>Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2007 23:36:18 -0500
>From: "J. A. Madrigal" <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Fwd: Frank Domínguez: Re: Literatura
>   y los programas  académicos
>To: "A. Robert Lauer" <[log in to unmask]>
>
>My two cents...Frank is right (hi Frank) except when he blames the
>administration. It is our fault, and only our fault, because we forgot
>that we went into this profession to study literature, not philosophy,
>political theory and other disciplines that should complement what we do
>and not become our core.
>When we interview the future scholars of our profession, and specially
>from the better PHD programs, it is embarrassing how little literature they
>know. In most occasion, I find myself talking to them about works they
>don't know in their own field. Incredible that someone in Golden Age
>sometimes is better read than they are in their own fields. But Frank,
>you are right, only three fields exist today: Spanish American Prose,
>Contemporary Peninsular literature and Linguistics. The rest is old and
>boring.
>Also, the only individual in my Department who teaches Theory beginning
>with Plato is me...Anything before the Contemporary period is as
>dead...
>Retirement from this profession is a welcome change!!!
>Tony
>
>***********************************************
>                     J. A. Madrigal
>                 Castanoli Professor
>         Dpt. of Foreign Languages
>                   and Literatures
>     Auburn University, AL 36849-5204
>                Fax: 334-844-6378
>             Phone: 334-844-5183
>***********************************************
>
>
> >>> "A. Robert Lauer" <[log in to unmask]> 11/04/2007 21:25 >>>
>
> >Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2007 20:31:23 -0400
> >From: Frank Dominguez <[log in to unmask]>
> >Subject: Re: Literatura y los programas académicos
> >To: "A. Robert Lauer" <[log in to unmask]>
> >Cc: [log in to unmask]
> >
> >Dear Robert:
> >
> >I seldom participate in listserv discussions,
> >but Nancy D'Antuono's comments (hi, Nancy!) have
> >moved me to add my two cents. I agree that the
> >preparation of today's students in every area of
> >pre-18th century literature (and I am really a
> >medievalista rather than a Cervantista) has
> >become woefully inadequate. But, it is not their
> >fault. It is ours for permitting programs to be
> >streamlined to fit students' natural desire to
> >concentrate on the modern to the exclusion of
> >the older periods and for watering down the qualifying exams.
> >
> >In part, this was a reaction to pressure from
> >the administration which, working from a
> >business model, wanted student training
> >accelerated so that they could complete their
> >MA/PhD in 5 years. But, what seemed fine for
> >English, because they could build on a solid
> >undergraduate background, or History, because it
> >did not have language problem, was and is a
> >disaster for us in language and literature
> >departments. The upshot is that we are
> >graduating a generation of students that do not
> >realize that they are hopelessly unprepared.
> >
> >Today, I sat on a good dissertation on feminine
> >writing as a coping mechanism for loss. However,
> >the candidate could not answer how writing had
> >been conditioned by loss from time immemorial.
> >Perhaps I was wrong in asking, but before, any
> >student worth his or her salt could have
> >anticipated a question such as mine, even if
> >their main concern was the application of Cixous's theories.
> >
> >The answer is to insist that students have a
> >good background in every period (I too am
> >grateful to Glaser!), that their qualifying
> >exams cover all periods, and that we do not hire
> >faculty who are so deficient in the earlier
> >periods, that they do not see the value of a
> >rounded preparation or can participate fully in
> >the discourse of a department. This last is
> >particularly critical, because the person you
> >hire today will be making decisions about
> >programs in the not too distant future.
> >
> >Frank Dominguez
>

Prof. A. Robert Lauer
The University of Oklahoma
Dept. of Modern Langs.,  Lits., & Ling.
780 Van Vleet Oval, Kaufman Hall, Room 206
Norman, Oklahoma 73019-2032, USA
Tel.: 405-325-5845 (office); 405/325-6181 (OU 
dept.); Fax: 1-866-602-2679 (private)
Vision: Harmonious collaboration in an international world.
Mission: "Visualize clearly and communicate promptly"
<http://faculty-staff.ou.edu/L/A-Robert.R.Lauer-1/vita.html>VITA 
/ <http://www.peterlang.com/all/>IBÉRICA 
/<http://faculty-staff.ou.edu/L/A-Robert.R.Lauer-1/AITENSO.html>AITENSO 
/ <http://www.ou.edu/bcom/>BCom / 
<http://www.comedias.org/>AHCT / 
<http://www.mla.org/>MLA / 
<http://www.ou.edu/cervantes/coloquiocervantes.html>Coloquio 
<http://www.ou.edu/cervantes/coloquiocervantes.html>Cervantes 
/ 
<http://www.ou.edu/teatro/coloquioteatro.html>Coloquio 
Teatro de los Siglos de Oro