Negotiating Religious Faith in the Composition Classroom

Religious faith may seem to be so personal that it has no place in the composition classroom. But Negotiating Religious Faith in the Composition Classroom demonstrates the myriad and profound ways that religious faith shapes the work of composition students and instructors, whether or not they are believers. Elizabeth Vander Lei and bonnie kyburz invite you to consider anew how religious faith can help writers and teachers accomplish the goals of composition by addressing questions such as:

• What is the role of faith in the classroom?
• How can teachers read and respond to faith-based arguments?
• In what ways are faith and reason compatible?
• How can we best help our students-and ourselves-to learn within explicitly religious contexts?
• Can diversity of religious opinion promote learning in meaningful, passionate ways?

Negotiating Religious Faith in the Composition Classroom includes work by scholars from a range of institutions and settings: faith-based and secular, large and small, public and private. Bringing together scholarship on politics, education, rhetoric and composition, these scholars offer practical suggestions for the teaching of writing.

Thoughtful, balanced, provocative-Negotiating Religious Faith in the Composition Classroom invites readers to join the conversation about religious faith and the teaching of composition.

Elizabeth Vander Lei is Associate Professor of English at Calvin College where she teaches courses on writing, linguistics, and writing pedagogy. She continues to research the intersections of rhetoric, particularly African American rhetoric, and religious belief.

Bonnie Lenore Kyburz teaches at Utah Valley State College and is interested in the value of spontaneity. Her most recent article, "Meaning Finds a Way: Chaos (Theory) and Composition" appeared in College English, and she is presently developing a book on chaos theory and composition. She is also making a documentary film entitled Proposition 1984 that chronicles the NCTE- and Rhetoricians-for-Peace-sponsored 1984 + 20 Project.