“Preargument Scholarship”: Blogging Our Digital History Project

The first month of summer break is coming to an end, so it seems like a good time to check in on the progress of the digital history project that I’m working on with my student Fletcher Warren: We’re researching how the people of Bethel University have experienced a century of warfare going back to 1914, the year … More “Preargument Scholarship”: Blogging Our Digital History Project

That Was The Week That Was

Here… • From our workshop on innovative teaching at Bethel, I shared some thoughts on how I plan to go about teaching our department’s first offering of Introduction to History. • Jonathan Merritt’s observations about three worrisome trends in “New Calvinism” reminded me what I’ve come to appreciate about older varieties of that theological tradition. • If you … More That Was The Week That Was

Was WWI “Pointless Carnage”?

Yesterday Thomas Kidd’s interview of Philip Jenkins, his fellow Anxious Bencher, further whetted my appetite for Jenkins’ new book on religion and World War I, The Great and Holy War. But I was mostly struck by the way Jenkins pushed back against Kidd’s statement that “WWI is often remembered for unprecedented, but often pointless carnage, especially in the notorious experiences … More Was WWI “Pointless Carnage”?

My Summer Plans? A Digital History of a Christian College in Wartime

To this point in my career as a history professor, at least a couple of goals have eluded me: first, to engage in collaborative research and writing with a gifted undergraduate; second, to get some firsthand experience learning how digital tools (beyond WordPress, that is) can enrich the practice of history. I’m happy to announce that, thanks … More My Summer Plans? A Digital History of a Christian College in Wartime