As I mentioned earlier this summer, historians at Bethel are now part of a larger Department of History, Philosophy, and Political Science, with each of those core majors — plus three of our interdisciplinary programs — culminating in a common capstone course that I’ll be teaching this fall: Applied Humanities Seminar. For the most part, I’m … More What Are “Applied Humanities”?
Advance and preordered copies of the book have been circulating for a few weeks now, but tomorrow is still a big day for me: the official release of my spiritual biography of Charles Lindbergh. Five years after I first started toying with that idea, it’s beyond exciting to see the book come widely available. I’ve … More The Impostor: Why I Wrote a Biography of Charles Lindbergh
For several years now, Harold Heie has been engaged in one of the more noble initiatives on the Internet, an online project he calls Respectful Conversation. A former Christian college professor and administrator, Heie found himself appalled at the sad state of public discourse in contemporary society, including the realm of politics, the media, and … More How Do Pietists “Follow Jesus”?
T-36 days until Charles Lindbergh: A Religious Biography of America’s Most Infamous Pilot hits shelves! If that excites you almost as much as it does me, to the extent that you want to help me get the word out about the book before and after it drops… I’m looking for some people to serve as … More Looking for a Lindbergh Launch Team
I’ve written before about my enthusiasm for Current, the online magazine edited by historians John Fea, Jay Green, and Eric Miller. So it was an honor to make my debut there this morning, with an essay that connects the ongoing debate over historical commemoration to themes from my new biography of Charles Lindbergh. Entitled “The … More More on the Challenge of Commemoration
If things seems quiet here at Pietist Schoolman, it’s because I’ve been busy over at another blog: CC 4th, the site I’ve been administering for my department since 2012. See, this is the week we announced that “my department” at Bethel is no longer History, but History, Philosophy, and Political Science. While the past few … More Reflections on a Departmental Merger
We’re still two months away from publication, but Charles Lindbergh: A Religious Biography of America’s Most Infamous Pilot has its first review — and it’s a good one. Publishers Weekly calls the book “very convincing”: Using Lindbergh’s journals, writings, and public statements, Gehrz builds a thorough portrait of the aviator’s inner life, and the inclusion … More The First Lindbergh Review Is In…
Even as we start to get back to something like a pre-COVID normal, this summer I want to do even more of one of my chief pandemic hobbies: reading books. Here’s some of what’s on my reading list for the next three months. History Most of my more academic reading will be devoted to boning … More What I’m Hoping to Read This Summer
This week in our Intro to History class, my students and I read through the first half of Alan Jacobs’ Breaking Bread with the Dead: A Reader’s Guide to a More Tranquil Mind. He has at least four other books I’d rather teach — I spent a good ten minutes on Wednesday just reading aloud from … More The Liberal Arts as “Breaking Bread with the Dead”
I’ve read Charles Lindbergh: A Religious Biography of America’s Most Infamous Pilot several times now. Each pass through the manuscript leaves me with two, deeply Midwestern thoughts: “I think this turned out okay,” and “I wonder if anyone will like it.” So it’s always a relief and a terror to hear back from the first … More Some Early Praise for My Lindbergh Biography…
The Pietist Schoolman 