The Title of this Post is "Titles," Part Two

       The clergy in my congregation prefer not to be called "rabbi" but would rather be called by their first names.  And it is true that this can break down barriers and put us in a more human relationship with one another.   But I don't think in the final analysis that it really has to be that we are more human with one another because we're on a first name basis.  It was well known at a certain university I taught at that one professor who insisted on being called by her first name was one of the toughest, most impossible teachers to deal with on the entire campus and that the first name was merely a subterfuge.

       I don't think this is generally the case, and I don't think professors ought to try to keep their professional or title difference with their students, but these are constantly changing fashions, and they are somehow indicators of the way we view ourselves and would have others view us, and they're constantly posing interesting questions about who we think we are and how we would like to be thought of, not only as individuals, but as professions and as a society.


       Current PostScript--I guess, in retrospect, the most complimentary and satisfying name my students called me for a certain number of years during my career combined the granting of earned expertise with the claiming of student-teacher, first-name equality:   "Dr. Don."