That Was The Week That Was

‘Twas a quiet week here at the home office, primarily because I ended up writing obituaries at our department blog for two retired colleagues who died within a few days of each other: political scientist Bill Johnson and historian Kevin Cragg. I added a longer, more personal tribute to Kevin at The Anxious Bench, where … More That Was The Week That Was

That Was The Week That Was

This week I shared the acknowledgments from my biography of Charles Lindbergh, answered five questions from my publisher, and reflected on the cooperative nature of Olympic competition. Elsewhere: • “We are being punished for our sins against the environment, against one another, and against God,” wrote Mark Schwehn, thinking of COVID in light of older ways of interpreting … More That Was The Week That Was

That Was The Week That Was

This week I shared video of my first Lindbergh book talk and considered whether we’re seeing a realignment of American Christianity along lines other than the mainline-evangelical divide. Elsewhere: • If you liked my post last weekend on the history of religious colleges in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, you’ll want to read pieces by Benjamin … More That Was The Week That Was

That Was The Week That Was

This week I learned about a pagan, white supremacist movement that is rededicating a church in Minnesota and looked at how Bethel and its peers scored on a financial stress test. Elsewhere: • Bethel caught flak on social media for establishing a scholarship named after George Floyd, but to his great credit, our new president … More That Was The Week That Was

That Was The Week That Was

This week I started turning my attention to a fall semester unlike any other, researching reopening plans for schools like Bethel and thinking through how I’ll teach two of my courses in a “modified face-to-face” format. Then over at The Anxious Bench, the story of Bethel’s first student of color provided bookends for a review … More That Was The Week That Was

That Was The Week That Was

Another busy week as the semester starts to wind down… I talked with the director of the Minnesota Historical Society about public history, and with two of my students about hockey. I shared a talk I gave  on sacramental similes for the liberal arts, and the Minnesota Prayer Breakfast got me thinking about death and … More That Was The Week That Was

That Was The Week That Was

A wonderful new World War I documentary from Peter Jackson got me thinking about the magical qualities of history, and a Twitter spat over the history of evangelicalism made me realize that I’m not much of an expert in anything. Elsewhere… • Not everyone liked Jackson’s documentary. (H/T Karl Nelson and Tim Johnson) To that … More That Was The Week That Was

That Was The Week That Was

This week at The Pietist Schoolman I looked at recent trends in the history major at religious colleges and universities, and Sam Mulberry and I concluded our podcast travelogue with a visit to Munich. Elsewhere… • It’s been a while since I’ve shared something from Kate Bowler… it seems timely to reconnect via her reflection on the … More That Was The Week That Was