In Bizell’s article, “Composition Saves The World” she discusses Fish’s book Save The World On Your Own Time. Fish’s thesis is that academics have one job, which is to teach the material of their discipline methods and objects of study. That in academia we should seek out academic truths. This method strikes me as mechanical and cold. I know that the work of an academic should be something, at lease according to administration, that is grade-able and objective. But I don’t believe writing has to be objective, which I read as a desire for it to be comfortable. I want the work that do as an academic (teacher and student) to be useful and practical. But I think the usefulness of writing, particularly in the age of digital social justice, may be aided by some uncomfortable discussion and writing.
I think that by limiting the role of teacher as en Enforcer of Truth (an obvious oversimplification of Fish’s thesis), the potential to push students thinking is limited. If conversation and writing opportunities in-class are limited, students won’t have the guidance to develop greater thinking and writing skills. Allowing diverse and “heroic” roles and topics in class validates the writer. Writers learn through writing that what they want to share matters to people who live outside their heads, their audience.