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If I want to say which subject a teacher at the university "belongs" to, how do I say this in idiomatic English? Can I use "belong to", or is there a more idiomatic way of saying it?

Example:

All the teachers [belong to] one of the subjects X, Y, or Z.

I realise I could simply use "teach" – i.e., "All the teachers teach one of the subjects..." – but it seems to me that that wording looses the sense that the teachers not only teach these subjects but are employed by these subjects – i.e., that they "belong" to the subject...

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    The teachers don't belong to a subject; they belong to a department of the university.
    – ColleenV
    Commented Feb 21, 2023 at 21:07
  • @ColleenV Right, I guess that's a cultural rather than a language difference, so, if I replace "subject" with "department of X", I could use "belong"? Or is there another verb that is better/more idiomatic to use in this particular context?
    – Mooshi
    Commented Feb 21, 2023 at 21:36
  • No, belong does not work.
    – Lambie
    Commented Feb 21, 2023 at 21:55
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    First of all, they are professors, not teachers. The professors teach one of these subjects.
    – Lambie
    Commented Feb 21, 2023 at 23:06
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    I think you can use academic staff as they do at Cambridge University: educ.cam.ac.uk/people/acadstaff
    – Lambie
    Commented Feb 22, 2023 at 16:27

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You could say, "is a professor of," i.e., "All the teachers are professors of _____." This indicates not only that they teach that subject but that, in some sense, that is their primary subject, the one they "belong to," as you put it. It can also indicate which department they belong to, i.e., a professor of English would belong to the English department.

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    In the UK, many academics are not "Professors". In the US, most academics are given the title "Professor", in the UK many have the title "Lecturer" or "Reader". Historically there would only be one Professor per department (though this has now changed)
    – James K
    Commented Feb 21, 2023 at 22:36
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    I think it is changing. I'd have said "Lecturers". but under American influence (and Harry Potter?) "Professors" seems to be becoming more common.
    – James K
    Commented Feb 22, 2023 at 6:16
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    I think the following also works "Professors work in the [name] department."
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Feb 22, 2023 at 7:36
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    @Mooshi To your first comment: that's correct, generally in English we don't say people are "employed by" or that they "work for" a subject, they are employed by or work for a department. But now that I'm thinking about it more, you could still express it that way for effect: "All of the teachers (or professors) belong to the subjects X, Y, or Z."
    – Ben Francis
    Commented Feb 22, 2023 at 23:47
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    @Mooshi To your last comment: yes, you can use "teachers" in a university context (at least in AmE), though maybe less common. Often in casual conversation I've used and heard others use "teachers" and "professors" interchangeably: "My physics teacher was telling us...". But "teacher" does sometimes carry more of a connotation of (elementary/middle/high) school teacher than university teacher.
    – Ben Francis
    Commented Feb 22, 2023 at 23:52

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