Summarizes the current state of the English curriculum and calls for a renewed emphasis on rhetoric and student writing for its own sake. (HTH)

Describes how the English Department at Loyola University of Chicago, adopted assessment measures beneficial to the department's program and acceptable to administrators, faculty, and students. (TB)

Examines the reason for the tight job market for full-time positions in English departments, suggesting that the blame lies with the departments themselves in that they hire part-time or adjunct faculty to do most of the teaching. (TB)

Argues that students offer English departments a way of bypassing the tangle of theoretical disagreements and of gluing the fragmented pieces of the discipline back together again. Proposes that agreeing about principles of pedagogy is more urgent than agreeing about literary theory. Argues that English departments need to at least agree about…

Describes "academentia," the delusion that disciplines are intellectually powerful as a result of their specialization. Prescribes "neighborliness"--intellectual and practical work done from the perspective of critical consciousness--as the antidote to academentia. Suggests that writing projects have great potential as…

Describes the distinction between the National Endowment for the Arts, which funds artists, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, which funds those who talk about art. Examines the similar distinction in alliances between writers and scholars in English departments, focusing on their effects on writing programs. (MM)

Maintains that the humanities get "screwed" in the academy because they are feminized. Explores this process of "feminization," focusing on college English departments. Offers a different view of the relationship between "soft" humanities and "hard" disciplines, reconceived from a feminist perspective. (SR)

Argues that literary history and estimations of literary value are inseparable and that their connection has import for debate on the contents of the literary canon. Suggests possible requirements for developing a feminist theory and practice of evaluation. (SR)

Discusses problems with first-year composition in higher education, primarily the marginality and the tenuous hold writing maintains within the academy. Reconsiders the English department's role in serving the general curriculum. (SR)

Discusses how to seek resources within the home institutions--from deans, vice presidents, provosts, and the like. Suggests that department chairs draw up an inventory of the department's strengths and weaknesses. Suggests that, when asking for more resources, department chairs offer administrators something instead of just asking for more. (PRA)

Considers the importance of "teaching the past" in the English classroom, including older texts. Disagrees with the notion that teaching the past is in trouble. Discusses recent trends in literary studies, especially cultural studies, and their possible effect on teaching the past. Gives advice for making older texts appealing in the…

Describes how chairs of English departments can help their departments prosper in economic hard times. (SR)

Outlines the benefits of the creative writing segment of English departments. Shows how learning to read carefully enriches the ability to write well. Argues for the value of creative writing for English departments. (HB)

Considers the role of the visiting writer in encouraging and supplying useful writing advice to student writers. Proposes some principles for the art of writing that writers offer composition students, especially related to the art of writing over its craft. (HB)

Provides responses by various scholars to two articles on teaching conflict and struggle and its relevance to the field of basic writing published in the December 1992 issue of "College English." (HB)