Michael Southwell’s Retirement

At the end of the Spring 2001 semester, Michael Southwell retired as Professor of English at York College after 34 years in the City University of New York system, 33 of them at York.

Southwell’s Reflections on his Career

At the time of my retirement, I held a variety of administrative positions throughout the University. I was Senior College Co-Chair of CUNY’s English Discipline Council (consisting of Chairs of English from all units of CUNY), Chair of the Council of Academic Chairs at York (consisting of Chairs of all departments), and Co-Chair of the Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) Initiative at York. In addition, I had been Chair of the Department of English since 1992.

I am most proud of the following accomplishments:

Within the University

I participated in the University’s selection of American College Testing (ACT) as the body which would provide new reading and writing skills tests to replace the infamous Reading and Writing Assessment Tests. On behalf of the English Discipline Council, I made sure that these tests provided a real opportunity for students to demonstrate whether they were ready for college-level work, given the politically charged atmosphere that required the tests.

Within York College

After much effort by the Council of Academic Chairs, the College’s administration agreed to permit Chairs to appoint Deputy Chairs, thus bringing York into line with all other units in CUNY.

I instituted a program of readings by well-known poets and writers which has brought much positive publicity to the College. Among those who have read are Derek Walcott, Sapphire, Thomas Glave, and Theodore Rutkowski. Notable also was a poetry reading in the memory of the prize-winning poet and member of the York faculty, David Ignatow.

As Co-Chair of the WAC Initiative, I had primary responsibility for developing a model for incorporating Writing Across the Curriculum into General Education courses at York. This effort finally succeeded when, in Spring 2001, the College Curriculum Committee and York College Senate agreed that all General Education courses should be writing enhanced.

Within the Department of English

After York’s Department of Academic Skills was dissolved in 1995, and faculty who were teaching Reading in that Department were transferred into the Department of English, I led an integration of what had been separate Reading and Writing instruction into a sequence of courses in Academic Literacy.

Eight new faculty members were hired during my tenure as Chair, revitalizing the Department at a time when senior faculty members were retiring.

I facilitated the reorganization of what had been a traditional major, focused on literary history, into a major emphasizing the various possibilities of literary study: literature, linguistics, journalism, and creative writing. New courses were created, to offer students exposure to more current and exciting trends in literary studies; these courses have already demonstrated their appeal to students. A developmental sequence of courses was created, in which students begin with introductory courses and proceed through a variety of electives to two senior seminars, where they engage in independent study.

I systematized and codified syllabi for Composition and General Education Literature courses in a set of Handbooks, so that students could be confident of receiving comparable courses, whether their instructors were relatively inexperienced part-timers or long-experienced full-timers.

I spearheaded and supported the incorporation of computer technology into the Department’s instruction. As of Spring 2001, all faculty members and Departmental initiatives have their own web pages.

Southwell’s Retirement Party

The Department’s Deputy Chair, Professor Linda Grasso, organized a party on 14 May 2001 to honor Southwell.

Pictures from the Retirement Party

This poem by the Greek poet Sappho was on the party invitation. It suggests beautifully the festive quality of the occasion, and was selected as a tribute to Southwell’s long interest in the literature of Greek and Roman antiquity.