Tag: World War II

1942 recruiting poster for the U.S. Army

Best of The Pietist Schoolman: The Purpose of the Liberal Arts is Purpose

March 10, 2014

From January… Another metaphor for education, this one occurring to me in the midst of teaching my course on the international history of World War II. In its final episode, “A World Without War,” Ken Burns’ The War arrives at the Allied liberation of concentration camps in the Third Reich. This chapter is introduced by an … More Best of The Pietist Schoolman: The Purpose of the Liberal Arts is Purpose

Walfred Peterson (with history professor Dalphy Fagerstrom) on completing his doctorate in December 1957

Walfred Peterson: Champion of Religious Liberty (G.W. Carlson) – part 1

February 10, 2014

Having previously written tributes to Clarence Jordan, Virgil Olson, and Will D. Campbell, our own favorite Baptist, G.W. Carlson, returns to celebrate another noteworthy Baptist: political scientist Walfred “Wally” Peterson, who served at the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty in between teaching stints at Bethel College and Washington State University. (G.W. previously wrote about … More Walfred Peterson: Champion of Religious Liberty (G.W. Carlson) – part 1

Soviet POWs in July 1941

Starvation as a Weapon

February 6, 2014

Today’s must-read article comes from Anne Applebaum, pointing to a perhaps underreported dimension of the crisis in Syria: mass starvation brought about by the policies of Bashar al-Assad. While the international community is haggling over [Assad’s] chemical weapons, the stuff of modern nightmares, he is following the example of his medieval and his 20th-century predecessors and … More Starvation as a Weapon

Hitler with Paul von Hindenburg, March 1933

This Day in History: A WWII Convergence

January 30, 2014

I don’t pretend that historical coincidences like this mean anything. But perhaps because I’ve just finished teaching a course on the history of World War II for the first time, I couldn’t help but notice a convergence of WWII-related anniversaries on my Twitter feed this morning: I’m sure there’s something profound to note about this … More This Day in History: A WWII Convergence

Sky Tinged Red cover

“Thick Darkness”: Further Thoughts on Looking Too Quickly for Light

January 23, 2014

It was a day into Epiphany — the Christian season of light, when Jesus is revealed in many and various ways as God — when I began my J-term class on World War II. So I started out with a meditation on Isaiah 60:1-2, one of the staple texts of the season. But rather than … More “Thick Darkness”: Further Thoughts on Looking Too Quickly for Light

Victims of the siege of Leningrad, 1942

“Thick Darkness”: An Epiphany Meditation on Teaching WWII

January 6, 2014

If it weren’t for the fact that the wind chill is nearing fifty below Fahrenheit here in the Twin Cities and Bethel has joined other colleges and schools in closing for the day, this afternoon I would be kicking off my new course on the history of World War II. Since today is also the … More “Thick Darkness”: An Epiphany Meditation on Teaching WWII

Langemark Cemetery

“Lest We Forget”

November 11, 2013

In two and a half years of blogging, I’ve written a fair amount about the commemoration of war. If those forty posts haven’t been the kind you normally read, consider taking a few minutes this Remembrance/Veterans Day to explore that theme. First, an array of some of the images of cemeteries, memorials, monuments, and other … More “Lest We Forget”