Reviews the history of a college English department from the 1960s through the mid-1980s. (MM)

Outlines two major problems facing English department administrators in their attempts to hire adequate new faculty: (1) reduced institutional resources; and (2) the complex problems connected with faculty retirements. Suggests methods by which administrators can best cope with limited hiring opportunities. (HB)

By the late 19th century, the new universities in the United States had become so closely intertwined with the research imperative that their future depended on their position at the center of knowledge creation. The tension between the liberal arts college and the "modern" research university initiated a process of differentiation that…

A personal memoir of Marjorie Hope Nicolson and the graduate English department she headed at Columbia University in the 1940s and 1950s. (SJL)

Traces the historically optimistic view of college-secondary school cooperation. Asks why such optimism has faded in recent years. Considers how college-level departments of English can collaborate with high school English programs, such as in collaborative conferences. (HB)

Suggests that W. Ross Winterowd's most significant and influential contribution to the field of rhetoric and composition is the Rhetoric-Linguistics-Literature Program (RLL), started in 1972 as a program in the Department of English at the University of Southern California. Presents a history of the program, noting its "virtual demise"…

The accomplishments of Janet Emig constitute perhaps the most influential contribution to the study of how humans compose discourse and how teachers should help them. Her background prepared her for her initial goal of becoming a medical doctor, but she determined to study literature because of its enduring interest to her. As a graduate student…

The phenomenon of the graduate assistant grew out of the turn of the century need for larger teaching staffs. A debate was formed that still influences the way teachers are prepared for today's freshman composition courses. This debate arose from philosophical and methodological differences in English departments, which at that time emphasized a…

In January 1986, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) issued several recommendations with far-reaching implications for Virginia's colleges and universities, namely, "that all state-supported institutions of higher education establish procedures and programs to measure student achievement." By all accounts the…

Understanding the absence of composition in western Canada is predicated upon understanding the presence of composition in the United States, the only country in the world with a highly visible tradition of composition. This absence in western Canada, between 1900 and 1950, is largely a matter of appearance--composition in both countries was an…

Creative writers have moved into the mainstream of English departments without understanding or reviewing their own history, and without reconceptualizing graduate and undergraduate creative writing programs. Such a history can be constructed from sources in three areas: institutional history, creative writing history, and rhetorical history. An…

Suggests that the reform of English departments where overburdened composition teachers teach underprepared students must begin with a sense of historical perspective examining the genesis of the freshman writing course and the large numbers of college students who must enroll in it. (TB)

This book, the final work of a noted rhetorician and scholar, examines the history and development of English studies, and the economic and social changes that affect the understanding of the humanities today. Noting that while rhetoric once held a central place in the college curriculum, the book describes how rhetoric became marginalized in…