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)

Describes curriculum review at the State University of New York, Oswego, where faculty and administrators tried to develop an English major that would preserve the best traditional practices and institutionalize innovation. Concludes that curriculum revision would not have moved forward without the Modern Language Association-Fund for the…

Discusses a fundamental desire of many literature teachers: "teaching out," meaning the hope of imparting to students the fact that words and forms and images have a peculiar power to explain and move. Describes a variety of possible ways by which English teachers might succeed at "teaching out," including community education…

Provides a working definition for assessment as it relates to higher education. Contrasts what assessment should be with what it should not be. Gives several suggestions for administrators just beginning assessment activities. (HB)

Recounts the process and narrates the steps taken by the English department at Ursinus College, Pennsylvania, in its major renovation of its outdated English curriculum. Describes the working conditions of the department and the newly devised curriculum. (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)

Considers that the issue behind English department recruitment is not the size of the major but the focus and pertinence of the curriculum, where success is defined by an effective articulation between what a faculty believes it has to offer and what serious, goal-oriented students--the sort wanted in the major in the first place--are looking to…

Tells stories, somewhat fictionalized, that may help English chairs frame the discussion on curricular revision. Describes the institutional and management issues chairs need to explore when they think about initiating the curriculum debate. Considers departmental structural issues, campus structural issues, organizational issues, and a set of…

This paper deals with a peer supervision program developed by the members of the English department of Brattleboro Union High School (Vermont) which has resulted in a sense of collegiality, shared purpose, and a renewed feeling of professionalism among the teachers. The paper describes the ways in which these teachers developed a program to…

If there is to be communication and mutual assistance between community colleges and universities, three myths about community colleges need to be dispelled: that they teach almost nothing but basic or remedial English, that no research is possible for those university people who study community college English programs or for community college…

Providing a rationale for the involvement of college English departments in interdisciplinary work, the papers in this collection discuss the difficulties surrounding the introduction of interdisciplinary courses and programs that make special demands on the time and energy of individual faculty members and on limited departmental resources.…

This study describes professional and curricular innovations in a traditional high school English department within one academic year, resulting from a self-evaluation prepared for the regional accrediting association. The study provides an overview of the school's community, a description of the faculty and student body, and a portrait of the…

Describes the English program and the role it plays at Doane College, Nebraska. (JK)