Joyce A. Kinkead

Wired: Computer Networks in the English Classroom.

another via computer links. Some computer systems have networks built in automatically-such as a mainframe or a UNIX operating system (standard on AT&T equipment); other systems have networking capabilities so that given the right hardware and software, computers can talk to each other. E-mail is standard on the more powerful, larger systems. In addition, mainframes often hook into BITNET, an international e-mail system; for example, because my school has BITNET access, when I log onto my computer, the return addresses include Sweden and Canada as well as Kansas City and Ithaca. I am not a tekkie though, and the purpose of this article is not to describe hardware and software. As English teachers, our role is to ask why we want computers available to our students, and what we will do with them. Frankly, computers mean big bucks, and if we dont have sound pedagogical reasons for them, then they are worthless. Computers purchased so that students may do grammar worksheets on screen fit the worthless category; however, computers used so students may write and rewrite with greater ease have value. Most computer/writing rooms are designed with word processing in mind-often including spell and style checkers. As another way to make those computer dollars pay off, networking offers a collaborative model for writing and learning that word processing alone often does not. Pedagogically, our goal is for students to become better writers by writing purposeful, meaningful prose. In short, real writing for real audiences. Electronic mail helps serve just that function. Here are possibilities for writing projects using e-mail.

Recommended: Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Move over Gloria Steinem, Betty Friedan, Kate Millet. Charlotte Perkins Gilman is back. Actually, Gilman has been with us for a long time, just lying low until the time came when she was needed again. Although some readers may be saying Charlotte who? Gilman was a household word in the first part of this century, an early feminist whose works were not recognized as feminist writings until the 1970s. Gilman, however, would not have used the word feminist to describe herself; she was, instead, a humanist-concerned with the equality of both men and women. And this is the theme which dominates all of her

Expanding Opportunities for Undergraduate Research in English Studies

The authors take up the call from the MLA’s Report to the Teagle Foundation on the Undergraduate Major in Language and Literature “to engage students with faculty scholarly interests and the issues and arguments debated in the discipline” and make recommendations on ways undergraduates may conduct research in the field. While English departments have been slow overall to engage students in undergraduate research as popularized in other fields by the Council on Undergraduate Research, the National Conferences on Undergraduate Research, and professional organizations, the authors believe that students have the potential to contribute to knowledge in the field. Invigorating undergraduate research in English studies may benefit all, students and faculty members alike, as well as the field itself. The essay concludes with practical advice to effect change. (JK and LG)

The Making of a Literary Map

Today, when David Lee reads one of his pig poems to audiences around the state, they chuckle and applaud. Many students already know David Lee before he visits their schools for poetry readings because his picture is one of twelve important writers on a poster in their classrooms. Utah is not the only state that has produced a pictorial bibliography of outstanding writers. A Gallery of Literary Maps at recent NCTE conventions demonstrates that more than two dozen state

A Sense of Community: Collaboration in a Large Anthropology Class

Having somebody count on you is what collaboration is all about. However, putting students in groups may not result in cooperative learning if the groups are not carefully structured, with the professor providing the framework on which to build cooper ation. Interest in collaboration among stu dents and between students and faculty, including cooperative learning, has in creased, with some educators terming it nothing less than necessary preparation for a responsible citizenry (Golub 1988). Ede and Lunsford (1990) point out that collaborative writing is integral to the workplace. Still, it is hard for students or teachers to disregard the American tradi tion of individualism that prizes solitary effort, competition, and a winner. This ar ticle describes a collaborative pedagogy emphasizing oral and written communica tion in a large general education class. We describe here an anthropology class. We believe, however, that the procedures can be applied in other courses as well. Dramatic enrollment increases at Utah State University, without a concomitant increase in funding, have resulted in in creased class sizes. The typical enrollment in Introduction to Anthropology has in