Describes a typical graduate program in English, suggests ways such programs might usefully evolve in the future, and points to aspects of such programs that should be left as they are. (GW)

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 aspects of good masters and doctoral programs in creative writing and suggests ways in which to integrate creative writing with literature programs. (CRH)

Discusses the role of the English department head in a time of educational crisis. Examines the possibility that graduate study in English is losing its moral base. Considers the role of leadership and oppositional politics in the context of the crisis in graduate study. (HB)

Reports responses to a 1978 survey of English department chairpersons regarding such topics as reductions in the number of doctorates awarded annually, measures taken to prepare graduate students for college teaching, recent revisions in graduate programs, interdisciplinary options for graduate students, the presence of composition components in…

Points out that graduate programs in English should prepare students to meet the actualities of the employment market and the needs of departments that may hire them. (GW)

Describes how the task of leading an English department has changed over the past 25 years. Considers the delicate yet essential task of the department head to provide leadership and vision for an entire department. Relates the general problems of English departments and specific problems in graduate education with diversity and difference gone…