Miller: We shouldn’t have ‘film and media departments.’ Film is a medium and it should not be prioritized over newspapers, blogs, games, radio, novels, or television, which need to be taught together under one roof. In terms of political priorities, we need to organize such departments in terms of all the media; all the social groups in our catchment areas, along with their diasporas; and all the disciplinary formations that touch on these topics. The politics will take care of themselves once we transcend old ways of conceptualizing departments and cease affirmative action for white men, textualists, and positivists.
Tryon: Because I currently work in an English department at a teaching institution, I haven’t had had as much experience in addressing this particular question. When I have been involved in a job search, our major task has been to find someone who could cover any number of course offerings, making any consideration of political diversity more or less a minor concern. However, my first impulse is to speculate that departments should be attentive to finding scholars who can introduce students to a variety of research interests first rather than trying to cover all political bases. I would, of course, welcome scholars with a multiplicity of political priorities, not only because it would provide students with a diversity of perspectives, and potentially attracting more students to the major, but also because it would likely sharpen my own thinking by having colleagues who approach issues from positions different than my own.
Nichols: Let 100 flowers contend. This is a democracy.
