This resource list grows out of an on-going project at George Mason Univeristy (GMU) to rethink the current shape and future directions of English studies in a context of cultural diversity (both here within the United States and in the wider global arena).  Given the character of the English department at GMU, our interest encompasses a wide range of disciplinary areas (literature, theatre, film, folklore, composition, creative writing), though these areas are very unevenly represented in what follows.
 

There is now a large body of work that takes up particular aspects of English in global contexts.  The resource list that follows does not attempt the impossible task of enumerating this large and rapidly expanding body of work; instead, it seeks to gather together some material useful for scholars and teachers seeking to give more focused attention to issues of cultural diversity in their engagement with English studies.  Much expanding of the boundaries of English studies has taken place at the level of concrete case studies (of particular authors or works), but this has not always resulted in significant rethinking of the scope, assumptions, and critical paradigms of English studies.  The list that follows emphasizes this last kind of meta-critical work, i.e., reflections on disciplinary practice in English studies in light of issues of cultural diversity.   It also includes a number of studies of particular issues and terrains that aren’t primarily focused on disciplinary revision and critique but that provide useful information and perspectives for those who are interested in such revision and critique.   (Persons interested in this work might also want to consult the separate resource list of “Multicultural and World Literature Anthologies” compiled as part of this project.)
 

Every part of this resource list has been compiled in an unsystematic fashion and additional suggestions and corrections would be very welcome (contact Alok Yadav at ayadav@gmu.edu).  The resource list is still in a somewhat preliminary state; nonetheless, there are several hundred citations here and there should be something of interest to most anyone interested in the general issues mentioned above.
 

This list of resources is divided into six sections, as follows:
 

United States focus (incl. “multiculturalism”)

1. Rethinking American Literary Studies/American Studies

    2. Rethinking Writing, Composition, & Communication Studies

3. Rethinking American Social and Cultural History

International focus (incl. “globalization”)

    4. Rethinking English/Cultural Studies in Global Contexts

    5. Rethinking the English Language in Global Contexts

    6. Rethinking the Global Scene
 

Some of the acts of classification within these six categories are relatively arbitrary—and some are, no doubt, mistaken—but the idea is to group together the work broadly focused on English studies as a disciplinary formation in sections 1 and 4 (for literary focus) and in section 2 (for writing & composition), and to put other relevant social and historical studies, as well as case studies of particular cultural contexts or traditions, in sections 3, 5 and 6.  (You can also access all the six categories of citations as a single file by clicking here, although this file is not always as up-to-date as the individual sections)
 

A very few of the items have descriptive annotations.