But as literature offerings diversify, a new report claims restructured English degree requirements and the increased politicization of its professors are hurting the major.
Jay Schalin, author of the Pope Center report, pointed to mandatory classes on British and American literature that were required in the 1980s at UNC-Chapel Hill. They are now part of a diverse set of classes that satisfy certain period requirements — like Renaissance Women Writers or African American Literature to 1930 — which Schalin argues diminishes the degree.
“It used to be that you tried to understand what the author was getting at at the time he was writing,” he said. “Today it’s more like, ‘Well what does this author have to say about today’s issues?’”
But Beverly Taylor, chairwoman of UNC’s English department, said students have argued for more diverse class selections because they were already immersed in foundational courses throughout their secondary education.
“We want all of you students to have the opportunity to be intelligent readers of various kinds of media,” she said. “We have not abandoned the canon that Mr. Schalin is talking about.”
She said the English department’s transformation began in the 1960s when academics called for a more dissimilar set of literary works.
“It didn’t include many works by women for example, though I think we’re an important segment of the human race,” Taylor said.
She said the voices of African-Americans and Hispanics were also often left out.