Document everything, write down specific phrases and actions as they happen. Go to your student counseling office and make an appointment with a therapist, most schools offer a certain number of free sessions for each student.  A therapist can help you determine a course of action via student services, if needed. After you've made and kept that appointment, go to your dean with a dispassionate and professional account of your concerns and an explanation that your concerns have become strong enough that you need to speak up and protect yourself.

Your post here is appropriately vague, which is good. When you meet with a therapist and dean, use the persons's name but use the same very collected language you use here. 

to be clear, you are not another member of the faculty or a peer of the faculty member you are referring to, you are a student of the instructor, and you've decided that said instructor should probably act in the manner you want them to?

part of the basic structure of the student-teacher relationship actually puts the teacher in a position of authority over the student.  if the faculty member is acting in a manner inconsistent with the professional image of the institution they work at, then wouldn't it be up to the other faculty members and the people responsible for those faculty members, rather than their students, to police their actions?

as a student, you're going to be gone in a year or two anyway.  its just as likely that you're the problem rather the professor, especially if what you find to be unprofessional is actually the established norm in the institution you chose to attend.

if you're referring to sexual harassment, then that would be different and you should probably get help from real people rather than from the internet.

i typed that before donna's post.  it seems she saw this more clearly as a case of sexual harassment, which is of course different than a professor just being annoying.  if that is the case, then her advice is pretty good.  hope that didn't come across as too insensitive.

curt, there can also be instances of professors not sexually harassing but just taking a dislike to someone for some unknown reason and letting it be obvious rather than being professional about it. Personal and highly confrontational interactions aren't acceptable, even within the faculty-student dynamic.

Getting help from real people is what you need to do, Novice, and that is why you need to go to someone within your institution who handles student issues like this. 

i don't know donna.  plenty of people don't like me.  if i made it a habit of trying to go over those people's head to get some sort of authoritative response to resolve the situation rather than changing my own behavior or reconciling the differences within my own means, i think it would ultimately cause more trouble.  if it's a personality conflict, i would just think of it as another learning experience, as those might keep happening in real life as you get older.

maybe going to counseling would help you to learn how to better resolve conflict, or at least provide you a different way of thinking about the environment, and give you better tools to work with in those situation, so maybe that would still be beneficial.

Donna - Thank you for the feedback. I have begun to look into these options but as Curt mentioned, I will be gone soon enough. Because of this and am hesitant to engage.

Curt - I totally understand your reaction. Yes I am a student and no this is not a sexual harassment. This is a graduate program and the behavior is NOT the established norm.

My motivation for posting today is to understand if this part of "culture" of architecture school and if and how other people managed it. Me and my cohorts are experienced professionals and are similar in age to this instructor, which I believes makes the instructor insecure. 

I don’t want to make any accusations, but I do want to point out that most student/teacher conflicts I have seen in architecture school have been a teacher reacting to an obstinate or dismissive student. This does not justify bad behavior, but it needs to be said because so many people can resolve problems by changing their own behavior.

That doesn't sound like the case here though.

Do you have a friend in the studio you trust? Go to them and ask their opinion of the situation. Hopefully they'll tell you if it is in fact your behavior that is causing the issue.

If it is a problem with the instructor, the school needs to know about it. Talk to your advisor about your concerns. Be reasonable, soft spoken, and ask for help rather than making demands.

NateMatt - I've spent a lot of time asking myself if and when I've been obstinate or dismissive. It is true that as of late I have become more so because I can't escape the ridicule. I don't know how to respond. I've just absorbed and let it out at the gym but my frustration is boiling over. The ridicule is so bizarre. Not just school related but personal. "You process sucks...fuck you...you should drop out...you're fuckin weak bro..." Even while smoking a cigarette, blowing smoke at me and asking me if I want to "step out side"...Moronic commentary. 

Anonitect - The class is entirely in my corner. The studios who share our space are now all well aware of the tension and have come to me in support of taking this through the appropriate channels. Collectively we plan to make our voices heard during the end of the semester evaluations. 

Having worked for nearly 10 years before going to graduate school, I've naturally experienced some bad managers. When I was younger, I was too emotional and couldn't control my anger. I was also in the private sector and had no real options other than to endure or quit. This however, is different. For one this is academia. Not the environment for unintelligible hostility. Secondly, I am not even that upset. I am frustrated with the fact that I am paying good money and am not receiving fair or constructive feedback but I'm even more concerned for younger students who are easily intimated and do not know how to handle people like this. Which is happening. 

