random purposeless professor emails?

[indalomena]

I'm incredibly nervous about writing to potential advisors whose PhD programs I'm applying to -- it always seems a little forced to me, and I can never word the emails right or figure out what to do..

however, recently I read a book by a professor who couldn't supervise a dissertation for me -- wrong department, wrong period, wrong location etc -- but whose work I was just so inspired by, that I wrote to her anyway, just to tell her that I loved her work and that it was really quite an exciting moment for me to come across it. Has anyone done this before? Just written to some professor with no purpose but to say that their work was an inspiration to you? Was it well received? Not that it matters -- nothing's at stake for me here -- but if I'd inspired someone, I would want to know.

(does anyone know the Belle and Sebastian song "if she wants me"? Because I'm thinking of the opening of that right now. And if he smiles, it's no more than a genius deserves, for all your curious nerve and your passion.)

[bdon19]

I've erred on the side of caution regarding e-mailing POIs. In fact, at this point I haven't e-mailed any and am starting to feel like I simply won't. I don't think there's anything wrong with e-mailing a professor who's inspired you in some way, especially if it's not someone you're interested in working with. If it had been someone in a program you're applying to, they might have considered it as simply brown-nosing, particularly due to your timing in the application season.

Really, I think the "purposeless" e-mails are those sent out to random POIs with no real agenda except to let them remember your name. Personally, I'm not going to e-mail any professors unless I have a really significant question that I couldn't get answered from anyone else. And even in those situations, I think I'd go through other avenues, such as current students, before e-mailing the professors. I know how ridiculously busy my professors are, and they're only teaching two courses a term with roughly 15 to 20 students in each. Your e-mail, on the other hand, was not "purposeless," as you felt inspired enough by her work that you felt compelled to reach out to her and let her know. Sure, it's a little fan-girl/boy-ish, but that's not a bad thing. Better than, in my opinion, e-mailing POIs to very obviously get your name out there.

P.S. I've had "If She Wants Me" stuck in my head since I read your post earlier this morning.

[truckbasket]

Regarding sending a note of gratitude for a text, I have. I asked a few questions not covered, complimented the work, and it actually started a bit of an ongoing communication. I can only imagine that academics, who essentially write texts for a ridiculously small audience, would enjoy any and all feedback from readers who appreciated the work.

With that said, a couple of things to possibly consider:

Authors can be somewhat removed from the work, especially if it's been a few years since it came out. I've always been reminded of that whenever I enthusiastically blast off an email, taking about how important that work is to what I'm currently reading / writing about only to receive a response that makes it sound as if the text was written in another era by another person altogether. Doesn't mean much in this context, but my excitement is rarely matched.

Also, you've got some different rhetorical occasions going on here: communication with an author who inspired you and communication with an author / professor that you potentially want something from. I guess there's no official way of going about it, but it seems that in the first occasion (essentially fan mail) you could go with anything from a few lines in an email to a sprawling, wax-sealed, hand-written letter -- and both would be equally appropriate. In the second occasion (fan mail with a motive), a more strategic and efficient approach would be needed: A brief introduction with your plans, a brief reason for your contacting them, and a couple of thoughtful questions / comments should do it. The trick, it seems, would be to get to the point as fast as possible with minimal fluff.

With that said, I had a spectrum of responses when I did some communicating. One guy's only response was "I'm interested in your interests," whereas another wrote about 2000 words (this is actually who I ended up with -- the impression was strong). But at this point, you're not under any pressure to knock their socks off with your brilliance (that's later), so maybe be more of yourself? Crack a funny if needed; be more casual (but professional) in your questioning. Most of these people don't live stuffy, formal existences, so why bother with any of that? After seeing her speak at MLA last year, I sent Marjorie Garber an email about how much fun she seemed to be having at her talk. She responded, agreeing, saying that her panel had a blast and thanked me for picking up on that specifically.

Edited September 11, 2011 by truckbasket