Yesterday a colleague reminded me of a New York Times article that I had noticed this summer, but not read closely. Alongside striking photographs by Daniel Arnold, Bryn Stole reported on the 155th commemoration of the Battle of Gettysburg, at which 6,000 people reenacted the roles of Union and Confederate soldiers, nurses, surgeons, chaplains, and even nuns. If … More The Future of Civil War Reenactment
It’s April 14th, and we Minnesotans are in the middle of a blizzard warning. A perfect day, in other words, for staying inside to read some posts and articles you might have missed during the week. Here… • I reflected on the life and legacy of Adam Johnson, a particularly brilliant colleague who died of … More That Was The Week That Was
I’ll leave it to actual American historians like my Anxious Bench colleague Kristin Du Mez to explain the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. on this, the 50th anniversary of his assassination. But one topic about which I can perhaps say something meaningful is MLK’s response to the Reformation initiated by his namesake. (As you may know, … More Martin Luther King, Jr. on Martin Luther
Aside from doing some year-in-review stuff for Pietist Schoolman and Anxious Bench, I took off the week between Christmas and New Year’s in order to get ready for my J-term class. But here’s a round-up of some good writing from the waning days of 2017. Happy New Year, all! • Tish Harrison Warren, fresh off winning Christianity Today‘s book … More That Was The Week That Was
I’ve lost track of the number of Christian declarations, confessions, and other statements that have come out this year. But I encourage you to read one more, just released today: The Boston Declaration. Subtitled “A Prophetic Appeal to Christians of the USA,” it begins: As followers of Jesus, the Jewish prophet for justice whose life reminds … More The Boston Declaration
This links wrap is a few hours later than usual because I spent the morning in Minneapolis celebrating the graduation of my brother Jon, who earned his doctorate in education. Congratulations, Dr. Gehrz! And I have no Pietist Schoolman posts to remind you of, since I was busy getting ready for the start of classes next week … More That Was The Week That Was
“This is not my country.” That’s what I wanted to believe yesterday, as I stumbled back from a week-long vacation in the Rocky Mountains into the ugly events transpiring in Charlottesville, Virginia. Having intentionally tried to avoid the news in order to savor time with my family, it was bewildering to check social media in … More On Charlottesville: “This Is Not My Country”
Here… • Study Day during Finals Week isn’t really a typical day in my life as a Christian college professor… but this year it reminded me of all the reasons why I enjoy my job. • John Fea’s observations about the loneliness of people in our line of work got me thinking about history as being … More That Was The Week That Was
Okay, let’s try this again: the college lecture is neither obsolete nor fool-proof. Like anything, it can be done badly, but rightly understood, it’s still a highly important mode of teaching. Two reasons I’m thinking about a topic I’ve addressed several times before: First, Wired just offered another of its biennial critiques of the lecture. Entitled “The Traditional … More The Lecture Lives. I Would Know — I’m a Professor.
It’s not quite the “forgotten war” that the Korean War is, but World War I is certainly overshadowed in American memory by WWII, the Civil War, Vietnam, and the Revolutionary War. Nevertheless, the United States’ relatively short involvement in “the Great War” intersected with some of the most significant social, cultural, political, and economic shifts in American history. And now … More Go See the WW1 America Exhibit!
