Describes the joys and frustrations of serving as head of a university English department. (AEA)

Argues that composition cannot be taught apart from reading, that reading means only the reading of great writing, and that the teaching of reading and writing is best handled by people who have studied literature and created some themselves. Offers suggestions for the improvement of the undergraduate English curriculum. (FL)

Presents reasons for interested undergraduates to major in English and points out useful skills developed by English majors. Emphasizes the importance of English department involvement in the career planning of its students, and details the steps undertaken by the University of Massachusetts English department to help its students. (JM)

Applies the ruling strategies from Machiavelli's "The Prince" to the job of successfully holding the position of English department chairperson. (HTH)

Notes that many scholars see Gerald Graff as a revolutionary critic who provides a model for making fundamental changes within the discipline of English. Focuses on the historical marginalization of the fields of composition and rhetoric studies not addressed by Graff in his book "Professing Literature." (RS)

Identifies the growing problems of sexual harassment on college campuses. Outlines current institutional policies and legal debates concerning this issue. Provides firsthand insight of one administrator's experiences and thoughts on the process of adopting and working with a sexual harassment policy. (HB)

Discusses the role of the Creative Writing segment of English departments. Questions the goals and aims of creative writing programs and attempts to sketch a reasonable version of those goals. Provides ways that department chairs might promote rather than ghettoize the creative writing programs in their departments. (HB)

Dramatizes the give and take that accompanies any attempt to get an English department to speak with one voice and arrive at a consensus regarding curriculum revision. Provides details of the curriculum reform process undertaken at the University of Oregon. (HB)

Contains recommendations for teaching English to adult education students in higher education. Argues that the advent of increased numbers of adult learners demands a readjustment of attitudes and strategies in teaching English, including a recognition of the pragmatic, consumer-oriented, and highly motivated nature of adult students. (DF)

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

Argues that the pragmatism of community college programs is having a favorable effect on the English programs at four-year and graduate institutions. (RB)

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)

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

Outlines the controversies that began as the English Department at Louisiana State University tried to revise the departmental curriculum. Raises important questions for any department to consider as they undertake a similar revision. (HB)