“We are not here to-day to mourn their deaths. Nothing would so shock the devoted and exultant spirit of their service.” So said former Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson in November 1920, as Yale University dedicated tablets in Memorial Hall with the names of 227 Yalies who had fallen in the recent World War. “We … More The Birth of America First
The college football stadium that served as my home state’s WWI memorial was demolished in 1992, but you can still find World War I memorials at many colleges and universities in this country. I doubt any American institution of higher learning did more to commemorate WWI than my graduate alma mater: Yale University. Students at Yale had … More How One University Remembers World War I
Here… • I daydreamed about leading a summer tour of Pietism sites in Germany. • I recommended a new blog on technology and theology, Digital Wisdom. …There and Everywhere • When you write about Beth Moore and the importance of women to the future of evangelicalism, you apparently get thousands of readers. • Maybe the people … More That Was The Week That Was
Here… • Liberty University Online was the subject of a troubling profile, in which Pres. Jerry Falwell, Jr. celebrated how he had found “a way to tame” professors who objected to the program. (For a bit more interesting historical context, see Adam Laats on the long history of evangelical institutions using technology to do education … More That Was The Week That Was
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 originally delivered this address (which pulls together several ideas I’ve chewed on at this blog) last spring and published it at The Anxious Bench. But it struck me last night that it’s actually better-suited to this time of year, when many of us are welcoming new students who may not understand or value the liberal … More The Three Journeys of the Christian Liberal Arts
As usual, things get quiet around here in mid-to-late August as I gear up for the start of another academic year. (Those scintillating syllabi won’t write themselves!) So while I managed to dash off a few thoughts on what happened in Charlottesville, I’ve not had a chance to reflect in any depth on the question … More How Historians Can Teach from Memorials
If you follow me over at The Anxious Bench, you might know that I wrote a multi-part series on the challenges of writing a biography. There’s a good reason for that: I was considering a biography as my next book project. Today I’m happy to announce that I’ve signed a contract with Eerdmans to contribute to their Library … More Announcing My Next Book Project!
Of all the ways that the First World War has attracted renewed attention in these years of its ongoing centenary, I don’t think any is less likely than its becoming the setting for the superhero movie debuting tomorrow: Yes, that’s Wonder Woman (played by Israeli actress Gal Gadot) leading a frontal assault across No Man’s … More Wonder Woman and World War I
The surprising power of the timeline as a tool for history professors. … More The Timeline as a Historical Tool
