Eight Types of Professors You Will Find in Jamia

Our professors — some we love and some we hate, while a few we love to hate. The ones we like, we pay close attention to. We know how many times they say ‘um’, ‘okay’ and ‘right’ in their conversations. We try to speak like them. We google them and search for their facebook profiles. While the ones we hate, we can’t stand to be around. We avoid them like the plague. We love a few and we hate a few. While for the rest, we have no feelings. At least, no hard ones.

Though every professor, like every person, is different and unique, they more or less, can be stereotyped into some category. I present to you my list of eight types of professors you are likely find in Jamia:

1. The ‘Generic’ Type

These professors are not very good teachers; they simply are a bunch of middle-aged people who impart whatever knowledge they acquired during their university days. Their lectures seem to be repetitive. They heavily depend on anecdotes in class. Every graduating batch will remember these anecdotes of these professors for they would have heard them so many times during the lectures. A professor of this type, through his or her lectures, makes very apparent the political party they support. Also, they take a certain pride in the university and its discipline. They’re not necessarily bad people but often not good teachers.

2.  The ‘School Teacher’ Type

This type of professor works really hard in his/her paper, prepares for class, and takes the assignments and presentations very seriously. A school-teacher type of Jamia professor is usually a well-respected professor on campus.  He/she could be respected for his/her politeness, good nature, age, and most importantly for being the teacher that makes you understand a concept as if you were a 10-year-old kid.

3. The ‘I-Can-Hold-A-Grudge’ Type

This one can hold a serious grudge against you. You probably did something on the first day, first week, or first semester that rubbed this person the wrong way, and he/she will never forget or forgive you for it. This type of professor, once he/she holds a grudge against you for whatever reason, will always — and I mean will ALWAYS — give you very few marks in test papers; it doesn’t matter even if you write a Noble prize winning answer, you will not get good marks in exams. You ask for attendance and in return you get a lecture on punctuality because you entered the class exactly 33 seconds after the professor drops the attendance sheet back into his bag. You could be accompanied by two other students, but they will get their attendance and you will not.  All you can do now is hope that you would not have to take his/her class next semester.

4. The ‘Too-Young-To-Be-A-Professor’ Type

Funky glasses, Fab India Kurtas, a pair of Levis Jeans, a Facebook profile and not a single strain of silver hair on their head. You wonder if they were child prodigies. They are so good that they win your heart and you have a role model on campus.

5. The ‘Albert-Einstein-Meets-Brad-Pitt’ Type

This one is a man. He is half Einstein and half Brad Pitt. Most of the times, he is more of the Einstein and only you happen to see a glimpse of Brad Pitt in him. So do all your female friends. But this guy is a guy’s guy too. If you will learn anything from his lectures, it is that he is smart and a well-read guy. He lends you books and says a quick ‘Hi’ when he passes you in the hallway. He is the professor you go to when you need help.

6. The ‘Smart & Sassy’ Type

This one is a woman. She will be both: loved and hated by her students. Just like the Brad Pitt type, she too fits well in the Too-Young-To-Be-A-Professor category and like him, she too has earned it. She is the type that shuts up the gossip-mongers in class and snaps right back at those manner-less chaps in your class. You will probably get along with her. Maybe because you both are a feminists or perhaps you both think Nestle has evil marketing strategies in African countries. You two bond over a common cause, but if you mess with her, she will make you feel like a total loser.

7. The ‘I-am-Good-and-I-Know-It’ Type

These are the ones you want to ignore and avoid. They humbly brag about their achievements and belittle students and their colleagues. These are the ones who think they know best while you know nothing. They are to be avoided at all times.

8. The ‘I-don’t-Care-What-You-Think’ Type

They walk into the classroom every morning, read from their papers, don’t bother if they are audible to the students in the last row or even the middle row for that matter, and walk out as soon as the time is over for class. They entertain no questions or suggestions. They are a complete waste of time and nobody can do anything about it.

[Views expressed herein are the author’s own, and do not necessarily represent Jamia Journal’s editorial policy.]