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Jenell Paris

Blog

An Empirical Examination of Dougherty’s Unified Field Theory of Lunch

In a commencement address to La Salle University, Peter J. Dougherty culled the most precious piece of wisdom from his 53 years of professional expertise to impart to graduating students. Just four words: meet often for lunch. In fact, let’s make it Lunch, a long, slow, enjoyable time at a sit-down restaurant. Getting together with…
Jenell Paris
February 25, 2025
Blog

Darrell L. Whiteman, Crossing Cultures with the Gospel: Anthropological Wisdom for Effective Christian Witness

Crossing Cultures with the Gospel is about just that, and its wisdom and insight easily extends into Christian college and university classrooms of all subjects. Miriam Adeney’s foreword sums up the book perfectly: Whiteman’s charisma and vitality distilled into wisdom that can be put into practice. Drawing from nearly a half-century of missionary experience, including…
Jenell Paris
September 19, 2024
Reviews

Darrell L. Whiteman, Crossing Cultures with the Gospel: Anthropological Wisdom for Effective Christian Witness

Crossing Cultures with the Gospel is about just that, and its wisdom and insight easily extends into Christian college and university classrooms of all subjects. Miriam Adeney’s foreword sums up the book perfectly: Whiteman’s charisma and vitality distilled into wisdom that can be put into practice. Drawing from nearly a half-century of missionary experience, including…
Jenell Paris
August 26, 2024
Blog

Daring to Teach in the Courageous Middle: A Testimonial Book Review

As the subtitle suggests, Shirley Mullen’s new book, Claiming the Courageous Middle, invites believers to dare “to live and work together for a more hopeful future.” This applies to all areas of life, from family to church membership, and to jobs as well, even that of professor. I don’t refer to professors as daring; I’d…
Jenell Paris
April 24, 2024
Blog

Deep Thoughts about the Meaning of Life

“Hypocrites!” Jesus leveled this harsh judgment with a single word, and he was just ramping up. After describing the people’s remarkable ability to predict the weather, he chastised them: “You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?”Lk.…
Jenell Paris
November 8, 2023
Article

Small Is Vulnerable: Anthropology at Christian Colleges and Universities

Anthropology and other small disciplines enjoyed a period of growth in the late twentieth century and now face reduction and reconfiguration in a ferociously competitive economic and enrollment context. This article describes anthropology’s presence in courses, programs, and faculty positions at Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU) member institutions and discusses the vulnerabilities of…
Jenell Paris
February 14, 2023
Blog

Trusting God in Crossing Race and Ethnic Boundaries

(Book Review: Sherwood Lingenfelter, Teamwork Cross-Culturally: Christ-Centered Solutions for Leading Multinational Teams. Baker Academic, 2022). In a world where just a word (not to mention phrases, topics, or modes of interaction) may cause offense or even trauma, perhaps the safer course may be to keep to ourselves and at least do no harm. The very…
Jenell Paris
August 25, 2022
Blog

Moving Beyond Racial Division

Book Review: George Yancey, Beyond Racial Division: A Unifying Alternative to Colorblindness and Antiracism. IVP, 2022. Does George Yancey have any friends? His new book Beyond Racial Division rejects dominant models for racial engagement, an unpopular approach that clears space for a third way. In challenging colorblindness, the perspective probably held among most evangelicals, he…
Jenell Paris
July 21, 2022
Blog

Fleeing from Quarrels toward Creole

(Curtiss DeYoung (lead author) and contributing authors Jacqueline J. Lewis, Micky ScottBey Jones, Robyn Afrik, Sarah Thompson Nahar, Sindy Morales Garcia, and ‘Iwalani Ka’ai,  Becoming Like Creoles: Living and Leading at the Intersections of Injustice, Culture, and Religion Fortress Press, 2019). In 1 Timothy, Paul warns against “unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words…
Jenell Paris
June 24, 2022
Blog

Responding to Student Excuses with the Wisdom of Solomon

These years are rough, no doubt, with both students and faculty altering daily life in order to survive the pandemic—and grieving those who didn’t. While many challenges are novel, and hopefully temporary, one is perennial: the student excuse. Faculty may see student excuses as annoying time-drains that divert from the real work of education and…
Jenell Paris
October 7, 2021
Blog

Returning to Campus, In Person

As many of us return to physical campuses this fall, mostly without masks, we are following the advice of classic sociologists: humans need proximity. It’s worth the trouble to regain this aspect of pre-pandemic life. As for me, I anticipate seeing students again with joy, but being on campus also brings the strong possibility of…
Jenell Paris
August 3, 2021
Blog

From Thick to Quick: Living the Golden Rule

After the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in July 2020, I participated in a BLM protest in Harrisburg, PA. I brought along my copy of The Souls of Black Folk by Dr. W. E. B. Du Bois. I sat on a step of the State Capitol and read, aloud but quietly, the eleventh…
Jenell Paris
February 15, 2021
Blog

Learning about Jesus: Vital for Christ-Animated Education

Jenell Paris’ post this week introduces a new book for which she wrote the introduction Christian colleges and universities vary one from another, but share a central commitment to Christ, and to teaching students in a “Christ-animated” manner. As an anthropologist, I rely on interdisciplinary study to deepen my knowledge of Scripture so that I…
Jenell Paris
November 4, 2020
Blog

Teaching During Pandemic: Help!

I’ve been teaching for a hundred years, and this one is the most difficult. Every day I receive marketing emails from textbook and educational service companies; one offered free resources to "help deliver content during this difficult time." Thanks, but no thanks. I'm not a delivery person (nor a service provider, nor a learning manager).…
Jenell Paris
October 5, 2020