Where did Memorial Day start? What does it mean? If pressed, most of us could probably guess that it emerged from the wake of the Civil War and perhaps explain that it differs from, say, Veterans Day or Armed Forces Day in specifically remembering those who have died in military service to this country. Writing in the midst of the Vietnam War, … More Revising Memorial Day
Yesterday afternoon I was thrilled to hear from several of my colleagues at Bethel University as they shared some innovations in teaching at our annual “West by Midwest” festival. You can see all of my tweets from that two-hour event at the bottom of this post — they include links to some of the innovations mentioned. … More Introducing Our New Introduction to History Course
Congratulations to The History Center: Archives of the Baptist General Conference and Bethel University — named the 2014 recipient of the Davis C. Woolley Award for Outstanding Achievement in Assessing and Preserving Baptist History. This puts our archives in very good company, as last year’s winner was the special collections and archives department of the Z. … More Congratulations to the Archives of the BGC and Bethel University!
For the first time in nearly three years, the Washington Monument will be open to visitors today. So this seems like a good time to revisit my February 2012 post on the history of that monument, and of presidential memorials in general. Commemoration has been much on my mind since my trip to the battlefields and … More Best of The Pietist Schoolman: Presidential Memorials
Before the final bell rings on National Teacher Appreciation Week, let me rerun the part of a May 2013 post in which I talked about the one teacher who had the greatest impact on my life: Maureen Conway of Mounds Park Academy in St. Paul, Minnesota. Not surprisingly, I’m far from the only person who feels … More Best of The Pietist Schoolman: Ms. Conway
For a while earlier this year, whenever I signed out of my Facebook account, I would see a full-screen ad for a Christian dating service. Now, this was troubling if only because my Facebook relationship status is very clearly Married; I hate to think what Facebook thinks it’s learned about me that makes me a good target for … More Christian Matchmaking: Past and Present
As I mentioned yesterday, public radio journalist Krista Tippett recently appeared at Bethel University to speak about her book Einstein’s God: Conversations about Science and the Human Spirit. One of those conversations inspired yesterday’s post on what historians mean when they ask the question “Why?” of the past. Today I want to reflect on Tippett’s larger purpose, as the … More History as a “Ministry of Listening”
I’m afraid this post started off taking me in directions I hadn’t expected. Part of me would like to polish it further, but in the spirit of blogging as “thinking aloud,” I’ll hope that it hangs together enough to make some sense… Last Friday I enjoyed hearing a convocation talk at Bethel by journalist Krista Tippett, host … More The Two (or Three) Why’s of History
Earlier today I walked into my office and found a lovely little gift basket of chocolates, courtesy of our department’s wonderful undergraduate teaching assistants. “Happy May Day!” read the card. Of course, given the way that May Day is celebrated in most of the world, this should prompt me not only to endorphin- and Toblerone-fueled good … More Happy Loyalty Day
Yesterday Thomas Kidd’s interview of Philip Jenkins, his fellow Anxious Bencher, further whetted my appetite for Jenkins’ new book on religion and World War I, The Great and Holy War. But I was mostly struck by the way Jenkins pushed back against Kidd’s statement that “WWI is often remembered for unprecedented, but often pointless carnage, especially in the notorious experiences … More Was WWI “Pointless Carnage”?
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