Early Success for Our Pietism Book

12/8/14 – According to the countdown widget I’ve added to the blog, we’re now twenty-eight days away from the publication of The Pietist Vision of Christian Higher Education: Forming Whole and Holy Persons. But according to Amazon, our book is already the #1 new release in the higher education administration category! So don’t wait too long to preorder: copies … More Early Success for Our Pietism Book

Puff Pietism! Let the Promotional Campaign Begin…

The prize goes to G.W. Carlson for being the first reader to spot an advertisement for our forthcoming book, The Pietist Vision of Christian Higher Education, on p. 40 of the fall issue of CCCU Advance. Leave a comment or send me an e-mail if you see it advertised elsewhere! And remember that you can preorder the book from … More Puff Pietism! Let the Promotional Campaign Begin…

The G.I. Bill, 1944-2014

11/11/14 – I was happy to be interviewed for today’s Star Tribune article about the 70th anniversary of the G.I. Bill and its impact on Minnesotan colleges and universities. You can learn more about that landmark legislation and what it meant for schools like Bethel at our Bethel at War blog.

Do Christian Colleges Mirror the Diversity of Their Locales?

Last week my review of Department of Education data (via a Chronicle of Higher Education tool) found that Christian colleges were considerably less diverse than the national average, though perhaps a bit better in that respect than religious colleges as a whole. Picking up on my observation that West Coast members of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities … More Do Christian Colleges Mirror the Diversity of Their Locales?

A New Issue of The Baptist Pietist Clarion

10/30/14 – Hot off the presses, the October 2014 issue of The Baptist Pietist Clarion is now available in print and online. Edited by fellow Pietist Schoolman G.W. Carlson, The Clarion offers reports, reflections, and reviews from people influenced by the Baptist and Pietist traditions. This issue focuses on missions and the growth of multicultural ministry, but it also includes a version … More A New Issue of The Baptist Pietist Clarion

How Diverse Are Christian Colleges and Universities?

The current issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education focuses on the challenges facing African American college students, faculty, and administrators. Among the many pieces — one available to non-subscribers considers why so few black men go into STEM fields — one of the most useful is a tool compiling 2012 numbers from the U.S. Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) to show the … More How Diverse Are Christian Colleges and Universities?

What If Education Serves Primarily to Teach Us How to Pray?

It’s one of my favorite teaching weeks of the year at Bethel University: Renaissance week in GES130 Christianity and Western Culture, the multidisciplinary course that’s at the foundation of most Bethel students’ general education experience. It’s not so much that I enjoy the Renaissance itself (I think we once devoted a whole segment of our CWC podcast … More What If Education Serves Primarily to Teach Us How to Pray?

On Fearmongering in Higher Ed

As a professor-blogger whose single most popular post was an open letter, written about one year ago, warning of a “crisis” in one particular sector of higher education, I appreciate being indirectly chastened by two college presidents, Barry Glassner (Lewis & Clark) and Morton Schapiro (Northwestern Univ.), in their Oct. 6 op-ed in the Chronicle of Higher Education: We … More On Fearmongering in Higher Ed

Hope for (Spiritual But Not) Religious Colleges?

According to many surveys, growing numbers of younger Americans are describing themselves as “spiritual, but not religious” and identifying with no particular denomination or tradition. For example, a 2013 study by Trinity College found that 32% of American college students are “spiritual,” vs. 31% “religious” and 28% “secular.” But according to an article in this morning’s Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription required, … More Hope for (Spiritual But Not) Religious Colleges?

Endorsements for Our Book on Pietism and Higher Education!

Have you heard that the first book on Pietism and Christian higher education is coming in January from IVP Academic? Based on the early reviews from an impressive array of scholars, it sounds kind of great… Our friends at Bethel University here invite us not only to think about but to feel, imagine, and even desire to actualize a Christian … More Endorsements for Our Book on Pietism and Higher Education!