Gerald Graff
Encyclopedia
Gerald Graff is a professor
of English and Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago
. He received his B.A. in English from the University of Chicago
in 1959 and his Ph.D. in English and American Literature from Stanford University
in 1963. He has taught at the University of New Mexico
, Northwestern University
, the University of California at Irvine and at Berkeley, as well as Ohio State University
, Washington University, and the University of Chicago
. He has been teaching at the University of Illinois at Chicago since 2000.
Graff's earlier works emphasized literature's rational, discursive qualities, and in Literature Against Itself (1979) he took aim at what he saw as the anti-mimetic, irrationalist assumptions underlying both avant-garde writing and structuralist/poststructuralist critical theory. Graff's emphasis on literature as rational statement bears comparison with the theories of Yvor Winters
, his professor at Stanford in the 1960s.
Graff's later research has a heavy focus on pedagogy
. He has discussed things like his own dislike of books at an early age and the way in which academic discourse is needlessly obscure. Dr. Graff is also the founder of Teachers for a Democratic Culture, an organization dedicated, in their words, to "combating conservative misrepresentations" of college pedagogy.
Graff coined the term "teach the controversy" in his college courses in the 1980s and later set the idea in print in his 1993 book Beyond The Culture Warshttp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0393311139. Graff's thesis was that college instructors should teach the conflicts around academic issues so that students may understand how knowledge becomes established and eventually accepted. The term "teach the controversy" has since become better known after having been appropriated in a different form as the "teach the controversy" movement
by individuals seeking to legitimize the teaching of creationism
and intelligent design
in classrooms. A self-described liberal secularist, Graff has publicly lamented what he considers the misappropriation of his idea for unscholarly purposes.
Graff teaches both graduate courses on teaching undergraduate writing and undergraduate writing courses. He teaches writing courses with his wife, Cathy Birkenstein, who is a lecturer in English and received her Ph.D. in American literature
and is currently working on a biography of Booker T. Washington
. She created the templates that make up They Say/I Say, a composition textbook that gives students templates to use in their academic writing.
Also, while at the University of Chicago
, Graff co-founded the Master of Arts Program in the Humanities (MAPH), a one-year interdisciplinary program, allowing students to take courses in philosophy, English, art history, and other fields. He was president of the Modern Language Association
in 2008.
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of English and Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago
University of Illinois at Chicago
The University of Illinois at Chicago, or UIC, is a state-funded public research university located in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, near the Chicago Loop...
. He received his B.A. in English from the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
in 1959 and his Ph.D. in English and American Literature from Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
in 1963. He has taught at the University of New Mexico
University of New Mexico
The University of New Mexico at Albuquerque is a public research university located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the United States. It is the state's flagship research institution...
, Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
, the University of California at Irvine and at Berkeley, as well as Ohio State University
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
, Washington University, and the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
. He has been teaching at the University of Illinois at Chicago since 2000.
Graff's earlier works emphasized literature's rational, discursive qualities, and in Literature Against Itself (1979) he took aim at what he saw as the anti-mimetic, irrationalist assumptions underlying both avant-garde writing and structuralist/poststructuralist critical theory. Graff's emphasis on literature as rational statement bears comparison with the theories of Yvor Winters
Yvor Winters
Arthur Yvor Winters was an American poet and literary critic.-As modernist:Winters's early poetry, which appeared in small avant-garde magazines alongside work by writers like James Joyce and Gertrude Stein, was written in the modernist idiom, and was heavily influenced both by Native American...
, his professor at Stanford in the 1960s.
Graff's later research has a heavy focus on pedagogy
Pedagogy
Pedagogy is the study of being a teacher or the process of teaching. The term generally refers to strategies of instruction, or a style of instruction....
. He has discussed things like his own dislike of books at an early age and the way in which academic discourse is needlessly obscure. Dr. Graff is also the founder of Teachers for a Democratic Culture, an organization dedicated, in their words, to "combating conservative misrepresentations" of college pedagogy.
Graff coined the term "teach the controversy" in his college courses in the 1980s and later set the idea in print in his 1993 book Beyond The Culture Warshttp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0393311139. Graff's thesis was that college instructors should teach the conflicts around academic issues so that students may understand how knowledge becomes established and eventually accepted. The term "teach the controversy" has since become better known after having been appropriated in a different form as the "teach the controversy" movement
Teach the Controversy
Teach the Controversy is the name of a Discovery Institute campaign to promote intelligent design, a variant of traditional creationism, while attempting to discredit evolution in United States public high school science courses...
by individuals seeking to legitimize the teaching of creationism
Creationism
Creationism is the religious beliefthat humanity, life, the Earth, and the universe are the creation of a supernatural being, most often referring to the Abrahamic god. As science developed from the 18th century onwards, various views developed which aimed to reconcile science with the Genesis...
and intelligent design
Intelligent design
Intelligent design is the proposition that "certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection." It is a form of creationism and a contemporary adaptation of the traditional teleological argument for...
in classrooms. A self-described liberal secularist, Graff has publicly lamented what he considers the misappropriation of his idea for unscholarly purposes.
Graff teaches both graduate courses on teaching undergraduate writing and undergraduate writing courses. He teaches writing courses with his wife, Cathy Birkenstein, who is a lecturer in English and received her Ph.D. in American literature
American literature
American literature is the written or literary work produced in the area of the United States and its preceding colonies. For more specific discussions of poetry and theater, see Poetry of the United States and Theater in the United States. During its early history, America was a series of British...
and is currently working on a biography of Booker T. Washington
Booker T. Washington
Booker Taliaferro Washington was an American educator, author, orator, and political leader. He was the dominant figure in the African-American community in the United States from 1890 to 1915...
. She created the templates that make up They Say/I Say, a composition textbook that gives students templates to use in their academic writing.
Also, while at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
, Graff co-founded the Master of Arts Program in the Humanities (MAPH), a one-year interdisciplinary program, allowing students to take courses in philosophy, English, art history, and other fields. He was president of the Modern Language Association
Modern Language Association
The Modern Language Association of America is the principal professional association in the United States for scholars of language and literature...
in 2008.
Nonfiction
- Poetic Statement and Critical Dogma (1980)
- Criticism in the University (1980)
- Professing Literature: An Institutional History (1987)
- Beyond the Culture Wars: How Teaching the Conflicts Can Revitalize American Education (1993)
- Literature Against Itself: Literary Ideas in Modern Society (1979)
- Clueless in Academe: How Schooling Obscures the Life of the Mind (2004)
- They Say/I Say: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing (with Cathy Birkenstein) (2005)
External links
- Gerald Graff, Ph.D., official website