Discusses the various roles that different generations of academics have played in defining community, and the need for local knowledge and local engagement. Suggests that the field of English needs a new generation of leaders who not only are willing to redefine academic citizenship and community, but to cultivate and encourage the support of…

Undertakes research into tension between structural planning and individual autonomy in the teaching of English and the dynamics of English departmental work in secondary schools. Examines the nature of constraints to individuals' autonomy, such as the British National Curriculum, to arrive at tentative conclusions as to whether they constitute a…

Offers guidelines that specify the kinds of information that will assist faculties in identifying and rectifying problems in their graduate programs. Directs attention to eight areas: department goals; graduate admissions; retention and attrition of students; financial support for students; preparing students for careers within and outside the…

Provides an account of a successful staffing initiative at a PhD-granting institution, the University of Pittsburgh. States that the "Fix English" program aimed to improve the educational quality of undergraduate instruction by increasing full-time faculty involvement, correcting workload inequities, and bringing the English department's…

Considers how Phil Smith has given much thought in his own department, and in the national deliberations, to the staffing crisis in English departments, and he has done so with attention to the highest values and to the needs of all, from undergraduate students in the general education courses to part-timers to tenure-track and tenured faculty…

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)

Discusses the "latest forecast" for the future of English departments. Addresses departmental and institutional staffing practices, employment opportunities for PhDs, the acceleration of change in the institution, and the general state of the study and teaching of English. (RS)

Suggests that the intellectual challenges of contemporary literary study be seen as enriched by, rather than in competition with, knowledge of the history of literary theory; and that English departments cultivate a determined antagonism to disciplinary territorialism, whether in faculty hiring, curricular design, or graduate admissions. (RS)

Considers how decisions about curriculum, hiring, and institutional policies have changed due to increasing regulatory, legal, and financial pressures conflicting with ever-magnifying and multiplying sense of need. Identifies three dominant models of institutional governance--models that represent different emphases and that, for the purposes of…

Presents a discussion one year after the author received a tenure-track job and describes the strategies and tactics that made her search a success. Discusses certain strategies that candidates conducting a local search can employ to maximize their credentials and opportunities. (SG)

Presents an exploration of research that benefits a community college English department as it reconsiders the theoretical foundations of its curriculum. Notes how the department crafted a curriculum that was not only inclusive but responsive to the students taught. Concludes that writing is only lasting when it is intertwined with the lives and…

This is an interview between Teacher Librarian and Chris Crowe. Chris Crowe's first novel won the International Reading Association's Children's Book Award. He is a fellow professor of YA Literature and a past-president of the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of the National Council of Teachers of English. Some interview questions include:…

Today, isolated practice is regarded by most educators, administrators and policymakers as an inadequate way of performing teachers' work. Most teachers and teacher educators embrace the current dominant discourse on the virtues of teacher collaboration, but these beliefs do not always materialize in the way programs of initial teacher education…

Using the Intercultural Sensitivity Scale formulated by G. M. Chen and Starosta, the intercultural sensitivity of English major students, non-English major students, and multinational employees in China were investigated. In this study, intercultural sensitivity was defined as consisting of interaction engagement, interaction confidence, respect…

Problems of "dialect" exist in the field called "English," which is constituted by both composition and literature. The "ghettoization" of composition has created a hostile underclass, and many compositionists try to "pass" as literarists or at least unconsciously adopt the vocabulary and rhetoric of the…