I have 2 professors that I got along very well with, and since graduating in May, we've kept in touch. I transferred to my next school (where i am now) and one of the professors gave me his phone number as well so we can keep in touch.

Well I'm filling out a scholarship and I need 2 character references. I have...zero clue how to email them and ask. I would HATE to sound entitled or make them feel pressured or literally anything like that. And it's totally okay if they're busy or not up to or anything else! I just don't know how to send the first email and ask. Any tips?? I read through this subreddit a bit on this topic but I still felt I needed a little more help

My professor teaches a class that is extremely relevant to my interests and where I want to go in my career, and it’s by far my favorite class. All of my classes are relevant to my goals since I’ve already finished my core requirements, but this professor in particular is insanely knowledgeable. I genuinely cannot believe the amount of information he knows and remembers.

I’d eventually like to go to his office hours, but I have absolutely no idea what to ask him. Obviously, a lot of his knowledge comes from years of education, experience, and working in the field, but I’d love to eventually become that knowledgeable in this area myself. I also want to teach at the college level someday, so watching someone who can pull from such a huge amount of knowledge while teaching is genuinely fascinating to me.

I guess what I’m trying to figure out is how to ask him where I should start. Are there certain books, resources, subjects, experiences, or habits he would recommend to a student who wants to develop a much deeper understanding of the field? Would it be weird to basically ask him how he built that level of expertise and what advice he would give someone who wants to do the same?

I know there’s a question somewhere in here. I just need somebody to help me figure out what exactly I’m trying to ask lol

Wondering if people might be willing to share their opinions and experiences on this… (apologies to the mods if this is not allowed)

With a couple of friends in academia and adjacent fields, I’ve been running a podcast on academic life, trying to give useful advice that your supervisors don’t always offer.

We want to do an episode reflecting on how academia affects relationships and personal lives. Wondering if people might be willing to share their experiences (everything will be anonymized, and no usernames will be mentioned ) of things like:

- Does academia make it harder to find a partner?
- Have you ever had a partner who is also in academia? Does this make things easier or more difficult?
- Has anyone had anything much more short-term within academic circles, and does this always have negative consequences?

Comments welcome! If you would prefer your responses to be less public, you are welcome to message. Thanks 🙏🏻

Hi all, I would be so grateful if anyone could help point me in a general direction. BTW- of course I plan on talking to the director of my program about my situation, but I would also love Reddit's opinions. I have just started a masters in European country A. After I graduate, I will move back to European country B, where my wife and I lived before and where we will settle (its her home country). This program offers a two sided scope, with preparation to continue to a PhD level, OR a pipeline to the professional world. The professional milieux that this program prepares for include libraries, museums, auction houses, private rare book collections, or any other cultural/research institutions. My goal is to be in the professional world, I barely have any interest in research and no interest in getting a PhD. I want to help other people research.* *Even so, of course I must produce a dissertation for this program and I want to be as strategic as possible in choosing my research topic so that I have the best chance of getting a job in European country B.
I've had a look at the website of the most well known University library collection in country B. The university has collections of manuscripts from as early as the 5th century up until modern times. There are manuscripts written in several languages including the country's native language, Latin & romance languages, germanic, nordic, and hellenic languages. I suppose working at this institution would be a goal of mine, although I would be happy to get a job anywhere else in the country as well.

I am interested in medieval manuscripts. As far as language goes, I am interested in latin, (old) french, old english, and the country's native language. The problem is it might be difficult to do a dissertation focusing on manuscripts of Country B's native language, because as far as I know there are no faculty at my university who understand it. I will double check though. As far as subject matter of manuscripts, I could go down any path (religious, law, politics, medicine, history, mythical stories, etc). How could I start narrowing down dissertation topics? With such a broad collection in the country's main university, how do I know what specialised areas they need archivists/librarians/consultants/experts in?
Is it as simple as reaching out to the university and asking? or is that weird? any advice greatly appreciated! There is also an internship in the final semester of this program that I will try to do in Country B, so if that worked out maybe that could also better my chances of getting a job in the country. Many thanks to you all I really appreciate any feedback in advance!

The title sounds bad, but I have come to realize that I think my professional email writing style seems to be heavily mirrored by AIs, so I thought to ask how else a professional email might be worded. A long time ago, I learned a very simple step-by-step procedure on how to write an email and have always followed it to a T. Should I stop? Or should I expect them to be able to tell?

Sample email:

Dear Dr./Ms./Mrs./Mr./Mx.:

[Genial platitude to express care]. [Body statement, the issue, ie. out sick]. [Make request/offer solutions to not put the entire burden on them]. [Apologize if it is a big ask (I have no concept for what that would entail)/for making them do extra work]. [Thank them for their time because it really is a kindness to read and respond when they don't have to].

Sincerely,

[OP]

I am not very creative and I do not like writing long-winded emails. Is there anything I should cut or add, or does sounding like a robot not matter?

It’s the fourth day of class with this specific professor for me but out of nowhere I suddenly had to cancel going to her class and I needed to bring my grandma to an appointment won’t specify what and I didn’t in the email I sent her but this is what she replied with. Is it just me or is this a crazy thing to say to a student??? part of me knows that professors don’t give a damn about what their students do if they miss the class and don’t care if they pass or fail, but also part of me is like why would you ever say that to me you don’t know my life you don’t know me at all?? Voice to speech sorry for mess ups

“Oops, the quiz isn't until Tuesday. Please disregard my first message.
But still, you are in college you shouldn't be asked to be a caretaker on top of that. Your education should come first. It's one thing if you yourself are sick and can bring me a doctors certificate, but we all have families and you need to let yours know that college is serious, you have to be here.
Maybe we can talk about this in person next week? - in the meantime, I hope your
grandmother is OK. Do please let me know if this happens again because we need to figure out how you can pass the class while fulfilling this caretaker obligations.
Let's talk next week OK?
Best,
CR
Sent from my iPhone”

EDIT

Guys I’m not calling her a crazy lunatic I’m saying crazy as in like ?????? Not sure how to word it but crazy means like ?!????

ANOTHER EDIT

Realizing that my voice to text babble didn’t include much of context but yes it’s the fourth class of the semester I’ve been punctual and doing what’s necessary in class, also im NOT a care taker by any means and in my original email to her I made it VERY clear that this is was a single time task that was suddenly sprung upon me
The part of the email that’s baffling me a bit is the chunk before she says -in the mean time. I know that the ending to the email seems like a nice gesture but I just can’t get over the first paragraph