Offers a case study in curriculum change that reveals a very different experience--one that demonstrates a discipline more alive than ever. Presents a story of how the lively canon debates prompted the English department at Montclair State University to restructure the English major. Finds that the culture wars, critical theory, poststructuralism,…

Offers some reflections on the professional commitments of undergraduate English and argues the need for establishing clearly defined educational goals. (RB)

Describes the conflict between teaching women's literature and teaching the traditional American literature curriculum. Points out the neglect of H.B. Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in most American literature courses. (AEA)

Describes a typical graduate program in English, suggests ways such programs might usefully evolve in the future, and points to aspects of such programs that should be left as they are. (GW)

Argues that (1) even the most radical critics of departmental structures are committed to the perpetuation of English departments and, therefore, will adopt, regardless of potential contradictions, the professional discourse that validates them and (2) that this will be done even though the Babel of contemporary critical discourse makes a…

In response to George Levine's argument that the more things change the more they remain the same, the author considers three measures that would promote the value of literary study. (HOD)

Suggests that the intellectual challenges of contemporary literary study be seen as enriched by, rather than in competition with, knowledge of the history of literary theory; and that English departments cultivate a determined antagonism to disciplinary territorialism, whether in faculty hiring, curricular design, or graduate admissions. (RS)

Considers aspects of good masters and doctoral programs in creative writing and suggests ways in which to integrate creative writing with literature programs. (CRH)

Discusses the role of the English department head in a time of educational crisis. Examines the possibility that graduate study in English is losing its moral base. Considers the role of leadership and oppositional politics in the context of the crisis in graduate study. (HB)

Reports responses to a 1978 survey of English department chairpersons regarding such topics as reductions in the number of doctorates awarded annually, measures taken to prepare graduate students for college teaching, recent revisions in graduate programs, interdisciplinary options for graduate students, the presence of composition components in…

Points out that graduate programs in English should prepare students to meet the actualities of the employment market and the needs of departments that may hire them. (GW)

Describes how the task of leading an English department has changed over the past 25 years. Considers the delicate yet essential task of the department head to provide leadership and vision for an entire department. Relates the general problems of English departments and specific problems in graduate education with diversity and difference gone…

Focuses on how a culture that values the work of teaching undergraduates might be fostered, suggesting in particular how the institutional culture, academic program, the core curriculum, and Freshman Seminar at Mount Saint Mary's College (Maryland) supports the teaching of first-year students, making it an enjoyable challenge rather than drudgery.…