The faculty member is insecure and using you as a target to assert power and try to create fear. Some people confuse that with creating respect.  The best way to deal with it is to always speak extremely calmly and slowly to this person, and be overly polite. When he says things like that, say "thank you for your feedback", in a calm, slow, exaggeratedly soothing way. This will annoy the faculty member because he's not getting a reaction, and because he can't escalate the situation to make it appear partly your fault.  It emphasizes that the problem is him and not you. If so many people are seeing this and are on your side then it will get back to the administration on its own, and that's more effective and better than if you take it there. End of year evaluations may or may not be effective.  I taught for a few years and never even saw any of my evaluations, they weren't passed on to us by the administration.  Whether the administration read them or took them seriously themselves I have no way to know. Unless you have to have this same person as a teacher in a future mandatory class I'd suggest just killing him with calm politeness until the end of the semester and let it go.

^ good advice, if that dosent work stab him in the eye with a pencil. 

The studio final presentation is going to him lobbing grenades at me and hijacking the conversation. I guess I better go last so he's out of gas by the end. 

Sounds like typical control freak behavior.

1. Ridicule

2. Sarcasm

3. Anger

Best way I have found is to deflect and disengage. Easier said than done, I know.

Arm bar. Until they submit.

Hi Novice,

If this is happening to many students, I suggest 2-3 of you as reps of the group go to the head of school or dean and raise this as an issue that needs to be addressed now.  I would first seek out the equality and diversity adviser for the University and see if they can accompany you. Find out what options such as formal processes can students take before you meet the dean so they know you have done your homework on this issue. Deans or heads may wish to sweep this under the carpet and try to suggest ways you can improve the situation.  

I had a student come to me two days ago stating their tutor is using similar abusive language/criticism but also doing it between phone calls, emails, etc.  Also makes the students leave campus to take up tutorials.  Will be speaking to someone on Monday about this staff - it happened last year.

Students in grad school are each very different coming from diverse backgrounds, so while it might not be 'sexual harassment' don't underestimate that it may be a form of racism if it is being done only to you.  By racism, I don't mean colour of skin alone.  

No student should be subject to this bullying. 

Suggest 1] you voice record your crits. 2]have classmates sit in on crits to take notes for you. 3]Be clear with the tutor what input you are looking for [3 points] to try to control the session.  

Good luck

Hi Novice,

Architecture schools are full of these little Napoleon types who's bitterness and lack of accomplishment infect their behavior.   Do what Donna said... and keep your head low, feed the beast with acquiescent smiles and realize you are in charge of securing your education.  Don't let this person's anger pollute your love of the craft.  They are temporary features in your life that tend to go out of their way to step on daisys.  Go to the library, walk around beauty and ask non- architects about what they like and don't like.  These will be your clients in the future and will teach you as much about experiencing architecture as any professor can.  

If this gets strange and possibly criminal, always know you can defend yourself.  If you've followed Donna's advice and have recorded the odd tirade with your phone, if he get's too verbally abusive, call him out publicly, to his face.   People are descent and will overide the politics to back you up.  If he touches you, kick him in the balls as hard as you can and run.

good luck.

Hi Novice,

I'll second the advice above.  In my experience there were a few of these 'bad apples' running around in my day, but much less so now (I'm told the same was true of egotistical bosses).  The administrators should know, as well as senior faculty - if you're in the US, the admin and faculty know that alumni are an important part of their long term success both as donors and ambassadors of the school; they'll act more likely than not, provided they are given the evidence as others have suggested you gather. 

It's such a shame that you're stuck in an awkward position, but with your experience it seems you are taking the right approach in handling the situation.

best wishes

the last time a professor talked to a student out of hand, he drove back home without any tires on his car. so it goes both ways. if you don't respect the student, then the student doesn't respect the teacher.

Bullying shouldn't be tolerated.

Novice

  Do what Donna says. Continue doing whatever it is you are doing- most likely you are on to something and they are threatened. Especially if you have 10 years working experience. Most likely they lack this and see this as their own weakness and you as a threat. Be polite and do not let them get to you. After the semester make an official complaint to the administration. 

 Comforting word of advice- a similar thing happened to me. I was bullied hard in front of other students while doing my masters. I never won any awards and always felt horrible. Funny thing happened- I choose another prof. to be my thesis advisor. One that was much older and accomplished and therefore lacked any insecurities. I did a very very very good job on my thesis. So much so that I am teaching now.

Hang in there.

This is a really interesting case. I could read it several ways:

1) The student is slow and/or lazy. The prof is sick and tired of this student. This does not justify the prof's actions, however, I've seen so many of these kind of students that it would not surprise me.

 

2) The prof has realized that abusing the students gets great results. Perhaps some of the students drop out, but the rest do great work. This is a time tested way of being a studio prof. Still does not excuse the actions. 

 

3) The prof is just a horrid human being. The student is smart and hard working. 

I'm thinking it's probably #2. I've had discussions w/studio profs where they basically recommend throwing the weakest student under the bus so the other students will scramble to not be the worst student. 

