THIS DISSERTATION BEGINS AS AN INQUIRY INTO THE HISTORY OF POSSIBILITIES FOR A SET OF PROBLEMS (OR CRISES) WHICH APPEARED IN THE SUNY ALBANY ENGLISH DOCTORAL PROGRAM DURING THE MID- TO LATE-1990's. (WHETHER OR NOT THIS "INQUIRY" SHOULD BE CALLED "ETHNOGRAPHIC" OR "AUTOETHNOGRAPHIC" OR "MYTHOLOGICAL" WILL BE THE SUBJECT OF THE INTRODUCTION SINCE I WANT TO ARGUE THAT THESE APPROACHES ARE NOT AS DISTINCTIVE OR OPPOSITIONAL AS THEY MAY TRADITIONALLY SEEM.) SUCH A HISTORY REPRESENTS A COMBINATION OF RESEARCH INTO THE PREEXISTING WRITTEN ACCOUNTS AND ORAL ACCOUNT/INTERVIEWS OF THE GENESIS OF THE ORIGINAL PH.D. PROGRAM, THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF ITS DEMISE IN THE MID-1970's, THE SUBSEQUENT DEVELOPMENT OF THE D.A. PROGRAM DURING THE 1980's. AND THE REINAUGURATION OF THE PHD IN THE EARLY 1990'S. THIS PORTION OF THE DISSERTATION ENTAILS COLLECTING, ARRANGING AND CONTRASTING THE "ALREADY SAIDS" ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE PROGRAM INSOFAR AS THEY ASSIST IN EXPLAINING (OR COMPLICATING) THE DISCIPLINARY, DEPARTMENTAL AND INSTITUTIONAL FORCES LEADING-UP TO THE CONFLICTS THAT APPEARED THROUGHOUT THE 1990's. IN DOING SO, IT IS NECESSARY TO ADDITIONALLY CONSIDER HOW COMPETING HISTORICAL NARRATIVES HAVE ALREADY BEEN MARSHALLED WITHIN THE PROGRAM TO EITHER SUPPORT OR CRITIQUE RECENT DIAGNOSES OF THE PROBLEMS> THIS ANALYSIS INVOLVES EXAMINING HOW THE HISTORY OF THE PROGRAM HAVE ALREADY BEEN INSCRIBED INTO DOCUMENTS, HOW THOSE HISTORIES HAVE BEEN SLECTIVELY FRAMED, AND FOR WHAT PURPOSES AND STRATEGIES SUCH HISTORIES SERVE IN THEIR DEPLOYMENT WITHIN THE DEPARMENT AND BEYOND. THE SIMULTANEOUS QUESION IS WHICH DISCIPLINARY AND INSTITUTIONAL HISTORIES FURTHER CONTEXTUALIZE THE WORK OF THE D.A. AND PH.D. PROGRAMS WITHIN ENGLISH STUDIES AND INDIRECTLY PROVIDE PARADIGMS FOR UNDERSTANDING THE CONFLICTS THAT HAVE "RECENTLY" EMERGED. CONCOMITANTLY, I WANT TO IDENTIFY THE SHORTCOMINGS SUCH PARADIGMS OT THE DEGREE THAT THEY DO NOT ACCOUNT FOR THE VARIABILITY AND UNPREDICTABILITY OF HOW COMPOSITION, CULTURAL STUDIES, THEORY, AND POETICS HAVE BEEN INSTITUTIONALIZED AND HAVE MERGED WITHIN SPECIFIC PROGRAMS SUCH AS ALBANY'S.
