Over the last two weeks I’ve probably tried many readers’ patience by dedicating a few thousand words to extolling the virtues of two of my favorite bands: The Jayhawks (who released an underwhelming new album on Sept. 20th) and Wilco (whose outstanding new album arrived one week later). “What does this have to do with … More Radio Kings: “The Echo of a Voice”
What you might have missed last week, first here at The Pietist Schoolman and then around the blogosphere: Here Reading Carolyn Weber’s Surprised by Oxford in light of memoirs by Augustine of Hippo and Frederick Buechner had me thinking about how hard it can be to talk about loving God with those I most love. … More That Was the Week That Was
9/30/11 – Coming up next week here at The Pietist Schoolman… The five best national anthems revealed, the return of my series on Mark Noll and Carolyn Nystrom’s Clouds of Witnesses, more on Carolyn Weber’s memoir of conversion, and an evangelical perspective on being a fan of bands like Wilco and the Jayhawks.
Having disposed of nine nominees on Wednesday and Thursday for the coveted title of World’s Best National Anthem, let’s jump right into the six finalists. Again, the initial rankings were based on a semi-serious but mostly objective calculation weighing three factors: how long the song has endured as official anthem; how singable the anthem is, … More The Best National Anthems: Japan
Along with the course-related podcasts I’ve helped to produce, our department also makes use of this technology to communicate with current, former, and prospective students, putting out Historia! twice last year and, hopefully, three times in 2011-2012. In time for Bethel’s Homecoming, the first episode for this year is now available on iTunes U, and … More The Return of Historia!
9/29/11 – On this week’s episode of CWC: The Radio Show… Amy, Sam, Sara, and I ruminate about the collapse of American civilization, Augustine’s City of God, what the Gospels have to do with Pirates of the Caribbean, and the architecture of Yale University. Get episodes here, or click on the logo on the right … More This Week on CWC: The Radio Show
Today we get closer to settling, once and for all, the question, “What’s the best national anthem?” On Monday I explained how this series stemmed from an exploration of 19th century European nationalism in my Modern Europe course. Yesterday I revealed six national anthems that didn’t really come close to making the cut for our … More The Best National Anthems: Honorable Mentions
As I discussed Monday, song is often seen as an integral part of the project of constructing a nation, what Benedict Anderson calls an “imagined community.” So as my Modern Europe class spends a few days on the history of 19th century nationalism, I’m inspired to settle, once and for all, the question, “What’s the … More The Best National Anthems: Also-Rans
9/27/11 – Two interesting pieces today on higher education. The Guardian reports on a debate between British academics and the authors of a government white paper about the purposes of higher education: is it about private benefits for the individual students and the corporations that will employ them, or the public benefits for society? (H/T … More What is Higher Education?
As it happened, I read the third part of Carolyn Weber’s Surprised by Oxford (“Christmastide,” which finds her returning home to Canada during a break in Oxford’s schedule) the same week that my friend Sam taught our Christianity and Western Culture class about Augustine of Hippo, the North African theologian and bishop whose Confessions is … More Surprised by Oxford: Christmastide
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