Sharon Mitchler argues for a reconfiguration of critical pedagogy to empower and engage American literature students in rural community colleges. She constructs a pedagogy that addresses the multiple positions of power and marginalization rural students occupy, often concurrently.

Drawing on feminist pedagogy, critical pedagogy, and conceptualizations of rural places, she develops a theory of critical rural pedagogy that builds on the work of Kim Donehower, Charlotte Hogg, and Eileen Schell. Critical rural pedagogy actively seeks to engage rural students to bring their lived experiences to the college classes, not only to individual classrooms but to other forms of higher education as community college students transfer on to university settings. The book includes activities and examples to model classroom practice.