ONE OF THE PREMISES OF HISTORICIZING THE SUNY ALBANY PROGRAM, IN CONTRAST TO OTHER PROGRAMS, IS THAT THE DEPARTMENT, ALMOST INARGUABLY, REPRESENTS ONE OF THE FEW ENGLISH STUDIES PROGRAMS WHEREIN, DURING THE 1980'S, COMPOSITION THEORY AND POETICS WERE CENTRAL, RATHER THAN MARGINAL, TO THE CURRICULUM AND WHEREIN IT WAS POSSIBLE TO PRACTICE PEDAGOGICAL "CRITIQUE" AMD CULTURAL "CRITIQUE" FROM THE FRAMEWORKS OF WHAT SOME MIGHT CALL "POETIC" SOCIAL THEORY AND DISCOURSE THEORY. THIS IS CERTAINLY NOT TO SAY THAT THESE "TRENDS" UNIVERSALLY DEFINED THE PROGRAM; RATHER, THEIR EXISTENCES DEVIATE FROM THE NORMS OF MANY OTHER ENGLISH STUDIES DOCTORAL PROGRAMS IN A WAY THAT MADE POSSIBLE TEACHING AND RESEARCH PROJECTS DISTINCTIVE FROM THOSE OF MOST OTHER PROGRAMS. EXPLORING SUCH DEVIATIONS ENABLES ONE TO COMPREHEND HOW THE CONFLICTS WITHIN THE ALBANY DEPARTMENT HAVE EMERGED ALONG DIFFERENT LINES THAN THOSE WITH OTHER DEPARTMENTS. THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THIS DISSERTATION SETS OUT TO DOCUMENT THE EMERGENCE OF THE D.A. PROGRAM AT SUNY ALBANY AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER D.A. PROGRAMS AND PH.D. PROGRAMS AT THE SAME TIME. THIS CHAPTER SEEKS TO IDENTIFY THE SPECIFIC CONDITIONS THAT CONVERGED SO AS TO PRODUCE A MORE "EXPERIMENTAL" PROGRAM THAT BRIDGED THE DIVIDES BETWEEN LITERARY STUDIES, COMP)SITION, POETICS AND CULTURAL THOERY. WHEREAS THEORISTS ISCH AS JAMES BERLIN AND GERALD GRAFF HAVE NOTED THE UNIQUENESS OF THE ALBANY D.A.. AND FACULTY MEMBERS HAVE DETAILED ITS RADICAL INTENTIONS IN ARTICLES, MANY OF THESE PORTRAYALS CONSTITUTE "IDEALS" WHICH OVERSIGHT THE INSTITUTIONAL AND DISCIPLINARY REALITIES THAT HAVE INTERVENED IN ACCOMPLISHING THOSE IDEALS. THIS CHAPTER AIMS TO ACCOUNT FOR THE INSTITUTIONAL/DISCIPLINARY CONSTRAINTS, THEORETICAL CONFLICTS AND VARIOUS EDUCATIONAL ASSUMPTIONS INTERVENING IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF A PROGRAM WHICH INTENDED, IN ONE SENSES, TO FOREGROUND COMPOSITION, PEDAGOGY AND POETICS -- AREAS TRADITIONALLY MARGINALIZED IN MOST ENGLISH STUDIES PROGRAMS. THE PURPOSE IS ALSO TO DOCUMENT THE DIVERGENT MOTIVATIONS ON THE PART OF BOTH FACULTY AND STUDENTS, FOR PURSUING A GRADUATE PROGRAM THAT IMPLICITLY CRITIQUED THE CENTRALITY OF THE LITERARY TEXT AS AN OBJECT OF CRITICISM AND INSTEAD EMBRACED EXPERIMENTAL, CRITICAL INQUIRIES INOT THE INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF INTERPRETIVE METHODOLOGIES AND TRADITIONAL APPROACHES OT TEACHING WRITING, LITERATURE AND CULTURAL THEORY. I WANT TO BE CAREFUL TO UNDERSCORE THAT NO SINGLE AGENDA OR PROGRAM CHARACTERIZED THE D.A>, EVEN AS I WANT TO LOCATE ASET OF PROBLEMATICS AND SENSIBILITIES THAT GENERALLY SET THE D.A. PROGRAM PART FROM OTHER ENGLISH STUDIES PROGRAMS. MY IDENTIFICATION OF