Explores the mechanism of the endurance of the unequal division of the professional status and power within English studies--particularly the role of the writing program administrator (WPA) in sustaining composition's marginality. Suggests that the WPA position is the site at which radical, reformist theories can be redirected into pedagogic and…

This essay offers a history of a basic writing course that began at a public ivy campus in the 1970s. Relying on principles of universal design and on insights derived from his school's studio program about ways the institution's selective functions can impact curricular matters, the author describes how the basic writing course was merely…

Based on his department's experience with curriculum change, the head of the English department at University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) concluded that curriculum change must be local, incremental, and unending. A consequence of the claim that curriculum change should be local is that proposed changes must be consistent with local realities--and…

English is the second-largest major at the University of Puget Sound (Tacoma, Washington). Students may choose one of three emphases within their major: literature, creative writing, or professional writing. Puget Sound's professional writing program has grown gradually and slowly over the last 11-year period to include an array of 10 professional…

Attempts to define the role of English in the system of higher education. (RB)

Describes some of the idols of English departments and suggests what must be done to revivify the teaching of college English. (RB)

Discusses "new rhetoric" within the context of the modern English department. Presents a brief history of the development of the traditional English curriculum through the 18th and 19th century. (JD)

Address delivered at the Association of Departments of English (ADE) Seminar at the University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, June 22-26, 1970. (DS)

Argues that both composition and literary studies have a common pedagogical vocation and that by harvesting some very general insights from two decades of cultural critique, English departments can develop curricula that will resolve a good deal of the conflict between literature and composition and improve instruction in both. (SC)

Argues that, although a split between literature and composition may create major problems and involve major risks, it can and must be done for the future of the profession. (JK)

Argues that (1) even the most radical critics of departmental structures are committed to the perpetuation of English departments and, therefore, will adopt, regardless of potential contradictions, the professional discourse that validates them and (2) that this will be done even though the Babel of contemporary critical discourse makes a…

In response to George Levine's argument that the more things change the more they remain the same, the author considers three measures that would promote the value of literary study. (HOD)

Discusses the need for a reformed English curriculum. (HOD)

Suggestions for teacher-oriented supervision of classroom practices, development of new courses, and grading and assignment policies are discussed. (HTH)

Describes how the English department at Willamette University set out to revise the English curriculum as a participant in the MLA-FIPSE English Programs Curriculum Review Project. Shows how the faculty redesigned the curriculum, and shares three important ideas that might be useful to other departments undertaking similar changes. (HB)