It’s library week on Past & Presence, our department’s new webisode series: Not only do I host episode 3 from locations in the Bethel University Library, but we talk to two of our librarians. One of them is a former student in our department, as is our interview subject of the week: Kevin McGrew, director of … More Past and Presence: Secondary and Tertiary Sources
On this week’s episode of Past & Presence, my colleagues Diana Magnuson (social history, women’s history) and Amy Poppinga (religious and environmental history) join me for a conversation about fields in history. Plus… we spotlight the Oregon Extension and AnneMarie Kooistra’s course on History of Sexuality in the United States, we find History alumni doing everything from web services … More Past and Presence: Fields within History
After several months of work, I’m proud to announce the debut of our department’s new webisode series: Past & Presence! My friend Sam Mulberry and I have been filming material for Past & Presence since last summer — and will continue to do so even this afternoon. (Episodes will keep coming all the way through the end of our semester.) In … More The Debut of Our Department’s New Webisode Series!
So, what’s been happening in the week and a half since my last post? Watching tweet after tweet after the Ferguson grand jury decision last Monday night, I felt again what I’ve come to recognize as the greatest temptation facing bloggers: “…thinking that there are thoughts that will never be thought unless you think them, and words that will never … More A Week of Listening: Advice from Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Last Friday I was honored to take part in a panel discussion on Christian historians and social media at the biennial meeting of the Conference on Faith and History. Session organizer Jonathan Den Hartog (University of Northwestern – St. Paul) has already published his opening remarks at Historical Conversations, and my co-panelist John Fea (Messiah C0llege) … More Christian Historians and Social Media: My CFH Remarks on Blogging
Part two of my recap of the 2014 Conference on Faith and History meetings, held last week at Pepperdine University. Part one covered sessions from Friday morning on teaching and public memory. Friday afternoon plenary: “Heritage Religion and the Mormons” Having arrived too late on Thursday night to attend Allen Guelzo’s conference-opening address in the … More CFH 2014: Heritage Religion and Social Media
Later today I’ll be flying to southern California to join fellow members of the Conference on Faith and History (CFH) at its biennial meeting, held this year on the lovely campus of Pepperdine University. Now, I’d be excited simply to exchange the weather of St. Paul, MN for that of Malibu, CA for a couple days, … More Headed to the Conference on Faith and History!
This will be my last post at The Pietist Schoolman for about a month. It’s not that I’m too busy — at least, no more than usual — or that I need to focus my attention on the start of the academic year. I’ve generally found that blogging is more often in conversation with teaching, research, and my other professional … More Why I’m Taking a Month Off from This Blog
Among the many people to whom I recommended Ed Gilbreath’s new book this summer were colleagues and students in Bethel University’s Christianity and Western Culture (CWC) course. While that course effectively ends its narrative around 1800 (I go as far as the British parliament abolishing the slave trade in 1807) and we barely touch on U.S. history, the … More Birmingham Revolution: Not Everyone’s a Prophet
Over lunch a couple weeks ago, a friend filled a pause in conversation this way: “So, World War I… What should I know?” We had been talking about the centenary of the war, and how it might be commemorated here in Minnesota. I think he had a growing sense of the war’s importance — but also of … More Learning about World War I: How to Get Started
The Pietist Schoolman 