Office Hours
Wednesdays, 3–5p (3–3:30p drop-in), and by appointment, in 4319 Dwinelle. The first half-hour of my office hours are drop-in (meaning that you don’t have to make an appointment beforehand). After that, there are 15-minute slots available that you can book in advance; please email me with at least 24-hour notice so I can plan to stick around.
Office hours are there for you! They are a space where we can continue the work we do in the classroom one-on-one: about writing you’re working on, about texts we’ve been discussing, about other concerns, etc. It is up to you what we work on during office hours, and I encourage you to use them to your advantage.
If you cannot make my regular office hours, please send me a brief email suggesting a time that we can meet (Thursdays are generally good). I will make time to meet with you, even if it’s just for a short conversation.
(Note: during the first two weeks of the semester, please stop by my office hours for 5 minutes, just to introduce yourself.)
Emailing
If you want to make an appointment, have any questions or concerns, or just want to share something relevant to the class, please feel free to send me an email. I will do my best to respond by the end of the following week day (if you haven’t heard from me, reply to your first email saying “Just following up on my last note!”).
If something takes more than a few sentences to ask or explain, it will probably be more productive to come by my office hours or to make an appointment. I’m more than happy to talk through writing difficulties, confusions about a text, etc.
Here are some tips on how to email professors. If you’re uncomfortable emailing me, here is a simple template to begin with (please use my first name):
Dear Mary,
I hope this email finds you well.
I’m writing to ask about xxx. [Optional: I can’t make your regular office hours; would you be free to meet on day between reasonable time 1 and reasonable time 2?]
Thanks,
Your name