Yale Students: No More Old White Male Writers!

[OldLady]

You can't stop teaching the "old white male writers" and still have an education in English literature! Too much subsequent literature refers back to their works, either implicitly or explicitly. Besides, some of the writers on the list are too cool to jettison. Demands to broaden the canon to represent women and minority writers has been ongoing for decades. The answer is to ADD them, not SUBSTITUTE them, for the old white males who dominated early British literature.

The students seem to want to broaden the scope of the foundational classes in English lit/poetry, which is fine. But taking the old guys off the list? That would result in not such a thorough education as one would expect from a Yalie. Some seem to feel that "decolonizing" doesn't just mean "diversifying." I'm an old lady teacher, but having a degree in English Lit myself, I can't imagine not having a familiarity with these old boys the students are objecting to.

What do you think?

Petition to the Yale English Department Faculty

We, undergraduate students in the Yale English Department, write to urge the faculty to reevaluate the undergraduate curriculum. We ask the department to reconsider the current core requirements and the introductory courses for the major.

In particular, we oppose the continued existence of the Major English Poets sequence as the primary prerequisite for further study. It is unacceptable that a Yale student considering studying English literature might read only white male authors. A year spent around a seminar table where the literary contributions of women, people of color, and queer folk are absent actively harms all students, regardless of their identity. The Major English Poets sequences creates a culture that is especially hostile to students of color.

When students are made to feel so alienated that they get up and leave the room, or get up and leave the major, something is wrong. The English department loses out when talented students engaged in literary and cultural analysis are driven away from the major. Students who continue on after taking the introductory sequence are ill-prepared to take higher-level courses relating to race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, nationality, ability, or even to engage with critical theory or secondary scholarship. We ask that Major English Poets be abolished, and that the pre-1800/1900 requirements be refocused to deliberately include literatures relating to gender, race, sexuality, ableism, and ethnicity.

It’s time for the English major to decolonize — not diversify — its course offerings. A 21st century education is a diverse education: we write to you today inspired by student activism across the university, and to make sure that you know that the English department is not immune from the collective call to action.

It is our understanding that the faculty must vote in order to reconsider the major’s requirements — considering the concerns expressed here and elsewhere by undergraduate students, we believe it would be unethical for any member of the faculty, no matter their stance on these issues, to vote against beginning the reevaluation process. It is your responsibility as educators to listen to student voices. We have spoken. We are speaking. Pay attention.

Yale Students Demand English Department Stop Teaching White Male Poets (SEE THE PETITION)

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Yo! Dats cray cray!

 

[Billy_Kinetta]

"Go to Hell" would be my succinct English response to the students.

 

[Oldstyle]

You can't stop teaching the "old white male writers" and still have an education in English literature! Too much subsequent literature refers back to their works, either implicitly or explicitly. Besides, some of the writers on the list are too cool to jettison. Demands to broaden the canon to represent women and minority writers has been ongoing for decades. The answer is to ADD them, not SUBSTITUTE them, for the old white males who dominated early British literature.

The students seem to want to broaden the scope of the foundational classes in English lit/poetry, which is fine. But taking the old guys off the list? That would result in not such a thorough education as one would expect from a Yalie. Some seem to feel that "decolonizing" doesn't just mean "diversifying." I'm an old lady teacher, but having a degree in English Lit myself, I can't imagine not having a familiarity with these old boys the students are objecting to.

What do you think?

Petition to the Yale English Department Faculty

We, undergraduate students in the Yale English Department, write to urge the faculty to reevaluate the undergraduate curriculum. We ask the department to reconsider the current core requirements and the introductory courses for the major.

In particular, we oppose the continued existence of the Major English Poets sequence as the primary prerequisite for further study. It is unacceptable that a Yale student considering studying English literature might read only white male authors. A year spent around a seminar table where the literary contributions of women, people of color, and queer folk are absent actively harms all students, regardless of their identity. The Major English Poets sequences creates a culture that is especially hostile to students of color.