THESE PROBLEMATICS/SENSIBILITIES IS BASED UPON RESEARCH INTO REPRESENTATIONS OF THE PROGRAM IN DEPARTMENTAL DOCUMENTS AND ARTICLES/CHAPTERS, INTERVIEWS WITH FACULTY AND WITH FORMER GRADUATE STUDENTS, AND OBSERVATIONS BASED UPON MY "INFORMAL" LISTENING TO THE VOLUMINOUS "LORE" OF THE PROGRAM AS A PARTICIPANT-OBSERVER IN THE PROGRAM AFTER THE FACT OF THE D.A.. THIS LATTER METHOD IS WHAT INVOKES THE SENSE THAT THIS PROJECT IS MORE A COLLECTION OF MYTHOLOGIES THAN IT IS ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH; HOWEVER, ETHNOGRAPHY, BY SOME DEFINITIONS, IS INCORPORATIVE OF THIS GATHERING OF STORIES ABOUT THE PAST WHEN WHEN THE ETHNOGRAPHER HERSELF COULD NOT BE PRESENT AT THE SCENES AS THEY UNFOLDED. IN THE INTRODUCTION AND AS A MATTER OF METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH, I WOULD LIKE TO EXPLORE THIS PROBLEM OF "PRESENCE" AS IT HAS BEEN ADDRESSED WITHIN ETHNOGRAPHIC THEORY, SINCE "PRESENCE" AS AN AUTHORIZING DEVICE HAS BECOME A TRICKY ETHNOGRAPHIC CONCEPT WHEN EVEN THE MEMORIES OF DIRECT OBSERVERS/PARTICIPANTS ARE PERCEIVED AS SELECTIVE AND DISPLACEMENTS FROM THE "REAL" OVER TIME AND WHEN THE ORIGINAL EVENT IS PERCEIVED AS IMPOSSIBLE TO EVER FULLY AND ACCURATELY RECOVER FROM ANY "DIRECT" ACCOUNT. MY PREFERENCE, IN THE FACE OF THIS DILEMMA, IS THE PRECEDING QUESTION OF WHY CERTAIN EVENTS AND EXPERIENCES BECOME MAGNETS FOR STORYTELLING, TURNING THE REPLICATION OR MTUATIONS OF THE LORE ITSELF INTO AN OBJECT OF STUDY, AND THIS IS A QUESTION I INTEND TO INVESTIGATE IN THE INTRODUCTION AND THROUGHOUT THE DISSERTATION.
INTRODUCTION
IN THE INTRODUCTION, I INTEND TO OUTLINE BOTH THE METHODOLOGIES AND THE QUESTIONS THAT WILL BE GUIDING MY RESEARCH IN THIS DISSERTATION. THIS WILL INCLUDE A THEORETICAL DISCUSSION OF THE INEVITABLE PROBLEMS AND COMPLICATIONS OF CONDUCTING THIS KIND OF RESEARCH WITHIN AN INSTITUTIONAL AN DEPARTMENTAL SPACE IN WHICH I HAVE BEEN POSITIONED AS A GRADUATE STUDENT WITH CERTAIN INVESTMENTS AND INTERESTS SHAPING THE KINDS OF QUESTIONS ASKED. WITH THIS IN MIND, IT IS NECESSARY TO REFLECT UPON HOW MY OWN THEORETICAL INTERESTS CONSTITUTE A POTENTIAL BIAS IN MY ANALYSES YET ALSO INFORM HOW I FRAME MY INTERPRETATIONS. THIS KIND OF AUTOETHNOGRAPHIC REFLECTIONS ALSO INVOLVES CONSIDERING HOW MY POSITIONING BOTH BENEFITS AND HINDERS THE INFORMATION TO WHICH I HAVE ACCESS, AS WELL AS RAISES A SET OF ETHICAL QUESTIONS ABOUT REPRESENTING EVENTS AND STATEMENTS WHICH SOME MIGHT CONSIDER OUTSIDE THE PUBLIC DOMAIN. I WILL CAREFULLY DETAIL HOW MY REPRESENTATIONAL CHOICES ARE GUIDED BY (AND POTENTIALLY DEPART FROM) HOW OTHER ETHNOGRAPHERS HAVE CONDUCTED INSTITUTIONAL AND PEDAGOGICAL RESEARCH OF SIMILAR NATURES. AS WITH ANY "ETHNOGRAPHIC" RESEARCH, ONE MUST ACCOUNT FOR THE POTENTIAL HARMFUL EFFECTS OF ANY