Here… • July 1 is a big day for commemorating momentous battles: the Somme turned 97, and Gettysburg turned 150. • “Liberal arts” ≠ “the humanities” (at least, not them alone). • And in what’s already become a Pietist Schoolman tradition: a Bah, Humbug! kind of post for the 4th of July. …There and Everywhere … More That Was The Week That Was
Because this country’s Independence Day falls on a Thursday this year, I’m sure there will be churches that celebrate it on the Sunday before July 4 and the Sunday after it. Past the celebration of Communion, I’m not sure what we have in mind for the 7th at Salem Covenant, but aside from the American … More Christians, Patriotism, and Nationalism
I fear that those of us who teach history, literature, philosophy, languages, etc. too often tend to say “the liberal arts” when we really mean “the humanities” — forgetting that the latter is only one set of disciplines within the former. I’m as guilty as anyone. A long time ago, I imprecisely used the tag … More The Sciences as Liberal Arts
7/1/13 – In this morning’s post I focused on a famous European battle that started on July 1st, but of course, today also marks the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the central battle of the U.S. Civil War: Gettysburg. I posted some links on that battle and its commemoration over at our department blog.
On the single day of July 1, 1916, over 19,000 British soldiers died along France’s Somme river, slaughtered in largely futile assaults on German defenses that had survived the week-long artillery bombardment preceding the attack. The battle raged on until mid-November, with over 75,000 more British soldiers dying and 300,000+ being wounded. British photographers on … More This Day in History: The First Day of the Somme
6/30/13 – Just a reminder that tomorrow is the last day for Google Reader. If you follow this blog in that way, I recommend switching over to Feedly. You can click here for one-touch migration.
Here… • I enjoyed learning more about one Baptist hero (Will D. Campbell) from one of my Baptist heroes (G.W. Carlson). • Are the humanities actually in crisis? Some historical perspective on how many students major in history, philosophy, literature, and languages — and how many students take basic courses in those fields. • Just … More That Was The Week That Was
A brief follow-up to Tuesday’s post, “The Humanities in Crisis, or Not“… Historian Ben Schmidt (by way of journalist Jordan Weissmann) argued that any fear that the humanities (history, philosophy, literature, languages) are in crisis should be tempered by the reality that (aside from an outlying boom that peaked in 1966) those disciplines have about … More Curriculum and the Health of the Humanities
“Higher education in the United States is at a tipping point.” So conclude Jeff Denneen and Tom Dretler in their 2012 paper, “The financially sustainable university” — one in a series of “Bain Briefs,” as it was produced by Bain & Co., with Sterling Partners (management consulting and private equity firms, respectively). Noting some of … More How Financially Sustainable Are Christian Colleges?
Today G.W. Carlson concludes his two-part tribute to Will D. Campbell, the minister, writer, and activist who died earlier this month. His first post concluded with one major theme in Campbell’s life and work: his understanding of what it meant to be a Baptist, as influenced by the Anabaptist tradition. GW continues with two more … More Will D. Campbell: A Radical Baptist Peacemaker (G.W. Carlson) – part 2
The Pietist Schoolman 