Teaching service courses such as the first year composition courses and an introduction to literature is often a primary mission for English departments on campuses in the United States. Sometimes specific departments request specialized additional English classes such as Writing for Business, basic grammar courses, composition courses focused for…

Explores and describes (from the standpoint of a retired department chair) the paradigm change, one of Copernican proportions, that has occurred in English departments from the late 1970s to the early 1990s. Compares Modern Language Association bulletins from 1978 and from 1994. (TB)

Examines the possibility of a university based on dissensus, disagreement, and diversity. Deconstructs the traditional English major, noting the inappropriateness of studying British literature as a substitute for a national cultural whole. Notes that the United States has never really had cultural unity and has always looked to the future for it.…