Professor's joke about Mormon YA lit becomes popular recurring course
A faculty meeting quip evolved into a successful Religion and YA Literature class.
What to know
- A professor's offhand joke about teaching Mormons in YA literature—using Twilight as a starting point—accidentally became a popular recurring course on Religion and YA Literature.
- The post sparked a broader conversation about how academic side projects and casual observations can evolve into sustained teaching and research.
Academics teaching niche subjects they're passionate about produce the most engaging and valuable learning experiences.
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“I love when they let the academics just go OFF about what interests them. You get the best classes that way!”
miscue.bsky.social · Bluesky ↗
Religion-focused teaching at religiously affiliated schools enables avoidance of critical thinking and challenge.
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“At a Mormon-heavy school? Of course it's popular. They can avoid good literature and just wallow in pulp nonsense that doesn't offend their narrow religiosity.”
bluethru.bsky.social · Bluesky ↗
swilua.bsky.social College professor
The record 1 articles and posts · last 30 days
What people are saying 24 voices from 1 site · best of 30 · verbatim
- Aug 21
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Have you noticed that a common theme among Mormon authors is having the main character be in mental contact with some non-human entity? The Host by Stephanie Meyer, Speaker for the Dead by Orsen Scott Card, and the spren in the Stormlight Archive series by Brandon Sanderson.
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I had no idea the Twilight author was Mormon! This post is so educational.
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I've never read Twilight but now I'm going to think of this every time someone mentions it.
- Aug 20
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Mormons do love them some fantasy fiction. Hell their whole religion is built around a fantasy novel about prehistoric Jews migrating to the Americas.
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I used the Holy Grail for the Middle Ages. It was great.
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Enders Game comes to mind. A Mormon author, anyway. And themes…
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Why did I read "East Asian" as modifying "professor" rather than "History?"
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I love when they let the academics just go OFF about what interests them. You get the best classes that way! I took a 400-level class on the History of Rock and Roll one time and it was basically the college letting their East Asian History professor go wild. And it was AMAZING! Learned so much!
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Oh, is that the class which read Matched?
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No good deed...or stray thought...goes unpunished.
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You are fantastic. I taught religious ed using The Simpsons and The Twilight Zone!!
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R
Religion: The longest running con job in history and worst crime ever perpetrated on humanity. Indoctrinating children in it is child abuse. It severely damages their ability to make reality-based decisions. For example:
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Does anyone ever bring up that Bella Swan is basically the Cheerfully Suicidal Cow from "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe?"
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Would love to hear the Sanderson discussions!
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S
Lmao no. The Mormons kicked me out I’m in Maryland
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Oh, I was raised Mormon! They kicked me out! Haha
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That sounds really cool! Do you do some reading on Mormonism beforehand, or are you in Utah?
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We have had so many really fascinating discussions!!
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I would love to take that class! It sounds amazing.
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I'm pretty sure that not just any academic could pull that of, mind you. And I'm curious as to how your students might apply the acquired knowledge to fight the patriarchy and other entrenched institutions in creative ways. Hope to see that one day.
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I was noodling on a course on latrinalia from Quebec rest stops
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Like a decade ago I joked about a day for the politics of porn in a class. Now it’s like 85% of my research agenda.
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Make your jokes into a CAREER like a proper academic
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a couple years ago I made a joke in a faculty meeting about teaching a whole class on Mormons in YA Literature and said we could start with Twilight and go from there and anyway that’s how I ended up teaching a weirdly successful class on Religion and YA Literature that’s gonna run again this year ☠️