It's kinda good psychology - if the class is say 15 students, the prof can't really teach the best 2 or 3 students - they are great no matter what. The bottom 2 or 3 are hopeless, and the prof can never help them. What the prof hopes to do is bring up the middle group - the ones who would sink towards the bottom without the prof. The fastest way to do this is to scare the cr@p out of them, and borderline abuse them - handing out praise very rarely and make them think they are headed towards the bottom. Those bottom 2 or 3 have very little hope of rising regardless, so the prof uses them as examples for the rest. 

Is this fair? Certainly not for the bottom 2 or 3. But for the middle group it is very effective. 

I never could do it when I was a prof. It meant that I was only able to lift 1 or 2 out of the middle group. Was that fair? The bottom 2 or 3 failed anyway and probably felt bad about the class regardless. 

I'm not trying to discount the OP. This person should look objectively at what the prof is doing - and see if the prof is just a horrid person (to everyone) or has picked out the OP specifically. Then, it's up the OP to decide what to do about it. 

Great instructors inspire their students and have no need for this kind of bullshit.

I had a similar situation in graduate school. Chances are you are paying an insanely amount of money to pursue a PROFESSIONAL degree. You are inherently paying your professor for the service of instructing, therefore anything but professional behavior is highly unacceptable. In my experience, I was dealing with an emotionally abusive professor who's MO was to intimidate, bully, and scare tactic the students. I was a hard worker and had the best project in this studio (not self proclaimed, but I overheard the professor discussing the strength of my project to another professor during my review). While others tolerated the abuse, I did not. The abuse pushed me to have to see a therapist on a weekly basis. This professor had a reputation at the school and almost seemed proud of their "tough" persona. In my opinion, people learn in different ways. Therefore, as a professor, it is crucial to know your students' strengths/weaknesses, and work with them as a TEAM to help them achieve their full potential. In essence, that is what teaching is all about. If you hate teaching and are so miserable you must be so evil to your students, GET ANOTHER JOB and stop wasting valuable tuition money the students are paying! I discussed the issues with my academic counselor, then directly with the professor, then with the Dean. Nothing changed and I was blown off every time. After suffering through this treatment all semester long, I went to the head of HR of the University to file an official complaint. The HR department was the most helpful throughout this whole process. It wasn't until I did this and mentioned getting my family lawyer involved that the faculty at the school immediately made changes. I do not suggest putting your head down and bearing through it. If you are being mistreated, speak up! The culture of architecture school is often disgusting and unhealthy in more ways than one. There is no place for miserable instructors who are just looking to verbally abuse their students for their own pleasure. We need to change this "culture" of architecture school to be more humane at the very least.

gruen, threatening a student with violence, i don't care how shitty their work, never acceptable.

Ski masks and baseball bats.

Having taught at a very expensive institution there is Zero reason to even be aggressive since someone is paying a lot to be there. They fail award them the F.....the problem often is the studio profs are so worried about how they appear to the other profs and heads of programs that they essentially force their agenda onto the student and if the student doesn't find it interesting or worth pursuing the prof gets cranky and manipulative. YOU are the client, expect better performance and throw the dough bag under the bus....

One consequence of the sort of aggressive, belittling instructors being described is students who graduate to be insecure, perfectionist designers. They weaken the profession for all of us when these grads get out there with this learned fear of presenting a simple, reasonable idea and charging good money for it. Good professors prepare students for the real world by giving them the confidence to stand up for their professional value and speak with clients as equals.

Whatever you do to help yourself is probably helping a lot of other people too. Keep your dignity and know that you are certainly in the right to ask for this to be dealt with. If the dean or others can take care of this, many others will benefit too.

beta, I've never threatened a student. I was telling the OP that I've heard OTHER profs suggest this as a means to an end. I personally thought it abhorrent. 

gruen, you must have missed this comment.

"You process sucks...fuck you...you should drop out...you're fuckin weak bro..." Even while smoking a cigarette, blowing smoke at me and asking me if I want to "step out side"...Moronic commentary."

that's not the same as "abusing" students, or throwing students under the bus, that's a flat out threat.

Sure, but it wasn't me who did that, it was the OP's prof. You are right, it's out of line and I don't condone it. I'm trying to point out that some profs do this on purpose and why they do it on purpose. 

Gruen, I've had dick studio professors, but none ever used a threat, that's pretty unique to me.

If a prof would have done that to me I would have taken them up on the offer. 

Maybe the OP should post name and shame. 

I hate bullies.  This is nothing more than a form of bullying.  There is one way to handle a person like this...hit back!  shame, punch, yell at...anything as long as you strike back...

ski masks and base ball bats....

wait did I already say that...

damn straight shame them - this is the great freedom of the internet.