I’ve enjoyed William Cronon‘s tenure as much as that of any prior president of the American Historical Association (AHA), not least because he’s used the platform so effectively to encourage his fellow historians to rethink their role in the digital age and to take advantage of its possibilities (even Wikipedia). So it was good to … More William Cronon on Historians and Teaching
A while back I noted on our department blog that Steven Spielberg’s new film, Lincoln, was receiving extraordinarily positive responses from film critics who had seen advance previews of the movie. (And asked if any of our students or alumni would be interested in writing their own reviews — that invitation still stands, if any … More Spielberg the Historian?
You and I believe that slavery is wrong, but neither of us came to this conclusion on our own. So starts perhaps my favorite blog post of the year, published last weekend by historian Jay Case (professor at Malone University; author of An Unpredictable Gospel) and entitled, “An Ethical Conviction That You Hold, For Which … More Abolition as Grace
It’s late November, which means that newspapers and periodicals are starting to put out their “Best of 2012” lists. Here are the works of scholarly and popular history (and some historical fiction) that have shown up on “Best Books” lists produced by Publishers Weekly (PW), The Washington Post (WP), and Britain’s The Guardian. For each, … More The Best History (and Religion) Books of 2012?
11/23/12 – I’m happy to announce that I’ll be the featured speaker at the annual Winter Seminar offered by Bethlehem Covenant Church in Minneapolis, MN. I’ll be speaking February 8-10, 2013 on the theme of “Pious Wishes and Better Times: The Pietist Impulse in the 21st Century.” We’ll start Friday night with a historical overview … More Winter Seminar on Pietism
For Thanksgiving I’ll simply repost a brief piece I wrote for our department blog earlier this week. Probably most useful for those of you who like to put off your shopping (and menu planning) until the day of the event, though there’s also some fun trivia in there even if you’ve got everything set to … More Have a Historic Thanksgiving!
As a teacher, I grow restless easily, tinkering for the sake of tinkering. But even in those classes that I teach yearly or semesterly, there are certain fine-tuned exercises that I expect to repeat for years to come. One of those happened last week in my upper-division survey of modern European history, when after one … More Ordinary Men: Empathy and Judgment in the History of the Holocaust
Seven score and nine years ago today, President Abraham Lincoln ascended the dais at the dedication of the National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the sleepy town that had hosted the bloodiest battle in American history just over four months before. Word for word, I can’t imagine a discourse more powerful than the two-minute speech Lincoln … More This Day in History: The Gettysburg Address
11/16/12 – I’m afraid I’ll be Europe-bound while this is happening, but readers interested in Pietism who happen to live in New Orleans or will be attending the annual meeting of the American Historical Association (AHA) in January might want to stop by the sensational-sounding session entitled “When Religious Leaders Die.” Organized by the Pietism … More Pietism Studies at AHA
Today in my Modern Europe class we’re wrapping up a week on the Holocaust by watching a German movie about Sophie Scholl and the other Munich University students who formed the anti-Nazi White Rose movement. It’s as hopeful (and it’s definitely bittersweet) a note on which I dare end so dark a chapter of history. … More Best of The Pietist Schoolman: Teaching the Holocaust
The Pietist Schoolman 