I probably won’t get through all of these before classes start up again, but expect to see posts inspired by these books on my summer reading list: Peter Englund, The Sorrow and the Beauty: An Intimate History of the First World War Adam Hochschild, To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914-1918 … More My Summer Reading List
I’m still eighteen months away from teaching my new World War II history course for the first time, but I’ve been thinking about it this week after reading an interview with master spy novelist Alan Furst (whose new book, Mission to Paris, will surely appear on my summer reading list when it comes out next week). … More Moral Histories of World War II
During Bethel’s commencement exercises last month, our speaker told the soon-to-be graduates the story of the British evangelical politician William Wilberforce, who dedicated his life to the abolition of the slave trade (accomplished in 1807) and then slavery itself (just before his death in 1833). Up on stage among the berobed faculty, my friend Sam … More The Curious Case of the Popularity of Wm. Wilberforce
6/5/12 – I’m not much of a monarchist, but it was hard not to get caught up in Queen Elizabeth’s jubilee celebration. Hearing the gathered crowd sing “God Save The Queen” made me think that (if they missed it last fall) some readers might be curious how my European history students and I judged that … More God Save The Queen
It’s the first full week of June, and that can mean only one thing if you’re a history nerd: time to get working on your summer reading list! I’ll be posting my own suggestions this week or next, but in the interim, here are some histories, biographies, and historical novels suggested by NPR, the L.A. … More It’s Summer Reading List Season!
6/1/12 – My colleague Chris Armstrong is happy to report that the newest issue of Christian History magazine is available! It sounds fascinating and ambitious, seeking to explain why the claim that America is a “Christian nation” is hugely complicated by the sheer diversity of American Christianities and the competing visions for social change that … More New from Christian History Magazine
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
While I struggle to get spring grades in, I’ll buy back some time by reposting some favorites. Today: my three-part series on my favorite baseball books. Check out the “tag cloud” on the home page of this blog, and you’ll find — amid all the terms related to Christianity, history, and education — one sport. … More Best of The Pietist Schoolman: Play Ball!
Grades are due this Friday, so I’ll be posting some “best of” pieces while I take time away from active blogging. Given that today is Memorial Day in the United States, I thought I’d start by combining my four-part series on World War I memorials into one long post (broken up into pages). In a … More Best of The Pietist Schoolman: Commemorating World War I
Last week I was pleasantly surprised to receive the following query from one of our admissions counselors at Bethel: she had been talking to a prospective student who wondered which major would be most beneficial in preparing someone to fight sex slavery, estimated to be the second largest criminal enterprise in the world today (after … More History and Social Justice
The Pietist Schoolman 