2009 is the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln's birth. Naturally, historians are thrilled. But what about their discipline? Why and how might Lincoln matter to English studies? In this article, the authors reflect on Lincoln and his influence on English studies. They argue that Lincoln has played or can play an important role in the college English…

In this article the author shares his thoughts on how perceptions can be distorted by blinders people impose on themselves which brings him back to one of his literary and intellectual loadstones--"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." He learned that the English department at the school where he taught has changed the American literature syllabus.…

In a response to the Minnesota Conference on the Future of Doctoral Study in English, argues that literary theory has redirected attention to the medieval liberal arts of grammar, rhetoric, and dialectic. (JK)

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…

Outlines current critiques of U.S. higher education. Describes the activities and findings of the Illinois state task force on assessment of language arts in the 1980s. Describes how Illinois State University's English department defined the goals of English majors and dramatically altered the curriculum. (HB)

Three key areas of confusion in the English department--composition, curriculum, and humanism--can be resolved by marshaling ideas from social dramatism, games theory, and sociobiology. (DD)

A former English department chairman looks back with optimism at the state of English education since 1930 and discusses how it might be of use in developing future curricula. (HTH)

Even a quick tour through the professional literature of composition and rhetoric reveals that the profession has failed to bring about any real change in first-year college composition. The truth is that today the political and material conditions of first-year composition programs are not much different from that they were over a half century…

Discusses the role of literature in the English curriculum and the problems facing the English department at the University of Tennessee. (FL)

Suggests that genre and time-line college literature courses give way to thematic courses and cooperative courses within other departments. (FL)

Satirizes college English instruction, specifically "catchy" composition programs and the relevant grant awards and job placement of graduate students. (JM)

Discusses the state of English studies, focusing on the literary canon, literature and other disciplines, the function of theory, and the politics of literature. (MM)

Questions the fragmentation of the teaching of English into such diverse subjects as reading, writing, speech, journalism, drama, and freshman composition, considering such divisions harmful to the purpose and future of English departments. (AEA)

Encourages English department chairpersons to adopt a cross-disciplinary approach and suggests a sequence of cross-disciplinary courses. (DD)

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)