As documented by multiple NEA studies ("Reading at Risk," 2004; "To Read or Not to Read," 2007), reading has become devalued in American life, on sale in the clearance bin along with notions of greatness, classic works and ideas, and Western civilization itself. Trying to teach fine literature, writes the author, has become the struggle of how to…

The author, an English professor, shares his experience in retaking the Graduate Record Examination in English literature, 25 years after he entered graduate school at the University of Virginia. He took the practice test instead of the "real" test, for a number of reasons. He wanted to be able to look over the questions afterward; to…

The authors decided to use Bob Dylan's 2004 memoir "Chronicles" as a text in their freshman humanities seminars at Villanova University, partly to illustrate to increasingly career-oriented students--prospective engineers, business majors, and the like--how a liberal education and exposure to classic literature are relevant to everyone, and partly…

Laura Bates, an associate professor of English at Indiana State University, teaches college courses at Wabash Valley Correctional Facility, but her Shakespeare workshop is a rarer undertaking, with a startling history. About six years ago, an inmate in one of her college-degree courses was sent from the general population to the "SHU"--the…

The Social Science Research Network, an online clearinghouse popular among social scientists, has created a Humanities Research Network (HRN) that is similar. To begin with, the new network will cover three areas--philosophy, classics, and English and American literature--broken down into detailed subcategories. More disciplines will be added in…

In this article, the author describes Liguria Study Center for the Arts and Humanities in Bogliasco, Italy, which offers a stately perch from which a few lucky scholars and artists can gaze at the Mediterranean and gather their thoughts making it so conducive to the study of arts and letters. The center provides scholars and artists midcareer and…

A national survey revealed that college English professors still rely heavily on traditional literary texts but are adding new books, asking new questions, and using new teaching approaches. A majority of respondents said a goal was to help students understand the influence of race, class, and gender in literature. (MSE)