Speaking of MLA, I saw this article on Inside Higher Ed about a panel there and thought I’d pass the link on:
What direction for Rhet-Comp?
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/12/30/comp#Comments
Seems like a good read as we prepare our courses for next semester, plus there’s a very spirited discussion in the comments section that bears reading as well. T0 me, the article and discussion points to disciplinary struggles that have long characterized English Studies as a whole and will continue indefinitely because of current economic realities and constantly emerging writing technologies. I also thought it was interesting that when rhet/comp is “voiced” on a larger level, it’s generally not by a rhet/comp person. In fact, Jim Ridolfo, who was at the panel, takes issue with the reporter’s account, and begins a post by writing, “I must have attended a different session.” (And, of course, Jaschik’s article has a much wider academic reach than Ridolfo’s blog.)
http://rid.olfo.org/2009/12/response-to-what-direction-for-rhet-comp/
Anyway, some food for thought and maybe something to discuss next semester. Amy’s work ethic has inspired me, and I’m going to go fall asleep in my sauerkraut now 
Happy New Year!
Moe
2 comments
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January 5, 2010 at 1:37 am
Kevin Mahoney
Thanks for posting this Moe. I am thinking a lot about using these kind of discussions in my Advanced Comp classes.
Hope you had a great holiday! See you in no time.
January 9, 2010 at 9:25 pm
Mysti Rudd
Moe– I found the comments even more interesting than the Inside Higher Ed. article they followed–particularly the ones posted by Tim Mayer, Steve Fox, vfichera, and Kathleen Yancey.
My experience as a parent is that most of us have a lot to say about o.p.c.’s (“Other People’s Children”), and the same seems to hold true for professors who seem unconscious about their vested interests in weighing in on o.p.d.’s (“Other People’s Disciplines”). For lit and comp/rhet mostly have become separate disciplines–with separate journals, separate conferences, and separate (but often competing, at least departmentally) interests. Oh, that we could all be reflective enough to see that that log jam in our own eyes can’t help but create a vision that is compromised.