Attachment (e)

>>> Prospero Saiz 01/22/2007 12:45 PM >>>
Dear Elaine,

Here is the descriptive progress report you requested.  Because of the short notice at this very busy time it will be very brief. Also, I am far too busy to attend the meeting.

As I stated before the APC last semester, for several years CL has been working to transform itself to meet the challenges posed by globalization.  We have been unable to do so, however, because of our small numbers.  For more than six years we asked L&S to invest in the transformation but our requests were denied.  At this juncture, CL will continue to bring together multiple languages and cultures and will continue to emphasize the importance of language learning and critical thinking in the discipline.  A stronger emphasis will be placed on translation/translocation practices.  A large part of our mission will continue to be devoted to work which will assist in the production of an informed comparative global scholarship in literature and culture.  CL will promote solid cross-disciplinary and cross-regional comparative scholarship.   

It is my understanding that Dean Sandefur intends to keep the current departmental structure as we work on the "transformation."  The department name, then, will remain the same.  As before, although with important innovations, the programmatic direction of the department will focus on Comparative Literary and Cross-Cultural Studies (this, indeed, might be a more apt name in the future).

We are in the process of revising our curriculum.  Because of our small faculty numbers we will have to rely heavily on cross-listed courses for next AY.  In this regard, we have gotten very good cooperation from Classics, Scandinavian Studies, French and Italian, and expect cooperation from Art History.

CL is working on two tracks at the present time: Track 1: we continue to ask qualified UW-Madison faculty to join us in the programmatic development  of CL.  Some faculty have expressed an interest in joining us either as joint-appointments or affiliates.   Faculty who have expressed a strong willingness to assist us so far are: Moneera Al-Ghadeer (AL&L); Jill Casid (Art History); Charo D'Etcheverry (East Asian L&L); Guillermina de Ferrari (Spanish); and Gudrun Buhnemann (Langs&Cult of Asia ).

Susan Wofford (English) is considering joining us in a year or so.

I list some names of faculty we are about to contact: Heinz Klug (Global Legal Studies); Rachel Brenner (Hewbrew & Semetic Studies); Ken George (Anthropology); Henry Drewal (Afro-Am) ; Richard Goodkin (French & Italian); Tejumola Olaniyan (Afric Lang & Lit); Lisa H. Cooper (English); Vinay Dhardwadker (Langs.& Cult of Asia); Susan Brantly (Scand. Studies); Jim Leary (Scand. Studies); Vankat Mani (German); Richard Goodkin (French & Italian).

Track 2: I am attempting to put together a group of consultants to assist us as we develop the program.  So far Dean Kornblatt has agreed to serve in this capacity.  Prof. Lezra declined because of his new administrative duties.  I will soon invite Profs. Longinovoc (Slavic), Hutchinson (Spanish), and Friedman (English) to join this group.  Other names are also being considered.  This group will consist of about six senior faculty and three CL students.

I t is anticipated that degree requirements at both the undergraduate and graduate levels will remain fairly the same, with innovations in criticism and theory, including linguistics and semiotics, and emergent literatures.  As part of Global Relations, the translation practices and trans-locations component will be grown and take on more importance. We will also try to develop the following components: Literature-Media-Visual Studies and Literature and the Human Sciences (e.g., anthropology).

Sincerely, Prospero