I would be curious Martel, if you happened to talk to the professor after this incident and tell him that you would prefer not to get the phone calls?

From my place as a current educator (although not at college level), I would at least want the student to try and discuss with me a problem before going over my head and talking to my boss. Now, from what I am seeing, this prof seems a little more on edge, but I would still inform him anyway.

If he says, "not a problem" than things should be fine, but if anything else comes from it, I would then go to the head of the department or the dean of students.

Heh, I bet!

Okay, so the general vibe that I'm getting from you guys is that it doesn't seem like that big of a deal. I guess I'm fairly protective of my personal time/space and am unaccustomed to having it barged in on.

I would say that I'm quite put off by my professor assuming that he is a bigger part of my life than I am interested in. I guess he gives off a pretty big vibe of presumption and also distrust/paranoia and I think it just rubs me the wrong way.

Wait, Martel, so what happened then? You can't just leave us hanging...

You know, it sounds like a "simple" misunderstanding rather than any real malicious intent on his part.

I suppose there's not really much resolution to be had. It seems that there is just an incompatibility between my attitude towards this second-year psych course and the professor's attitude.

Oh, and to answer an earlier question, I am taking a second-year psych course last because it is only offered in one section per semester and I've had trouble fitting it into my work/class schedule.

See, I never got the feeling that Martel was angry, just that he thought it was pretty odd and was wondering if others would feel the same way.

And especially after the "Hey, this is Steve..." clarification, yes, he does sound very presumptuous and odd.

Good luck with this semester, dude!

That is weird behavior from a professor. I've been in the uni now for 10 years, and I've barely had email communication with professors I'm taking courses with. Maybe because most professors are (or should be) way to busy to be calling students.. That number is a Skype call by the way.

As a grad student and a child of two academics, I don't feel bad saying this: academics are strange. Not always, but probably more than usually. One of the job perks is that you can be eccentric as you want to be (as long as you keep publishing). It's a profession that can provide a haven for smart people with oddly developed social skills.

So I think the best way to resolve this is by giving him a thorough course evaluation detailing the weird in-class behavior. If other people got weird calls from him, mention "attempting to contact students at inappropriate times" or something, otherwise leave it off. Most professors do actually read those things, and he may take a clue and be better in future classes. At the very least, his department chair/tenure/promotion committee will read it. If none of them read it, well, it's just one class, and you'll know to avoid him in the future.