As historians go, I’m not much of an antiquarian. Since I mostly study the 20th century, I’m little more than a glorified journalist in the eyes of some peers. And I don’t collect first editions or enjoy antiquing. But I’m grateful to my colleague Steve Keillor for passing along excerpts from the 1828 Yale Report. … More Old School Ivy League: The Yale Report of 1828
October 17, 1660 – Nine “Regicides” are drawn and quartered At the conclusion of the English Civil War in 1649, Parliament appointed “commissioners” to sit in judgment of the defeated king Charles I. He was sentenced to death, with the warrant signed by fifty-nine men. When the monarchy was restored under Charles’ son in 1660, … More This Week in History
A busy Friday at work bumped my last regular post of the week to Saturday, which is why I’m posting a rare Sunday installment of my weekly links wrap-up, featuring items you might have missed both here at The Pietist Schoolman and elsewhere at sites that might interest my readers. Here Two series continued after … More That Was the Week That Was
10/15/11 – It might be quieter than usual here in the next 7-10 days, as I’ve got family coming to town, but in the second half of October look for posts on the enduring importance of medieval mysticism and on secularization in 19th century Europe, plus more on Indian Christians like Pandita Ramabai, the conclusion … More The Week in Preview
After a multi-week hiatus, I’ve finally got a chance to return to our series blogging through Mark Noll and Carolyn Nystrom’s Clouds of Witnesses: Christian Voices from Africa and Asia (InterVarsity Press). If you’re just joining the conversation, you can find the beginning of the series here. We’re moving from Africa to India, which will … More Clouds of Witnesses: “Failure” in India
10/14/11 – Earlier this month I shared my love for Minneapolis country-rockers The Jayhawks and the Chicago-based indie-rock band Wilco, then added a post last week pulling apart my wish that the frontmen of those bands shared my religion. If you found any of that series interesting… My friend Michial Farmer and I recently co-wrote … More More on Wilco and the Jayhawks
Today I’m returning to my series on Carolyn Weber’s spiritual autobiography, Surprised by Oxford, and finding her at a pivotal point in her story of coming to faith. When last we heard from Weber, she was back home in Canada for a difficult Christmas: breaking things off with her would-be fiancé, who wished that he … More Surprised by Oxford: Hilary Term
Is humanity becoming more peaceful? Yes, says psychologist Steven Pinker in his new book, The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (Viking), glowingly reviewed by bioethicist Peter Singer in this past Sunday’s The New York Times. You’ve got to be kidding, replies philosopher John Gray, reviewing the same book earlier this fall … More The Long Peace
In 1911, the country of Italy celebrated its 50th birthday as a unified nation-state. The Italian government marked the occasion with a special census that revealed, among other things, that one out of every six Italians lived outside of Italy. Between 1880 and 1914, thirteen million Italians emigrated to the United States, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, … More Italy as an “Emigrant Nation”
My institution, Bethel University, is currently in the early stages of drafting its next master plan, a document meant to guide the development of new facilities and the renovation of old ones (among other things). As part of the planning process, an outside consultant was on campus to meet with different constituent groups and get … More What’s Distinctive about Christian Colleges?
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