Northeastern Illinois University has provided me with educational opportunities for which I am very grateful. Previous classes made it possible for me to perform better at my job and as a more knowledgeable community volunteer. I remain grateful the school and its dedicated faculty which, in the past, recognize that its role was broader than that of the conventional degree granting institution.
Several years ago, I decided to explore areas I had glimpsed briefly but recollected with pleasure. English Literature had been a delight for decades. Previous courses sanctioned my admission to the English graduate program where I took pleasure in reading and discussing great literature ranging from the Canterbury Tales to The Great Gatsby.
During this period, the introduction of critical theory seemed a useful adjunct to study but no more than that. However, in a short time, critical theory superceded the importance of the actual literary works. Deconstruction, Marxist and other theories proliferated and became courses of study in themselves. They seemed to have become the foundation on which the study of English literature at Northeastern Illinois University appears to be based. Critical theory has become a rigid orthodoxy tolerating no dissent, a condition intolerable in a scholarly community.
Reflecting on the absurdities of sitting for the degree, I have elected to forgo further literary studies at Northeastern Illinois University. I had hoped that this latest association would have been as satisfying as the earlier two and write to make you aware of my disappointment.
Irving L. FinstonOctober 16, 2007Copies to: Chairman, Department of English, The Independent, Provost, President of the University