A, An, The
What to do with an initial, A, An, or The in a title when used in running text. Drop the initial article if it makes the text awkward.
The Town’s College is one of our most useful reference books.
His Town’s College proved to be one of our most useful reference books.
The the preceding the name of a society, association, building, or other proper name is lowercased in running text, even when it is part of the title. This also applies to the in magazine and newspaper titles.
The project is funded by the Prudential Foundation.
Reading the New York Times is great way to start the day.
Academic and Professional
Capitalize the title when it precedes the name and is part of the name:
I would like to introduce Doctor John Smith.
President Ronald Liebowitz will be addressing the audience.
We traveled with Professor Bill Johnson.
Do not capitalize when the title follows the name (almost always a descriptor):
John Smith, professor of biology
George W. Bush, president of the United States
Do not capitalize when the title precedes the name, but is acting as a descriptive title:
Renowned geology professor Andrea Lane will deliver the keynote address.
Happily, designer Randy Russet made the costumes.
Meet our best bass player Lucinda J. Horvick ’05.
We saw former president of the United States Bill Clinton.
Friends of Middlebury Music president Jane Darling
Exception: A named professorship is always capitalized, no matter where it falls
William Wilson, John M. Martin Professor of Physics will be there.
John M. Martin Professor of Physics William Wilson will be there.
Trustee Emerita Suzanne Simpson; Suzanne Simpson, trustee emerita; the trustee;
the professor; Professor John Jones; John Jones, professor emeritus; Professor Emeritus John Jones
In vertical lists—such as lists of faculty used in viewbooks, etc.
For the sake of appearance and consistency, it is permissible to cap all titles and departments:
Mary Smith, Professor of Geology
Fred Dartmouth, Milton Johnson Distinguished Professor of Classical Studies
David Jones, Assistant Professor of English
Dorothy Bartlett, William Loadstone Professor of Environmental Studies
Courses
Middlebury courses are designated by course number as well as title. The number combines the department code with a numerical designation: RE 292 Psychology of Religion. Place a space between the department code and the course number. Course titles are printed in roman type, capped, with no quotation marks. It is not necessary to include the course number in general interest texts.
Professor Smith’s course the Beginning of the Universe has had a waiting list for several years.
Departments and Offices
Running text—Departments and offices are capped only when the full, correct name is used:
Go to the Office of the Dean of the College if you have questions.
Someone in the dean’s office will be able to help.
The Office of Public Affairs has the press kit.
Check with public affairs for the answer.
The Department of Biology will move to the new science center.
All of the science departments, including the biology department, will move.
In lists—see professional titles above. It is permissible to cap all offices and departments for the sake of consistency and readability.
Works (Creative)
Note: All of the rules below apply to running text. Other approaches may be needed for captions, pull-quotes, programs, invitations, etc. to enhance readability or formality.
Movies, Television, Radio
Movies, ongoing television and radio programs, and plays are capped and italicized:
We enjoyed reruns of Leave It to Beaver
The blockbuster Live Free or Die Hard was not to my liking.
Television/Radio Series
Cap, no quotes:
The American Idol series broke records for viewership three years running.
Television/Radio individual episodes
Cap with quotation marks:
“Survivorman” was one of best episodes of The Office.
Music
Instrumental:
Cap generic name, no quotes: Piano Sonata no. 2
Italicize descriptive title: Dances of the Band of David
lowercase n for no.
lowercase opus, op.
cap Major and Minor: Bach’s Mass in B Minor
Operas and songs:
Long compositions are italicized, shorter ones set in quotes, roman type
“The Star Spangled Banner”
The Marriage of Figaro
Recordings:
An album is italicized. Individual tracks, use caps and quotation marks. Performer, set in roman type:
The CD Home for the Holidays includes music by the Middlebury Chamber Singers and a solo performance by Jason Judge, singing “Midnight in Vermont.”
Paintings and Sculpture
Titles of works of art of most types are capped and italicized:
The FBI lists Munch’s The Scream as one of the most stolen works of art.
If the name is from antiquity and the creator is unknown, usually the title is capped in Roman type:
The museum has the rare Palace Bowl on display
Photographs
Capped, with quotation marks:
“Yosemite Valley, Winter” is one of Ansel Adams’s most striking photos.
Written Works
Books:
Italicize:
Please read The College on the Hill.
Book series:
Roman type, capitalize, without quotation marks, the names of book series or editions. The words series and edition are lowercased when they are not part of the title:
Norton Books Field Guide series
Periodicals (newspapers, magazines, and newsletters ):
Capitalize and italicize, except for a “the” in the title. This is because some periodicals use “the” as part of their title and some do not; the most consistent approach is to leave it out of the title:
The story appeared in the New York Times.
Magazine articles & short stories:
Roman type, capitalize, and quotation marks:
The story “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” was first published in the New Yorker, in 1939.
Poems and Plays
Plays and long poems are italicized and capitalized:
Paradise Lost will take you a while to read
We have tickets to A Christmas Carol.
Short poems are capped with quotation marks. Poems identified by their first lines are capped, sentence style, with quotation marks.
Frost’s “A Prayer in Spring” seems apt right now.
“Shall I compare thee to a Summer’s day?” is my favorite sonnet.
Unpublished Works
Dissertations, speeches, manuscripts, student work including posters.
Roman type, capitalize as titles and enclose in quotation marks:
“An Investigation into Nomenclature Anomalies in Biological Systems”
Miscellaneous Titles
Museum exhibition: Capped, with quotation marks
Museum exhibition book: Italicized
College Symposium: Capped with quotation marks
Lecture series: Cap only
Lecture: Capped with quotation marks
College course: Capped only