Do US English departments still teach formal elements of literature?

Question

I am currently an undergraduate English student at an Ivy-league college and thus far have been disappointed at how few classes focus on my interests. Most seem skewed toward popular culture (genre fiction, television shows, etc.) or the study of race, gender, socioeconomics, etc. It's hard for me to say at this point whether this is due to genuine interest on behalf of most professors or an attempt by the university to pander to undergrads. For what it's worth, most teachers I've met who are interested in the things I'm interested in seem to be grandfathered in, i.e. have not been hired in the past twenty years or so.

I am not looking for anyone to pass judgement one way or another on the way English is taught at the undergraduate level in most colleges. I'm just wondering whether there will be room at the postgraduate level for someone who is purely interested in studying the formal elements of literature, or I will be squeezed out?

What year are you? This would seem strange if it were a general thing over an entire curriculum. — Buffy, Oct 22 '21 at 13:37
I am far from an expert on the state of English literature as an academic field, so I may be wrong about this. Still: 1) This looks like a shopping question, that solicits answers evaluating the state of the subfield literary theory (?) and its career prospects, albeit indirectly. 2) Could it be that the aspects you are interested in are mostly done and this is like mourning the lack of classical mechanicals in current physics research? […] — Wrzlprmft, Oct 22 '21 at 13:47
[…] 3) Has literature ever not been about political and social issues? The Nobel Prize in Literature even has an idealism criterion. 4) If you want to ask about the current state of literature research, this may be more suitable for [literature.se]. — Wrzlprmft, Oct 22 '21 at 13:47
" For what it's worth, most teachers I've met who are interested in the things I'm interested in seem to be grandfathered in, i.e. have not been hired in the past twenty years or so." Good for you! Stick around, you have good chances for replacing the dinosaurs, the timing is on your side :D ! — EarlGrey, Oct 22 '21 at 13:53
I'm well out of my STEMy comfort zone here, but I suspect that if one focuses exclusively on the formal elements of literature, it becomes rather challenging to define learning outcomes at a high enough taxonomic level to construct a bachelor's degree programme. — Daniel Hatton, Oct 22 '21 at 14:19
I edited the click-baity title (also postgraduate and graduate education is the same thing). — Azor Ahai -him-, Oct 22 '21 at 14:50
I'll note that there's an issue here - if the focus of the departments is going more "political", and no one with your interest set has been hired in the past 20 years, and that's something that's true in general across institutions of higher learning, rather than just being at the places that you've had direct experience with, then you can probably still find graduate advisors just fine, and you may be able to find some manner of post-grad work, but getting a full professorial position may have some severe difficulties. — Ben Barden, Oct 22 '21 at 14:50
There are programs that focus on writing, of course. Even poetry specifically. Warren Wilson College, for example. — Buffy, Oct 22 '21 at 14:50
@AzorAhai-him- The University of Cambridge only quite recently decided to abolish the distinction between "graduate student" and "postgraduate student"; some other places may still have such a distinction. — Daniel Hatton, Oct 22 '21 at 15:47
@DanielHatton Oh, interesting, what was the difference? I have no idea how to read that page. — Azor Ahai -him-, Oct 22 '21 at 16:14
@AzorAhai-him- There was a certain list of degree programmes whose students were designated "postgraduate students" and fell (for purposes of admissions, academic standards, discipline, etc.) under the jurisdiction of the University's General Board; and another, much longer list of degree programmes whose students were designated "graduate students" and fell (for purposes of admissions, academic standards, discipline, etc.) under the jurisdiction of the University's Board of Graduate Studies. There was no particular pattern to which degree programmes were on which list. — Daniel Hatton, Oct 22 '21 at 16:33
... The page I linked was just the results of the vote on (among other things) whether or not to abolish the distinction; it looks complicated because more than two mutually exclusive policy options were being considered simultaneously, so the STV system was used for the vote. — Daniel Hatton, Oct 22 '21 at 16:41
@Cleanthes301 My advice is for you to double-check in advance if a given university officially supports the Chicago Principles, and how well-ranked the university is in FIRE's rankings. These two things should give you a good chance of finding a department that is not obsessed with applying interpretive frameworks (based on reductive identity categories) to everything living under the sun. Also, be sure to cherish your older professors, and learn as much from them as possible before they retire. — djohn, Oct 23 '21 at 02:34
This is why it's important to check the content of the curriculum before applying/accepting a place at a university! — astronat supports the strike, Oct 23 '21 at 11:55

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 22 '21 at 14:39

I think departments in the humanities (at least in the United States) are changing in a way that generally reflects your experience. In the field of history for example, themes that you name like race, gender, and socioeconomics are being studied more often. Whether this is “political” as you ask is difficult to say. In the US, these things have become popular topics of conversation on the news, internet, bars, and in classrooms, just to name a few. I think that universities are reflecting this change. Whether it is because of orders from on high to change curriculum, because people think it makes them look better, or because professors have a more genuine interest in these topics, for me, is impossible to say.

In my experience with history departments, the “grandfathered in” faculty also have interests that are less likely to mirror this change in US social climate.

I'm just wondering whether there will be room at the graduate and postgraduate level for someone who is purely interested in studying the formal elements of literature, or I will be squeezed out.

There’s always room, but you may have difficulties going against the grain. I have found success studying under those older grandfathered-in professors because not only will they be able to pass on their knowledge, but they can give advice for how to study your interests. I’ve had to design my own course of study at the graduate level, which has been a lot of work but has also been rewarding. If you can find one or two professors who can support you and give you advice, I think you’ll be in a good place to study your interests at the graduate level.

40 years ago race, gender, and socioeconomics were normal topics to address in English at the collegiate level. For the record, Faulkner is chock full of such topics (just one example). — Jon Custer, Oct 22 '21 at 14:47

Do US English departments still teach formal elements of literature?

1 Answers1