When students are made to feel so alienated that they get up and leave the room, or get up and leave the major, something is wrong. The English department loses out when talented students engaged in literary and cultural analysis are driven away from the major. Students who continue on after taking the introductory sequence are ill-prepared to take higher-level courses relating to race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, nationality, ability, or even to engage with critical theory or secondary scholarship. We ask that Major English Poets be abolished, and that the pre-1800/1900 requirements be refocused to deliberately include literatures relating to gender, race, sexuality, ableism, and ethnicity.

It’s time for the English major to decolonize — not diversify — its course offerings. A 21st century education is a diverse education: we write to you today inspired by student activism across the university, and to make sure that you know that the English department is not immune from the collective call to action.

It is our understanding that the faculty must vote in order to reconsider the major’s requirements — considering the concerns expressed here and elsewhere by undergraduate students, we believe it would be unethical for any member of the faculty, no matter their stance on these issues, to vote against beginning the reevaluation process. It is your responsibility as educators to listen to student voices. We have spoken. We are speaking. Pay attention.

Yale Students Demand English Department Stop Teaching White Male Poets (SEE THE PETITION)

We have spoken? We are speaking? Pay attention? God, what a load of PC crap! Some little 20 something know it all, is now going to tell Yale what their curriculum should be and if the faculty disagrees then they are "unethical"?

Here's an idea...if you don't like studying Shakespeare then don't become an English major! Stick to "Black Studies" or "Women's Studies" and get the kind of one sided, slanted education that will be totally useless out in the real world unless you get a job in the Public Sector!

 

[defcon4]

Since when students decide curricula?

 

[JakeStarkey]

The fight against old white males in literature has been going on for decades, and the cray cray gang, as CF so succinctly describes it, are indeed silly.

 

[OldLady]

You can't stop teaching the "old white male writers" and still have an education in English literature! Too much subsequent literature refers back to their works, either implicitly or explicitly. Besides, some of the writers on the list are too cool to jettison. Demands to broaden the canon to represent women and minority writers has been ongoing for decades. The answer is to ADD them, not SUBSTITUTE them, for the old white males who dominated early British literature.

The students seem to want to broaden the scope of the foundational classes in English lit/poetry, which is fine. But taking the old guys off the list? That would result in not such a thorough education as one would expect from a Yalie. Some seem to feel that "decolonizing" doesn't just mean "diversifying." I'm an old lady teacher, but having a degree in English Lit myself, I can't imagine not having a familiarity with these old boys the students are objecting to.

What do you think?

Petition to the Yale English Department Faculty

We, undergraduate students in the Yale English Department, write to urge the faculty to reevaluate the undergraduate curriculum. We ask the department to reconsider the current core requirements and the introductory courses for the major.

In particular, we oppose the continued existence of the Major English Poets sequence as the primary prerequisite for further study. It is unacceptable that a Yale student considering studying English literature might read only white male authors. A year spent around a seminar table where the literary contributions of women, people of color, and queer folk are absent actively harms all students, regardless of their identity. The Major English Poets sequences creates a culture that is especially hostile to students of color.

When students are made to feel so alienated that they get up and leave the room, or get up and leave the major, something is wrong. The English department loses out when talented students engaged in literary and cultural analysis are driven away from the major. Students who continue on after taking the introductory sequence are ill-prepared to take higher-level courses relating to race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, nationality, ability, or even to engage with critical theory or secondary scholarship. We ask that Major English Poets be abolished, and that the pre-1800/1900 requirements be refocused to deliberately include literatures relating to gender, race, sexuality, ableism, and ethnicity.

It’s time for the English major to decolonize — not diversify — its course offerings. A 21st century education is a diverse education: we write to you today inspired by student activism across the university, and to make sure that you know that the English department is not immune from the collective call to action.

It is our understanding that the faculty must vote in order to reconsider the major’s requirements — considering the concerns expressed here and elsewhere by undergraduate students, we believe it would be unethical for any member of the faculty, no matter their stance on these issues, to vote against beginning the reevaluation process. It is your responsibility as educators to listen to student voices. We have spoken. We are speaking. Pay attention.

