The Pietist Schoolman

How Diverse Are Christian Colleges and Universities?

October 28, 2014

The current issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education focuses on the challenges facing African American college students, faculty, and administrators. Among the many pieces — one available to non-subscribers considers why so few black men go into STEM fields — one of the most useful is a tool compiling 2012 numbers from the U.S. Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) to show the … More How Diverse Are Christian Colleges and Universities?

This Saturday: My Talk on Poland since 1914

October 27, 2014

10/27/14 – If you’re in the Twin Cities, you can catch me this Saturday morning, Nov. 1st, 10:00, at the Minnesota Genealogical Society. I’ll be speaking on the history of Poland in the century since 1914, with particular emphasis on the Polish experience of Communist rule. More broadly, I’ll have us think about the nature … More This Saturday: My Talk on Poland since 1914

The capture of Gavrilo Princip after he shot the Austria crown prince, Franz Ferdinand

Does History Teach Lessons?

October 27, 2014

Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it. (George Santayana) We learn from past mistakes only to make new ones. (A.J.P. Taylor) Tellingly, the cliche above that seems to encourage historical studies is the one that doesn’t come from a historian. Taylor is quoted by French historian Robert Zaretsky in a new piece for History News Network that … More Does History Teach Lessons?

That Was The Week That Was

October 25, 2014

Here… • I started the week by reflecting on the idea that education might serve primarily to teach us how to pray. So it seemed appropriate that I ended the week by leading my European history students in praying for our enemies, having just read a book about late 19th century terrorism. • A World War I memorial was … More That Was The Week That Was

The National War Memorial in Ottawa, Canada

Ottawa: The War Memorial as a Scene of Violence

October 24, 2014

As I prepare to take another group of Bethel University students to Europe to learn about World War I, I’m particularly eager to show them how the war has been commemorated — in cities like London, Paris, and Munich, but also on the former Western Front itself. Two of the most striking memorials from the second … More Ottawa: The War Memorial as a Scene of Violence

Does Passion Distract from Calling?

October 23, 2014

Baseball is my favorite sport. Field of Dreams is my favorite movie about my favorite sport. Well, not really — it’s Bull Durham. But I like Kevin Costner’s second-best baseball movie well enough that I was all cued up to enjoy Jeffrey Huston’s recent On Faith post arguing that Field of Dreams — a quarter-century old this year — “is nothing short of … More Does Passion Distract from Calling?

What If Education Serves Primarily to Teach Us How to Pray?

October 21, 2014

It’s one of my favorite teaching weeks of the year at Bethel University: Renaissance week in GES130 Christianity and Western Culture, the multidisciplinary course that’s at the foundation of most Bethel students’ general education experience. It’s not so much that I enjoy the Renaissance itself (I think we once devoted a whole segment of our CWC podcast … More What If Education Serves Primarily to Teach Us How to Pray?

Responses to My Post on Institutional History

October 20, 2014

10/20/14 – Thanks to Dave Bruno and John Fea for responding to my post last week suggesting “Six C’s of Writing Institutional History”! In a comment on that post, Dave elaborated on his suggestion that historians might practice a kind of institutional “confession,” while John — busy writing his own institutional history, of the American Bible … More Responses to My Post on Institutional History

The Big Ten

October 20, 2014

The ten most popular new posts in the last month here at The Pietist Schoolman: Staying Christ-Centered: A Pietist Perspective (My Remarks to the Christian College Consortium) Non-Covenanters, Meet John Weborg Endorsements for Our Book on Pietism and Higher Education Glen Stassen: Living the Sermon on the Mount (G.W. Carlson) On Fearmongering in Higher Ed … More The Big Ten

That Was The Week That Was

October 18, 2014

Here… • Beware the fearmongering of higher ed pundits… • …and find some hope in the opportunity of educating a “spiritual, but not religious” generation. • We probably came up with about fifteen C’s of institutional history at our Conference on Faith and History panel on the subject, but I narrowed it down to six. …There and Everywhere … More That Was The Week That Was

The website of historian Chris Gehrz