE and ask that in conjunction with the Faculty Senate, it create a system of agreed-upon principles that guide mentorship relationships so that critique, etc., is done in constructive ways that promote growth rather than aggressive ways that are demoralizing.