Tiffany Richmond

Dissertation Abstract

Devout Pedagogy: An Analysis of Nineteenth Century Christian Women

My research is situated in scholarship surrounding the rescue, recovery, and (re)inscription of
historical women rhetors, particularly those within religious spaces. Most recently, I have

examined selected texts from Margaret E. Barber (1866-1930), a British missionary to China;
Mary McDonough (1863-1962), an American pianist and Sunday school teacher; and Jessie
Penn-Lewis (1861-1927), a teacher, evangelist and activist. Looking at these women as three

case studies, my dissertation Devout Pedagogy: An Analysis of Late Nineteenth Century Christian
Women, places a lens on their rhetorical practices, particularly in religious spaces. These
womens practices inform how scholars can understand the range of knowledges that students

bring with them into the writing classroom. As this work is historical in nature, I draw upon
feminist historical and archival research methods as my primary methods of investigation.
Further, in the case studies I examine closely through textual analysis surviving work produced

by these three women. My work extends our knowledge of rhetorical and pedagogical practices
in religious spaces and further fosters ethically and culturally rich learning in the space of the
classroom.