Literary criticism no longer aims to appreciate aesthetics, which is to study how humans respond to art. The problem plaguing the literary academy is that literature is reduced to an idea or a moral and theory has become institutionalized in literature departments and continues to be taught.

Syllabi from some 20 colleges and universities were reviewed with prominent English and literature departments and a discussion was held with a number of professors who teach literary theory. It is suggested that devolution and fragmentation of theory might be a survival strategy, an adaptation to the new realties of academic institutions.

Examines the administrative and organizational implications that Cleanth Brooks methods of criticism hold for modern English departments. (RB)

Author remains convinced that the heritage of the past forms the substance of the present, and that for mediating between the voices of generations, literary criticism, whether on paper or in the classroom, serves a central function as defender of whatever civilization we have or may yet have. (Author/RK)

Describes instructional and departmental forces creating the following problems for undergraduate creative writing teachers: (1) they hold an uneasy position in the English department hierarchy; (2) courses are radically different from creative writing courses in either high school or graduate school; and (3) instruction has lagged behind…

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…

Offers examples of ways that college and university departments of English can broaden students' capabilities as readers and critics. (AEA)

Claims the literary critical essay does virtually nothing, as it is printed, read by a small number of literary people, and forgotten. Argues that teaching is doing and claims that the English department establishment either ignores or sneers at the kind of scholarship that tries to solve the problems of teaching literature and composition. (NH)

Literature anthologies are part of the furniture of English departments. Like the putty or gunmetal-gray file cabinet that one might have gotten new or used, they are not a showpiece of academic decor, but it would be hard to imagine work spaces without them. Indeed, they are omnipresent, amassed on the shelves of campus bookstores, weighing down…

Argues the need for professors and departments of English to reach a new consensus on goals for teaching literature. (JH)