>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