When we walk out of a class, how do we know it was a good one? That question opened my friend David Williams’ talk at our “Pietist Idea of a Christian College” workshop last week. In the end, he concluded that it had little to do with content and everything to do with passion: there’s … More What Is Good Teaching?
As much as any periodical, I look forward to receiving a new issue of Pietisten, the “Herald of Awakening and Spiritual Upbuilding” whose contributors “draw heavy inspiration from the collective heritage of Lutheran Pietism.” (Its name honors the 19th century Swedish publication edited by C.O. Rosenius and P.P. Waldenström that was at the center of … More Summer 2013 Pietisten
Here… • A short week back from vacation began with the news of the passing of the leading historian of the Baptist General Conference (now Converge Worldwide)… • …then ended with the case of the South Carolina high school student who defied a school district policy and inserted the Lord’s Prayer into his commencement address. … More That Was The Week That Was
5/21/13 – Let me interrupt my blogging break for a moment to engage in some wanton self-promotion… Tomorrow afternoon, my colleague Sam Mulberry and I will be hosting West by Midwest, what we hope will become an annual event at Bethel dedicated to sharing innovative teaching ideas. We’ll preview our new online version of Bethel’s … More West by Midwest 2013
I’ve got to make some serious progress on some other projects, so I don’t plan on a lot of blogging this week. But instead of just going into my “Best of The Pietist Schoolman” reruns, I thought I’d point readers to some recent articles or posts elsewhere that follow up on some topics I’ve blogged … More Following Up: The Return on a College Investment
I’ll be honest: the primary point of this post is to cover one English major at Bethel with so much praise that she’ll feel compelled to take at least one History course from me before she graduates. But in the process, readers not named Abby Stocker might also find themselves reappraising their assumptions about what … More Students as Scholars
That’s the topic of this morning’s Room for Debate forum at the New York Times website. It asks six contributors, “…in today’s economy, what should ambitious young people pursue? Which majors and careers have a reliable “return on investment?” Click here for the full forum. Just to pull out a few responses… Katie Bardaro, an … More College and Jobs: Are There Safe Bets?
Here… • Pope Francis: first Latin American pope and first non-European pope since the 8th century; but also the first pope named Francis and the first Jesuit pope. (Maybe one more on this subject on Monday…) • Discussion of Pietism continues to spread: in the pages of the denominational magazine of the Brethren in Christ … More That Was The Week That Was
Here… • I’m normally a big proponent of empathy as a historical virtue. But I can’t say that I grieved all that much to mark the sixtieth anniversary of Josef Stalin suffering the stroke that killed him. I did, however, enjoy teaching my students a song about said demise… • What is the poor Downton … More That Was The Week That Was
Our textbook orders for next fall are due this Friday, and I’m absolutely not prepared. But I can take some solace in the fact that I already know exactly what text I’ll be using in Spring 2014 for our department’s capstone Senior Seminar: Why Study History? Reflecting on the Importance of the Past, by friend-of-this-blog … More Why Study History?
The Pietist Schoolman 