Explores the convergence between projects in ethnographic research and composition pedagogy that emphasize the critical power of experience. Argues that critical ethnography and pedagogy need to redefine “experience” and its function for research and teaching and that composition can help this redefinition by looking for ways to build and constructively use a tension between teaching and research practices.

I have made my family watch Disney's Beauty and the Beast at least a hundred times with me. ... What I admire in Belle is her strength in being a young woman. She is smart and she knows it. Most importantly, she knows how to use and deal with her intelligence, something I have yet to do. ... She stood up for her father when everyone called him crazy. She even offered her life in exchange for his.... I doubt that I would even have had the guts to search the forest for the castle, much less find my father and offer my life for his. Even if I had done all that, I probably would have sunk into a major depression or become a total crab. Perhaps, because of Belle, I can change my attitude, try to make it more like hers.