# Professor/student affairs in literature **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 21, 2004, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-student-affairs-in-literature/256130 "2004-07-21T03:39:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![tsarina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f4b2a3/32.png) [@tsarina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tsarina)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-student-affairs-in-literature/256130/21 "2004-07-21T20:10:23Z")
“Love in a Dead Language” by Lee Siegel, and “Blue Angel” by Francine Prose. ---
**Author:** ![Boldface\_Type](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5e925/32.png) [@Boldface\_Type](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boldface_Type)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-student-affairs-in-literature/256130/22 "2004-07-21T21:39:15Z")
‘Disgrace’ by JM Coetzee. Excellent book. ISTR that ‘End of the world news’ by Anthony Burgess also briefly includes such a theme. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-student-affairs-in-literature/256130/23 "2004-07-22T01:29:05Z")
The movie version of “Oleanna” definitely had no affair between the two. And since Mamet directed that as well, it shouldn’t differ much from the original. The sexual harrassment appears to lie entirely within the head of the student. ---
**Author:** ![Carbona\_Not\_Glue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3bc359/32.png) [@Carbona\_Not\_Glue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carbona_Not_Glue)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-student-affairs-in-literature/256130/24 "2004-07-22T01:30:36Z")
“The Very Hot Sun in Bermuda,” by Shirley Jackson, is actually about a little twisting of the usual run of these affairs. Also, _The Unbearable Lightness of Being_ mentions a professor-student relationship. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-student-affairs-in-literature/256130/25 "2004-07-22T01:38:37Z")
It’s been years since I read it, but wasn’t there a teacher/student affair in Jane Smiley’s _Moo_? As a former English instructor, I can attest that this kind of thing goes on CONSTANTLY in actual departments (no, not with me personally). Most universities have explicit rules against it, and when I started teaching in 1996, we were sternly warned to avoid even a semblance of impropriety; among other things, we were told to leave the office door open during student conferences, and if we thought a student was “unstable,” stationing a fellow instructor within earshot to eavesdrop was recommended as well. Of course, all of this had as much to do with avoiding sexual harassment suits against the school as with maintaining academic integrity; regardless of the reason for the ban, though, these affairs went on all the time, almost-but-not-quite in public. ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-student-affairs-in-literature/256130/26 "2004-07-22T01:54:49Z")
As far as British literary fiction is concerned, the key work is surely Bradbury’s _The History Man_, wherein the title character, Howard Kirk, is surely shagging **all** of his female students. Regarding _Oleanna_, I’ll concur that we’re not meant to conclude that there’s an affair. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-student-affairs-in-literature/256130/27 "2004-07-22T02:40:24Z")
While they’re supporting rather than main characters, Vonnegut’s _Slaughterhouse Five_ features a professor-student affair with a 40+ year age difference. ---
**Author:** ![Albert\_Rose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Albert\_Rose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Albert_Rose)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-student-affairs-in-literature/256130/28 "2004-07-22T02:54:18Z")
_My Tutor_ and _Private Lessons_ are two Skinemax After Dark bits of cinematic literature. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-student-affairs-in-literature/256130/29 "2004-07-22T06:04:40Z")
The letters of Heloise and Abélard? ---
**Author:** ![Angua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@Angua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angua)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-student-affairs-in-literature/256130/30 "2004-07-22T09:43:35Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Incidentally, in real life, a romantic relationship between a student and anyone with influence over the student’s grades (professor, TA, registrar, etc.) will generally get both kicked out/fired. At least, that’s the rule here, and I imagine that most schools have a similar rule. Yup. Its the same over here. Doesn’t stop lecturers/professors trying to get it on with the grad students however. ---
**Author:** ![Martiju](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@Martiju](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martiju)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-student-affairs-in-literature/256130/31 "2004-07-22T10:05:21Z")
> [@Angua](#): > > Yup. Its the same over here. Doesn’t stop lecturers/professors trying to get it on with the grad students however. Nope. No rules in my institution, apart from the need to declare it so that any work from that student is specifically double marked and moderated. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-student-affairs-in-literature/256130.md?page=1)