Argues that curricular revision (in the direction implied by widespread adoption of terms such as "canon" and "theory") has been accomplished with little overhauling, in large part by adding non-White, nonmale, nonclassical writers to traditional courses. Argues that reading new works is not the same as arriving at new…

Argues that lack of faculty consensus, combined with a multiplication of university programs, has convinced the public that universities serve secular needs and that their priorities should be established by the marketplace. Argues the key to preserving faculty control is for the faculty to take the agenda of practicality and remake it in a…

Points out that change in English departments will have the best chance if it comes through explicit analytic and goal- and strategy-mapping efforts; through open and sympathetic acknowledgment of anxieties, fears, and objections; and through the greatest possible clarification of misperceptions. Describes several models of change. (EL)

Argues that few modern English departments promote communal scholarship and that collegial interaction focuses more on contemporary literary culture than on shared scholarship. Describes a collaborative publication project in which 10 professors wrote a book introducing undergraduate English majors to literary studies. (RS)