I’ve been conscious this week of an odd disconnect in my life: As a scholar, I’m wary of pushing a “hermeneutic of suspicion” too far. (Or of talking too much about it — I’m no philosopher, as the following ham-handed analysis will amply demonstrate.) When using primary sources for research or teaching, I certainly understand … More On Political “Evolution”
Not many Americans share my last name — a few dozen, if that — and yet it sometimes feels like I can’t go anywhere without bumping into someone for whom the name Gehrz rings a bell. That’s partly because it’s a distinctive name: people can’t spell Gehrz (no, it’s not Gerhz, Gehrtz, or Gertz) or … More Uncle Jim
In which Chris basks in the reflected glory that comes with having been a graduate student of a Pulitzer Prize winner… Lamentably still on my to-be-read-over-the-summer list, Yale historian John Lewis Gaddis’ magisterial biography of American diplomat George Kennan was yesterday named the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography. Called “an engaging … More Congratulations, John Lewis Gaddis!
More than the residents of any other part of the country where I’ve lived or visited, Minnesotans pay a lot of attention to weather. Jokes about our ten-month winters notwithstanding, the North Star State actually has quite distinct seasons, sometimes turbulent (especially in the stormy spring) and always changeable. And those of us who don’t … More My Favorite Local Meteorologist Gets National Attention
In yesterday’s links post, I mentioned the “Kony 2012” film recently released by the group Invisible Children, and the strong criticisms it received. I linked to a couple of particularly thoughtful posts by one of my former students, a development worker now living in Uganda, where Kony first came to infamy. Brief overview: Joseph Kony … More The Kony Kerfuffle
I’m still a bit punchy after enduring the entire Oscar ceremony, but as best I can tell, two of my non-predictive Oscar predictions actually came true: Bret McKenzie picked up Best Song for “Man or Muppet” (The Muppet Movie), and Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, and Jim “Hey, it’s the dean on Community” Rash won Best … More Oscar Shout-Outs
A week ago today the French Senate voted 127-86 to make it illegal to deny or “outrageously minimize” mass killings that the French have officially deemed to be “genocides,” with violators facing a year in prison and a fine of up to 45,000 €. The vote brought immediate condemnation from the government of Turkey (already … More Denial vs. Free Speech
In my über-links post yesterday, I noted how the holiday that honors Martin Luther King, Jr. became an occasion for several writers to invoke King in support of their own positions on a variety of issues. One version of the phenomenon that I didn’t mention came from actor-director George Clooney, speaking about same-sex marriage during … More A Common Moral Inheritance?
With the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire’s primary only one and two weeks away, respectively, more and more newspaper editorial boards, political activists, religious leaders, and other powerful individuals and groups have been weighing in with their endorsements of Republican candidates vying to face off against President Obama next November. As an opinion-shaper myself, I … More Jon Huntsman, for Candidate
Okay, my last word clouds for 2011 — I promise! It’s probably obvious that the first has to do with Kim Jong-il and the second with Vaclav Havel. While the North Korean dictator was reported to have died on Saturday and the Czech playwright-president passed away on Sunday, their obituaries happened to appear side by … More Kim and Havel
The Pietist Schoolman 