English Dept. creates student listserver

The English Department has found yet another use for the information superhighway. It will now offer majors the opportunity to subscribe to a new electronic discussion group -- for students only. The group, created by English Department Chairperson Al Filreis, is designed to allow majors to informally discuss both English-related and non-English-related subjects with their peers. Both department alumni and current students -- about 40 to date -- have subscribed to the new listserver. "The purpose of this innovation is to further our goal of enlivening the social and intellectual life of the undergraduate English program," Filreis said. "And no one will be reading [the letters] except students." Unlike other English listservers, this will be accessible to subscribers only. The department also sponsors a series of additional listservers -- including those highlighting creative writing, Asian-American literature and culture, feminism, literature and culture of the African diaspora, and medieval topics. "We have just about every organizing group in the department on the 'net,'" Filreis said. "They now have expanded means of communicating electronically. "The Undergraduate Advisory Board [for English] has its own listserver," he added. "We also make available to students national listservers on various literary topics." Filreis said all of the students and professors of the department's courses are connected via electronic mail. English Professor Maureen Quilligan said she hopes students utilize the electronic services. "I hope it's going to increase communication and make [interaction] a little more immediate," she said. "We can continue to communicate more than in just the hour and 15 minutes we have in class." Quilligan added that she posts lecture notes for her next class meeting in an attempt to help students come better prepared. "They can check out what I'm going to be discussing," she said. "It makes it easier for them to take notes in class and prepare. "Of course, there's absolutely no substitute for asking questions in class," she added. "But a lot of students don't want to raise their hand in class. The listserver gives them another [forum]." The English Department also maintains a gopher menu for reference materials for majors and prospective majors. It lists course descriptions, information about study abroad programs, explanations about various activities, and faculty and student lists.