cunnilinguista

Haha, you caught me.

I figured as much, but I thought I'd ask. There are one or two other faculty members that would be fine but the same can be said for other programs (ones that don't have this strike against them). Shame, but better to plan ahead I guess.

I'm entering the application season for PhD programs that begin fall 2014 and have found a few departments I really like. One prof whose research is exactly what I'm interested in pursuing is in his eighties but still going strong. I have no idea how long he'll be with the department (before retiring or--I hate to say it--dying). Should I assume it's not worth it to apply to this program since I can't be guaranteed that he'll be around six years from now? The others on the faculty aren't nearly as close to my research interests as his are. If he does retire, they'll likely hire another person in his specialty, but who knows if that prof will be as good a match as somewhere else? It seems like pretty bad taste to email him or the department asking how long he anticipates working, but I'm not sure what else to do. Any advice? Thanks, all!!