Professor of English Victor Strandberg will step down from his position as editor of the Faculty Forum at the end of this year. But the monthly academic newspaper will not disappear: at least one professor is likely to apply for the job.
"Three years is about right" for a term as editor, Strandberg wrote in an e-mail explaining his decision. "The job involves quite a bit of work, which has held back my conventional scholarship considerably, though-on the other hand-I have put a lot of unconventional scholarship into the essays I have written to fill the spaces left blank by my faculty colleagues."
The paper-inserted monthly into the Dialogue-is designed as a venue for faculty members to discuss topics of common interest. Strandberg's personality is often apparent; the Forum includes a regular feature, "Ferret: Transgressive Deconstructions," in which he critiques cultural studies and postmodernist writing. It also publishes minutes from meetings of the Academic Council, which sponsors the Forum.
The Forum came under fire in 1997, when members of the Academic Council questioned whether it was achieving its desired purpose. The council's executive committee reviewed the Forum, decided to leave Strandberg in place and encouraged him to try to broaden the viewpoints presented in the Forum.
Professor of Law Robert Mosteller, Academic Council chair, expressed confidence that the Forum would continue to be published after Strandberg's departure. A group of faculty members favor the Forum, Mosteller said, and "that's what matters to me."
He said he had already heard of a candidate "likely to be interested" in the position, but the candidate has not contacted him yet.
Mosteller said he hopes for several different candidates with a wide range of perspectives, and is still searching for interested faculty members.
Strandberg said he had persuaded a colleague to apply "to make sure that someone would be there in case there were no other candidates."
Both Mosteller and Strandberg declined to name the likely candidate or candidates.
In addition to its main editor, the Forum has an editorial board that acts to balance out the opinions of the editor. Mosteller said he is optimistic that the board will provide some different ideas for the publication.
In 1997, some faculty members claimed that Strandberg's conservative views discouraged faculty from making submissions to the Forum. They indicated that his views were too prevalent in the publication.
Strandberg said the criticism played no part in his decision to step down. The Forum was always open to all faculty, he explained. "My Duke colleagues always had first priority with their contributions."
Strandberg said he hopes that his successor will be able to get many faculty contributions and will also be able to spice the publication up a little "with photographs and cartoons to break up the monotony of words."
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