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?
What’s the best national anthem? I’ve spent much of the last two weeks taking a stab at giving a semi-serious answer to that question. Now I’d like to hear from you! First, do you agree with my students and me that “La Marseillaise” is clearly the best national anthem, or would you back a rival … More The Best National Anthems: Your Turn
10/10/11 – For some reason, the top post here the last few days has been one that I did nearly a month ago critiquing “muscular Christianity.” In light of the apparent mini-surge of interest in that topic, let me also recommend today’s New York Times article on Nathan Whitaker, the Duke- and Harvard-educated author who … More More on Muscular Christianity
This entire week in history is special because of what happened in 1582, when the Catholic countries of southern Europe (plus Poland) became the first to adopt the new calendar decreed by Pope Gregory XIII and so move off of the old Julian calendar. The “Gregorian” calendar was designed to ensure that vernal equinox fell … More This Week in History
10/8/11 – Coming up next week here at The Pietist Schoolman… Getting back to business, as series on non-Western “clouds of witnesses” and Carolyn Weber’s conversion at Oxford return, as will This Week in History. Plus, the best book on Italian history I’ve read recently.
Heard ’round these parts and others last week: At The Pietist Schoolman The thrilling conclusion to my series ranking the best national anthems, as we counted down #5, #4, #3, #2, and — wait for it — #1. To whom did we compare the people we hate before we had Hitler? Never expected to write … More That Was the Week That Was
Hank Williams, Jr. stirred up a fracas this past week by likening Barack Obama playing golf with Speaker of the House John Boehner to Adolf Hitler playing golf with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (Not following the analogy? From the Bocephus SAT Prep Guide answer section… Obama:Hitler::Boehner:Netanyahu.) (On overly facile Nazi analogies, check out the … More The Worst Person Before Hitler
At long last (okay, six days) we come to the end of our series counting down the best national anthems. And in the end, there was really only one choice. France, “La Marseillaise“ Longevity: official anthem since 1792 Singability: ranges from D4-E5 (C4 = middle C) Inspiration: 4.1% of Olympic golds won; 1 men’s World … More The Best National Anthems: France
10/6/11 – On this week’s episode of CWC: The Radio Show… Whither CWC: The Radio Show? We consider the future of our podcast, plus my future as a Minnesota Vikings fan and Bruce Jenner’s future as a voiceover actor. Get episodes here, or click on the logo on the right side of the home page.
The Pietist Schoolman 