This collection of essays blends autobiography and literary criticism to examine conflicts currently raging around feminism, multiculturalism, and political correctness, both on college campuses and on the larger American scene. The collection begins by probing key experiences of "growing up white and female" in the 50s and 60s and then concentrating on the current experiences of teaching English and women's studies at a small, liberal arts college in the Midwest. The essays in the collection reflect on teaching African American literature to White students and looking for ways to make contact, recount various classroom dramas, muse on the art and philosophy of teaching, and consider the still marginal position of women in academe. (NKA)