Yale Students Demand English Department Stop Teaching White Male Poets (SEE THE PETITION)

We have spoken? We are speaking? Pay attention? God, what a load of PC crap! Some little 20 something know it all, is now going to tell Yale what their curriculum should be and if the faculty disagrees then they are "unethical"?

Here's an idea...if you don't like studying Shakespeare then don't become an English major! Stick to "Black Studies" or "Women's Studies" and get the kind of one sided, totally slanted education that will be totally useless out in the real world unless you get a job in the Public Sector!

Is this a good example of what we call "sophomoric?"
There are probably some folks on this board who believe the old guys are entirely unnecessary, but to me, it is foundational. You can't really progress in history or science until you've learned some basic facts, a framework of understanding on which to hang your expanding knowledge. To me, the old white guys they are referring to are part of that foundation. How do you fully appreciate modern female poet Plath's "Black Rook in Rainy Weather" unless you've read Keats' "Ode to a Nightingale?" Are you going to miss every reference in literature to Paradise Lost or, for instance, not understand the quip "for whom the bell tolls?"
My guess is that some of these students don't find these guys to be their cup of tea, so they've come up with this great idea, thinking they can connect it to political correctness. Is it sometimes drudgery reading this stuff? Yeah, but so is learning fractions. Doesn't mean you don't have to slog through it.

 

[OldLady]

The fight against old white males in literature has been going on for decades, and the cray cray gang, as CF so succinctly describes it, are indeed silly.

You poor guys. Not so politically correct these days, through no fault of your own.

 

[blastoff]

More lefty lunacy from the campus of the Peoples' Republic of Yale. On the Surprise Scale it rates a zero.

 

[Oldstyle]

You can't stop teaching the "old white male writers" and still have an education in English literature! Too much subsequent literature refers back to their works, either implicitly or explicitly. Besides, some of the writers on the list are too cool to jettison. Demands to broaden the canon to represent women and minority writers has been ongoing for decades. The answer is to ADD them, not SUBSTITUTE them, for the old white males who dominated early British literature.

The students seem to want to broaden the scope of the foundational classes in English lit/poetry, which is fine. But taking the old guys off the list? That would result in not such a thorough education as one would expect from a Yalie. Some seem to feel that "decolonizing" doesn't just mean "diversifying." I'm an old lady teacher, but having a degree in English Lit myself, I can't imagine not having a familiarity with these old boys the students are objecting to.

What do you think?

Petition to the Yale English Department Faculty

We, undergraduate students in the Yale English Department, write to urge the faculty to reevaluate the undergraduate curriculum. We ask the department to reconsider the current core requirements and the introductory courses for the major.

In particular, we oppose the continued existence of the Major English Poets sequence as the primary prerequisite for further study. It is unacceptable that a Yale student considering studying English literature might read only white male authors. A year spent around a seminar table where the literary contributions of women, people of color, and queer folk are absent actively harms all students, regardless of their identity. The Major English Poets sequences creates a culture that is especially hostile to students of color.

When students are made to feel so alienated that they get up and leave the room, or get up and leave the major, something is wrong. The English department loses out when talented students engaged in literary and cultural analysis are driven away from the major. Students who continue on after taking the introductory sequence are ill-prepared to take higher-level courses relating to race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, nationality, ability, or even to engage with critical theory or secondary scholarship. We ask that Major English Poets be abolished, and that the pre-1800/1900 requirements be refocused to deliberately include literatures relating to gender, race, sexuality, ableism, and ethnicity.

It’s time for the English major to decolonize — not diversify — its course offerings. A 21st century education is a diverse education: we write to you today inspired by student activism across the university, and to make sure that you know that the English department is not immune from the collective call to action.

It is our understanding that the faculty must vote in order to reconsider the major’s requirements — considering the concerns expressed here and elsewhere by undergraduate students, we believe it would be unethical for any member of the faculty, no matter their stance on these issues, to vote against beginning the reevaluation process. It is your responsibility as educators to listen to student voices. We have spoken. We are speaking. Pay attention.

