Fry/Departmental History, 9/15: Preliminary Discussion

The first Fall 2008 Using Theory session features Professor Paul Fry leading a discussion of the history of the Yale English department. Lunch will take place at 1 p.m. in LC 319. Packets with Prof. Fry's draft history are available in the department lounge. We invite you to begin discussing this reading before the lunch, if you like, by submitting comments to this post.

Incidentally--it has come to our attention that the flyers for this session have occasioned some bafflement. AG is solely responsible for them. The individual twice pictured is William Lyon ("Billy") Phelps (served 1892-1933). AG suggests you think of the pictures as the two pillars of our very own Phelps gate.


Discussion questions:
CG: There is no shortage of topics for discussion tomorrow, so I'll keep my question brief. Prof. Fry opens his account of the department's history by pointing out that it has been "an odd quirk of our reputation in the world that opinions [of the department] are never wholly free from concern for 'what Yale's English Department should be doing.'" This is something we've all encountered in one form or another, and surely it has and continues to affect the way others see Yale English. The department is expected to realize conflicting and probably unrealistic ideas of what a top department should be and do. What is unclear to me, however, is the extent to which this "quirk" of our reputation has shaped--and continues to shape--the internal evolution of the department? Another, related question: What is the relationship between the reputation of Yale English and the reputation of Yale University?

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