The trajectory of an English professor's scholarly interests has always involved emotion. From the simple question she asked herself during her graduate study (what do we feel?), she moved to the beneficial psychological effects of writing, then onto empirically identifying the emotions involved in writing, to discussions of social emotions, to an…

The separation of the mechanics of rhetoric from the ethics of rhetoric has had disastrous consequences, in education and in our public life. (JH)

A middle ground, between picky concern for correctness and mushy libertarianism, must be found on which to base effective freshman composition courses. (JH)

The training of doctoral candidates in English often does not match the kind of teaching they must do upon taking their first jobs: namely, training is in literature, while most jobs are available in composition. Even when acceptable composition teachers are found, keeping them in the face of budgetary restraints and declining enrollments is…

Shows that pedantic methods of teaching English have alienated many people from the humanities; explores ways that English departments can find balances between such contrasting elements as reading and writing, elitist works and popular culture, and a liberal education and vocationalism. (GW)

Describes problems regarding faculty recruitment and promotion and tenure decisions faced by an English department with a major commitment to the teaching of composition. (GW)

Offers pointers for establishing a college-sponsored essay contest for public school students in grades five through twelve and enumerates the benefits of such a program. (NKA)

Argues for a renewed integration of the humanities to ensure that the white-collar working class will be literate in the broadest sense of the word. (AEA)

In this memo, the Faculty Senate of the American University accuses the English Department faculty of teaching freshman composition courses that fail to prepare students for dealing with reading and writing assignments in other academic disciplines. (DD)

Considers how one composition instructor's methods of assigning student writing tasks and then responding to those texts was altered by various works written by composition scholars. Outlines 10 of the major achievements of composition research over the past 30 years. (HB)

The English department at Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is trying to create an environment where all voices are heard and respected, both those of the literarists and compositionists. Where it is probably more customary to think of curriculum as a reflection of faculty values, the guiding principle at LMU has been that curriculum can influence…

The use of portfolio assessment by composition instructors in the Department of English at the University of Missouri-Kansas City is described. Based on a survey of instructors, conducted in the spring of 1994, the paper examines: (1) who determines what goes into the portfolio, (2) how students are assessed throughout the term, (3) features…

At present, the composition program at San Diego State is located in two departments. The Academic Skills Center offers pre-baccalaureate courses for basic writers and developmental ESL writers. The Department of English and Comparative Literature offers most of the required general education two-semester sequence, advanced composition courses,…

A 1987 survey of college English departments revealed that only 74 (38%) of the 194 colleges surveyed offered students the opportunity to specialize in some aspect of writing in addition to literature. A 1992 survey showed that 69% of departments had begun to offer this specialization. Respondents outlined possibilities for organizing and…

When the ideology of individualism is used in composition studies to create a hero image for the writer/teacher, the effect is to exclude from the "hero status" people who do not fit the requirements of the ideology. However beautiful and powerful a story it may be, for instance, Mike Rose's "Lives on the Boundary" puts forth…