Yale Students Demand English Department Stop Teaching White Male Poets (SEE THE PETITION)

We have spoken? We are speaking? Pay attention? God, what a load of PC crap! Some little 20 something know it all, is now going to tell Yale what their curriculum should be and if the faculty disagrees then they are "unethical"?

Here's an idea...if you don't like studying Shakespeare then don't become an English major! Stick to "Black Studies" or "Women's Studies" and get the kind of one sided, totally slanted education that will be totally useless out in the real world unless you get a job in the Public Sector!

Is this a good example of what we call "sophomoric?"
There are probably some folks on this board who believe the old guys are entirely unnecessary, but to me, it is foundational. You can't really progress in history or science until you've learned some basic facts, a framework of understanding on which to hang your expanding knowledge. To me, the old white guys they are referring to are part of that foundation. How do you fully appreciate modern female poet Plath's "Black Rook in Rainy Weather" unless you've read Keats' "Ode to a Nightingale?" Are you going to miss every reference in literature to Paradise Lost or, for instance, not understand the quip "for whom the bell tolls?"
My guess is that some of these students don't find these guys to be their cup of tea, so they've come up with this great idea, thinking they can connect it to political correctness. Is it sometimes drudgery reading this stuff? Yeah, but so is learning fractions. Doesn't mean you don't have to slog through it.

Couldn't agree more! I didn't like taking Freshman English in High School either! Anyone who suffered through that knows it was a real pain in the ass reworking the same paper dozens of times until your teacher stopped covering it with red pencil comments. In doing so you learned how to put ideas to paper without coming across as a complete illiterate...a skill that I used throughout my adult life.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

The fight against old white males in literature has been going on for decades, and the cray cray gang, as CF so succinctly describes it, are indeed silly.

Since most of them can't even read at grade level, I think the point is mood

 

[OldLady]

The fight against old white males in literature has been going on for decades, and the cray cray gang, as CF so succinctly describes it, are indeed silly.

Since most of them can't even read at grade level, I think the point is mood

I have a feeling the kids at Yale can read.

 

[JakeStarkey]

The fight against old white males in literature has been going on for decades, and the cray cray gang, as CF so succinctly describes it, are indeed silly.

Since most of them can't even read at grade level, I think the point is mood

Mood or moot or both?

 

[JakeStarkey]

The fight against old white males in literature has been going on for decades, and the cray cray gang, as CF so succinctly describes it, are indeed silly.

Since most of them can't even read at grade level, I think the point is mood

I have a feeling the kids at Yale can read.

That does not mean they can critically think.

 

[OldLady]

The fight against old white males in literature has been going on for decades, and the cray cray gang, as CF so succinctly describes it, are indeed silly.

Since most of them can't even read at grade level, I think the point is mood

I have a feeling the kids at Yale can read.

That does not mean they can critically think.

That ain't my problem. The little monsters know how to wheedle and whine their way to success, though, hey?

 

[CrusaderFrank]

The fight against old white males in literature has been going on for decades, and the cray cray gang, as CF so succinctly describes it, are indeed silly.

Since most of them can't even read at grade level, I think the point is mood

Mood or moot or both?

moot...thats the Lord's way of keeping me humble and reminding me not to be a dick 24/7

 

[ScienceRocks]

This is very fucking racist. WE want to include white males so they all don't become loserterians and then burn this nation to the ground. This is also very stupid and doesn't help the democrats.

 

[ClosedCaption]

More lefty lunacy from the campus of the Peoples' Republic of Yale. On the Surprise Scale it rates a zero.

Everyone and Everything is the left. Do you think Republicans attend colleges or something?

 

[OldLady]

This is very fucking racist. WE want to include white males so they all don't become loserterians and then burn this nation to the ground. This is also very stupid and doesn't help the democrats.

Shall we send a letter to the Yale students? I'm not sure they were thinking of the political ramifications.

 

[mgh80]

Let's just throw Shakespeare out of the window!