It sounds like the public speaking version of a basket on Chopped: a 7th grade class photo, an Irish poem, a book by Ta-Nehisi Coates, and a visit to Dachau. But somehow they all found their way into “Can Hope and History Rhyme?”, a talk I gave last week at Mounds Park Academy, the private school … More Can Hope and History Rhyme? (My MPA Talk)
I grieve to report that G.W. Carlson, who wrote several guest-posts here, passed away early this morning — ten days after suffering a stroke. At some point in the coming days, I’m sure I’ll write something more about GW, but for now, let me just repost the essay that I wrote for his retirement from … More Best of The Pietist Schoolman: A Tribute to G.W. Carlson
For the 200th time in the life of this blog… enjoy some of what was making news and inspiring commentary last week: Here… • The good news is that my son and I survived. The bad news is that the Minnesota Vikings suffered yet another soul-crushing loss, this time at the hands of the Seattle … More That Was The Week That Was
Yesterday Wheaton College announced that provost Stanton Jones had recommended the termination of tenured political science professor Larycia Hawkins. (If you’re new to the story, here was my summary and reaction in mid-December, after Hawkins was suspended.) After a faculty committee makes its own recommendation, Wheaton president Philip Ryken will then take the matter to the college’s board for … More “No One Is Safe”: Larycia Hawkins Responds to Wheaton
It’s just like a historian to live in the past, but… Before we get too far into 2016, I thought I’d look back once more at 2015: Not to the most-read posts of the year, but to those that were barely noticed. Most of them were announcements: new podcasts or webisodes, speaking engagements, etc. But for whatever … More What You Might’ve Missed in 2015
I’ve spent a fair amount of time this month criticizing the leaders of other Christian colleges and universities. I don’t regret the posts, but it’s certainly not the kind of thing I enjoy writing. And it risks creating the false impression that I’m deeply dissatisfied with or disillusioned by Christian higher education. So as we near the … More Why I Love Being Part of a Christian Learning Community
Here… • Rest in peace, Stacey Hunter Hecht (1968-2015). • It’s because of colleagues like Stacey that I know that Christian higher ed can do much, much better than Jerry Falwell, Jr. • And Loren Swartzdruber’s response to Falwell made me wish that his university had not parted ways with the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. • Speaking … More That Was The Week That Was
Here… • I turned forty. • A leading Holocaust historian rebutted the abuse of that history by two politicians. • What are the best Cold War movies? (Follow up: I saw and enjoyed Bridge of Spies yesterday. More later perhaps…) • Molly Worthen provided our annual reminder that the lecture is not actually a terrible way to teach. • … More That Was The Week That Was
Having already written a defense of the lecture this week, I’m going to take the risk of seeming like a complete curmudgeon and share these findings about online education, from a new study coming out of Stanford University’s Center for Education Policy Analysis (CEPA): (H/T L.D. Burnett) …online courses do less to promote student learning and … More New Research Finds That Online Courses Significantly Reduce Student Achievement
You know you inhabit an odd corner of the social media world when it goes viral over a New York Times column entitled “Lecture Me. Really.” And yet, I think it says something that a significant number of the academics I know on Facebook and follow on Twitter resonated so strongly with this argument from historian Molly Worthen: … More This Year’s Reminder That the Lecture is Not Dead
The Pietist Schoolman 