Category: Education

Old Main at Gustavus Adolphus College

Student Politics at Church-Related Colleges and Universities

August 16, 2012

On Wednesday I noted that the new Newsweek/Daily Beast college rankings included a dozen members of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities on their list of the Top 25 Most [Politically] Conservative schools (referring to the student bodies and not to faculty, staff, administrators, curriculum, assigned readings, guest speakers, etc., though all that might … More Student Politics at Church-Related Colleges and Universities

Prayer Chapel at Biola

Surprise! Evangelical Colleges among the Most Politically Conservative in the Country

August 15, 2012

For once, I thought I’d take some common blogging advice to heart and write a headline for a title instead of anything remotely clever. Some context before we get to the lede: Newsweek/Daily Beast have joined the college rankings racket frenzy, though thankfully they’re taking a slightly quirkier tack than U.S. News and issuing a variety of … More Surprise! Evangelical Colleges among the Most Politically Conservative in the Country

Jacobs, The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction

The Joy of Reading

August 6, 2012

I don’t know anyone who loves books as much as my colleague G.W. Carlson (previously the subject of a post on Pietism in the Baptist General Conference), whom I had the pleasure of interviewing this May, just a couple of weeks before he retired from full-time teaching after having been at Bethel since 1968. (Here’s my … More The Joy of Reading

O'Brien, No Ordinary Joe

A Grand Experiment: Why Sports Belong in Higher Education

July 24, 2012

In January 1998 Penn State University head football coach Joe Paterno and his wife Sue gave the school $3.5 million to endow faculty positions, graduate fellowships, and undergraduate scholarships, mostly in the College of Liberal Arts. Gushed Penn State president Graham Spanier, “I’m the luckiest University president in the United States.” When retired historian Michael … More A Grand Experiment: Why Sports Belong in Higher Education

Persevere, Läsare, and Clarion

Between Commemoration and Criticism: The Challenge of Institutional History

July 11, 2012

At the end of June, Jared Burkholder had an interesting post over at The Hermeneutic Circle, in which he reflected on the challenge of doing institutional histories. Specifically, the challenge of editing a new history of Grace College and Seminary with fellow Grace history professor Mark Norris. Especially as they reached the chapter dealing with … More Between Commemoration and Criticism: The Challenge of Institutional History

Pilgrims on the Road to Canterbury

Reclaiming Travel

July 9, 2012

This morning I spent some time booking London hotel rooms for next January, when I’ll take a group of Bethel students to Europe for a three-week course on the history of World War I. Having that kind of planning in mind, I was glad for the recent reminder, from literary scholar Ilan Stevens and editor … More Reclaiming Travel

Logo for edX

Education as “Infotainment”: or, The One Where I Become Part of the Problem

July 5, 2012

This fall a joint venture from Harvard and MIT, called edX, will make available free online courses from two of the world’s elite research universities. As the New York Times reported, the Harvard-MIT collaboration follows in the wake of a similar partnership involving Stanford, Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Michigan (“Coursera“). … More Education as “Infotainment”: or, The One Where I Become Part of the Problem

Tiepolo, The Calling of Isaiah

Best of The Pietist Schoolman: Gladness, Need, and Calling

May 31, 2012

As grading continues to preoccupy my time, let the reruns roll on with a post that found me drawing on Frederick Buechner to help students think about the concept of calling. Last night my family hosted the students in Bethel’s capstone course for History majors. They turned in their research papers, shared a meal, tolerated … More Best of The Pietist Schoolman: Gladness, Need, and Calling