In teaching issues-based 102 classes, I have found use of a listserv run
by three or four cooperating teachers from geographically distant areas
incredibly helpful in dealing with the dualism characteristic of entering
freshmen, especially when it comes to their use of premises based on
religious faith in developing an argument.
I don't have to "threaten" their faith or reveal my own position, but they
quickly discover that citing a religious text as authority for a premise or
assumption will result in their being carefully questioned by their reading
audience of students from varied backgrounds. They learn quickly to
seek out authority that will be accepted by those with whom they are
trying to communicate.
I'm a hopeless pragmatist, I guess. Using a listserv just seems to
make it all so simple.
Margaret Barber