Religious students in the writing class

Although the typical writing instructor might not be likely to have numerous encounters with fundamentalist students throughout the course of a career, most writing instructors will almost certainly have students who write in and from a range of religious, political, and ideological contexts. Because such students often struggle against writing pedagogies that promote cultural pluralism and social justice through liberal or left-wing political ideologies, ethnographic examination of religious ideology and politics is a valuable critical tool for reflection for composition scholars as they consider how to address religious discourse, faith-based claims, and religious political agendas in their students' writings, class discussions, and responses to course materials and instruction. My acute understanding of this pedagogical conflict is informed by my own academic formation and in-class instructional experiences, and the point at which I began scrutinizing the intersections of Christian fundamentalism and contemporary composition pedagogy is a significant element of this study.