Written Communication Apr 2015

Writing, Religious Faith, and Rooted Cosmopolitan Dialogue: Portraits of Two American Evangelical Men in a Public School English Classroom

Mary M. Juzwik Michigan State University ; Cori McKenzie Michigan State University

Abstract

Some literacy scholars have embraced rooted cosmopolitanism as a framework for educating in today’s globalized and pluralistic world, where communicating across difference is an important individual and societal good. But how is the “cosmopolitan turn” in writing complicated by considering the religiosity of writing teachers and student writers? Is it possible for writing instructors and student writers to stay rooted in their own faith traditions, while maintaining openness to other ethical vantage points? What new questions are raised for cosmopolitan-minded writing pedagogy by these considerations? Through portraiture, we present complex pictures of how an American evangelical Christian teacher, Sam, and one of his evangelical Christian students, Charlie, engaged with a writing unit focused on “This I Believe” essay writing. The portraitures suggest that Sam, a more cosmopolitan evangelical, envisioned the unit as an invitation to (a) articulate one’s own beliefs in the wide universe of moral possibility and (b) get used to the beliefs of others who are ethically different from oneself. Charlie, on the other hand, conceptualized the unit’s writing, listening, and reading tasks as ways of honoring God and letting God speak through his literate practices. Our interpretation suggests that his populist evangelical faith made it difficult for him to openly engage in cosmopolitan dialogue across ethical difference. We hope our portraits of Sam and Charlie might move scholars interested in writing, literacy education, and rooted cosmopolitanism to engage themselves with the challenges and possibilities opened up when students’ and teachers’ religious roots are taken seriously.

Journal
Written Communication
Published
2015-04-01
DOI
10.1177/0741088315576480
CompPile
Open Access
Closed
Topics
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Citation context

Cited by in this index (5)

  1. Williams et al. (2026)
    Rhetoric and Affect: The Role of Faith in Student Writers’ Wayfinding
    Written Communication
  2. Juzwik et al. (2023)
    Transnational Youth Expressing Religious Being and Belonging through Writing: Y…
    Research in the Teaching of English
  3. Cope (2020)
    Compartmentalizing Faith: How Three First-Semester Undergraduates Manage Evange…
    Research in the Teaching of English
  4. Pavia (2015)
    Taking Up Faith: Ethical Methods for Studying Writing in Religious Contexts
    Written Communication
  5. LeBlanc (2015)
    Performance and Apprehension of the Mass in an Urban Catholic School: Strategy,…
    Written Communication

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CrossRef global citation count: 26 View in citation network → Build reading path →

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