REPRESENTATIONS UPON THE SUBJECTS REPRESENTED; HOWEVER, I ALSO WEIGH THOSE POTENTIAL EFFECTS AGAINST THE EXISTING EFFECTS OF THE NARRATIVES ALREADY CIRCULATING ABOUT THE PROGRAM FOR PART OF MY RESEARCH DOES ENTAIL TRACING THE MANY NARRATIVES ABOUT THE PROGRAM WHICH HAVE ALREADY ESCAPED ITS BOUNDARIES AND BECOME PART OF DISCIPLINARY AND PROFESSIONAL DISCUSSIONS BEYOND THE PROGRAM ITSELF. THIS APPROACH MEANS LOOKING AT WHERE THE STORIES AHVE ALREADY TRAVELLED TO AND HOW THEY HAVE ALREADY BEEN RECEIVED OUTSIDE THE DEPARTMENT. IN THIS INTRODUCTION, I ALSO WANT TO ACCOUNT FOR THE CONDITIONS THAT INSTIGATED MY INTERESTS IN PURSUING A DISSERTATION OF THIS NATURE AND HOW I VIEW THIS PROJECT CONTRIBUTING TO A LARGER DISCUSSION ABOUT GRADUATE STUDY IN ENGLISH DEPARTMENTS, PARTICULARLY IN LIGHT OF THE VARIOUS CRITIQUES OF THE LIMITATIONS OF ANY PEDAGOGICAL ENDEAVOR INTENDED TO SOMEHOW REFORM AND/OR CRITIQUE GRADUATE EDUCATION. I AM REFERRING MORE SPECIFICALLY TO THE WORK OF JAMES SOSNOSKI, EVAN WATKINS AND BILL READINGS AND THE QUESTIONS THEY EACH INDIRECTLY RAISE ABOUT THE DIFFICULTIES OF ENACTING THE GENERAL INTENTIONS OF A PROGRAM SUCH AS ALBANY'S WITHIN DISCIPLINARY AND INSTITUTIONAL SPACES DESIGNED TO EVALUATE, DISCIPLINE, PROFESSIONALIZE AND INCORPORATE STUDENTS' WORK INTO THE STATUS QUOS OF HIGHER EDUCATION'S SERVICE TO PROFESSIONAL AND CORPORATE INTERESTS. THERE IS NO EASY WAY TO SUMMARIZE THESE DIFFICULTIES FOR THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROPOSAL, AND PART OF THE PURPOSE OF THIS DISSERTATION IS TO CONCRETIZE THE ANALYSES MADE BY THESE THEORISTS BY LOOKING AT HOW THEY DO AND/OR DO NOT APPLY TO A GRADUATE PROGRAM WHICH HAS FASHIONED ITSELF AS A SPACE OF REFORM. AT THE SAME TIME, I DO NOT WANT FOR THEIR MORE THEORETICAL ANALYSES TO ENTIRELY DOMINATE THE FRAMING OF MY OBSERVATIONS, EVEN AS I FIND THEIR FRAMEWORKS USEFUL FOR UNDERSTANDING THE DIFFICULTIES OF TRANSLATING THE "IDEALS" FORMULATED IN THE PH.D. PROPOSAL OF THE LATE 1980'S AND THEN DIAGNOSING HOW THOSE IDEALS WERE EVENTUALLY SHORT-CIRCUITED BY INSTITUTIONAL REALITIES UNFORESEEN. THIS PROBLEM RELATES TO A LARGER REPRESENTATIONAL PROBLEM I WILL ALSO WANT TO ADDRESS IN THE INTRODUCTION, AND THAT IS THE ISSUE OF HOW TO BALANCE "ETHNOGRAPHIC" OBSERVATIONS AGAINST THE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK OF WHICH I AM ALREADY ACCUSTOMED. ONE WAY OF ADDRESSING THIS PROBLEM WILL BE TO FOREGROUND THE INEVITABLE TENSIONS ENCOUNTERED BY OTHER CONTEMPORARY ETHNOGRAPHERS WHEN THEY HAVE SOUGHT SUCH A BALANCE BETWEEN NARRATIVE AND THEORY. THIS SAME TENSION, OF COURSE, HAS BECOME ONE OF THE SOURCES OF CONFLICT WITHIN THE PROGRAM AS IT PERTAINS TO THE DEBATES ABOUT THE NEXUS AND ABOUT THE DISCOURSES FOR CONDUCTING THEORETICAL INQUIRY IN GRADUATE COURSES.