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Shaking hands with male academics but not with female academics is something many in European academia (including myself) will find somewhat offensive. Explaining this to be inherently tied to you being a Muslim is also problematic, as this can be seen as implicitly questioning whether others not following this rule are "real Muslims". That said, ...
50
It is not acceptable. If this is a one-time occurrence the supervisor (or anybody else doing the yelling) should apologize.
When this happens regularly, the supervisor has an anger management problem. You should report it to the graduate chair.
There is usually some way of resolving this “internally”. In the cases I heard, the unit apologized, the ...
38
Almost never.
An example of an exigent circumstance would be a chemistry professor yelling at grad students who are in imminent danger of harm b/c of improper lab procedure.
If these exigent events happen regularly then the supervisor graduate student relationship is not working and you need to leave.
32
I live in a university community that has both a large number of muslims and a large number of non-muslims. In situations where a handshake might be expected but the Muslim person prefers not to, they put their right hand on their chest. I don't know how widespread this practice is, but in our community it is very well understood and accepted.
28
Since one does not even cite other academics as "Dr." and "Prof.", I rationally tend to think one would not cite "Sister", "Mullah", "Guru" or whatever religious role may have a specific person.
However, different bibliographic standards may have different suggestions and I am not aware of the details.
EDIT:
...
20
There are a few definitions of yelling in colloquial American English.
Definition 1: Screaming with anger. This is never ok in a professional relationship; and if it happens regularly, it is a sign of a toxic work environment. This is not a good advisor.
Definition 2: Criticism. For example, if you do a presentation and the advisor has a lot of professional ...
16
No, it shouldn't be accepted, unless the student has done some serious damage. But that would probably be a rare event.
Solution 1. Find a better advisor (advised)
Solution 2. Yell back (not advised)
Solution 3. Complain to a higher authority (conditionally advised)
Solution 4. If the benefits of working with this idiot advisor outweigh the pain, force ...
16
It is mostly a matter of recognition. In papers, it is indeed uncommon to include titles (we write "XYZ, 2009", not "Prof. XYZ, 2009") when referencing results. By contrast, when writing a historical/sociological article (full disclosure: I'm not an expert in either area) it seems to make sense to include honorifics (say, it stands to ...
11
Unless you are at a rare institution where it is common and expected for recent graduates to stay on under a post-doc with their supervisor, I don't see any reason not to just ask. Surely your supervisor knows that you need to arrange your next career steps and will hopefully support you.
I have an opportunity to apply for a post-doc at MIT, but need your ...
10
I'm answering mostly from German background, where (especially in the East) handshakes are culturally important. But they are not super-important, handshakes can be replaced by other gestures.
Summary
Try very hard to initiate your preferred greeting gesture before any hand is actually stretched out to you.
Refusing an actually offered hand is far more ...
10
I would like to and a bit of perspective as to why not shaking a woman's hand could easily be perceived as sexist.
As you assert, the rule of not touching anyone of the opposite sex is not necessarily sexist in a vacuum. However, the social context of academia and the world cannot be ignored. Women have systemically been excluded from academia, especially ...
7
My pragmatic advice would be "When in Rome, do as the Romans do". Islam can't prohibit you anything, you have to decide your behavior yourself in the end.
6
Given that you already have a relationship, I think it is fine. There doesn't seem to be any hint of impropriety here.
I wouldn't have done it, but my advisor was very aloof (er... distinguished). But There were several other members of the faculty, some on my committee, that I was happy to interact with in many ways outside the academic setting.
I'd guess ...
5
Caveat I am from the US, so some advice may not transfer perfectly to India.
I think it's a good idea to meet, but it's important to think about what you want to say, and manage your expectations about what the outcomes will be.
Things not to say (because they aren't things the professor can or should change)
I need a good grade in this course.
Your accent ...
4
There’s nothing wrong with thanking your professor for complimenting you. Though I think adding just a bit more will make it more heartfelt.
4
The only case of which I am aware is in the acknowledgements that Hungerford made in his book Algebra. He references "Raymond Swords, S.J.," a Jesuit priest at Holy Cross. So, if you know the nun you are referencing is a member of a particular order you could follow Hungerford's example. Other than that, I agree with others that it is largely a ...
3
It sounds like your complaints are
A physics professor has poor English skills.
A graduate level course covers a lot of material and requires a lot of background study.
These are normal things. While they are uncomfortable, you should not complain about them.
You can ask for help. Try to be specific about what you need help with.
2
They said the other positions will be "posted in the near future," so you should just wait till they are posted (i.e. advertised) and apply in the usual way.
2
This is fine: it's simple and professional. Your professor is very busy and, while they will appreciate your thanks, they are not going to spend more than a few seconds thinking about the phrasing :-)
1
In addition to other good answers...
Let's think calmly about this: in what possible circumstances should any person tolerate abusive behavior?
Ok, well, hopefully, as few as possible.
(Yes, yelling is obviously abusive, if there were any doubt. Duh.)
But, yeah, sometimes a person is stuck in a situation, and for various reasons puts up with abuse.
The point ...
1
I think I'll start this answer by addressing some of the hostility in the comments (and one of the answers) to your proposed conduct. As an opening observation it is worth noting that this religious practice potentially applies both ways to Muslim men and women, forbidding either of them to shake hands with a member of the opposite sex. There have been ...
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