Who We Are
Members of the Symposium on Rhetoric and Christian Tradition explore the many ways that Christian tradition and rhetorical theory intersect. In so doing, we complicate English studies’ “implacable secularism” (Anne Gere’s term for the habit of segregating religious ideas from scholarly work, of falsely distinguishing thinking from feeling and knowing from believing). We believe that rhetorical history, topics, and situations may be shaped by aspects of Christian tradition such as theology, hermeneutics, social relationships, cultural practices, and identities. We believe that the rich diversity of experiences and beliefs associated with Christian tradition offer scholars in rhetoric and composition new vistas for considering a wide range of topics in our field.Founding Members
Anne Ruggles Gere is Professor of English and Professor of Education at the University of Michigan where she directs the Joint Ph.D. in English and Education. She has long been a closet Christian but recently began a more public exploration of issues of faith and rhetoric. Her initial self-disclosure appeared in "The Politics of the Personal: Storying Our Lives against the Grain" in College English. She is currently working on a collection titled Letters from the Manse.
Beth Daniell teaches courses in rhetoric, composition theory, writing, literacy, language, ethnic American literature, and women's studies at Clemson University. In April 2003 her book A Communion of Friendship: Literacy, Spiritual Practice, and Women in Recovery will be published by the Studies in Writing and Rhetoric Series at Southern Illinois University Press. In "Narratives of Literacy: Connecting Composition to Culture" [CCC 50 (1999): 393-410], she discusses the Christian foundation of Freire's pedagogy of the oppressed. In several recent articles she argues that literacy and literacy pedagogy can have a transforming affect, not just on students, but on teachers as well.
Elizabeth Vander Lei is an assistant professor at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She has presented papers on faith and composition at the WPA Conference ("Students of Faith in a Critical Pedagogy") and at 4Cs ("What Once were Vices are Now Habits:' "What Once Were Vices are Now Habits: Protestant Ideals and Community Literacy Programs:). She and Donald R. Hettinga responded to Pricilla Perkins's College English article about Rhetoric, Hermeneutics and Christian tradition in the composition classroom. Currently, Vander Lei is investigating the ways that Christian faith and Christian tradition shape composition programs and composition classrooms.
Tom Amorose is Professor of English and Director of Composition at Seattle Pacific University. He teaches composition at all levels and early English literature, including courses on Shakespeare and Milton. His research interests and publications lie in the areas of the rhetoric of Christian theology, the small-college composition program, and the relation between composition and the liberal arts.
David Jolliffe is Professor of English at DePaul University. He is the author, with William Covino, of Rhetoric: Concepts, Definitions, Boundaries (Allyn & Bacon, 1993) and of several articles and chapters that examine the cultural, social, and ethical issues students face when they select topics to write about in composition courses.
