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…

These four issues of the English Leadership Quarterly represent the quarterly for 1991. Articles in number 1 deal with whole language and include: "CEL: Shorter and Better" (Myles D. Eley); "Toward a New Philosophy of Language Learning" (Kathleen Strickland); "Whole Language: Implications for Secondary Classrooms"…

The way job positions in English studies are conceptualized, advertised, applied for, and awarded is defined by the conventional contours of literary study. The precision with which the "Job Information List" breaks down literature positions by national and historical categories reflects the desire of a great many departments to hire and…

In forming a new curriculum for the English Department at Louisiana State University, the Literature Concentration Subcommittee faced a daunting array of competing demands. How can students gain a perspective on the terrain of literary studies, including canonical and non-canonical texts? How can they experience the rich diversity of the…