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The “What” of Christian Scholar’s Review

Last week, Margaret Diddams discussed the important mission that guides Christian Scholar’s Review (CSR)—the “why.” As someone who studies Christian higher education, I also find that faithful institutions have theologically rich and informed mission statements. Unfortunately, many Christian institutions with great mission statements do not consistently demonstrate the operationalization of that mission in all they…
April 13, 2026
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Finding God in Engineering: The Shape is the Key

In the first post, I shared a story about Mike Mulligan that shaped me. In this one, I want to share the story that shaped my current approach to engineering education. It’s the story of how the t-shaped engineer came to be, and how a quiet theological correction helped me see its deeper truth. The…
April 10, 2026
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How Stories Slowly Shape Us: Even Engineers (Part 1)

The rise of artificial intelligence is not primarily a technical disruption. It is a formational one. The tools are reshaping us — our attention, our relationships, our sense of what it means to learn and work and belong. That conviction sits at the center of this series, reshaping the way I think about engineering education,…
April 8, 2026
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The Curse That Sanctifies Us All

The popular futuristic fantasy of a world without work has been receiving increased attention lately. In a January 2026 podcast, Elon Musk opined that people should no longer worry about saving for retirement because, in the world of abundance to come, those savings would be irrelevant.1 By 2030, he claimed, artificial intelligence would be smarter…
April 7, 2026
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The “Why” of the Christian Scholar’s Review

Almost every company in America can point to a corporate plan that highlights its unique strengths, market segments, growth opportunities, and headwinds. Many Christian not-for-profits, and especially Christian higher education institutions, can also point to their own strategic plans that focus on their mission, key areas for growth, and the steps they will take to…
April 6, 2026

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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…
February 15, 2021
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Defamiliarizing Christianity

“Christ Animated Learning” is an inspired title for this blog, for Christ the Logos (“word, thought, rationality”) is always the one who animates (from Latin anima, “spirit, breath of life”) the journey toward Truth that we call “learning.”  The same Spirit who effected my conversion to Classics as a college sophomore, immersing me in the…
February 11, 2021
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Bodies, Beauty and Time: On Michelangelo

Contemporary culture is obsessed with the human body. It (that is, the body) carries so much responsibility. Weak, mortal, finite, it is made to bear burdens of eternity: it is made to be a sign of dignity, meaning and status that is somehow eternal. So, we punish it, whipping it into shape with brutal exercises.…
February 10, 2021
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Identity Excellence and Not Identity Politics Should Be Our End

Although I am a college professor, I must confess that my most important education during college did not come from professors. As an undergraduate majoring in history, political science, and religion at Rice University, I had some great classes with outstanding professors—one even won a Professor of the Year award among faculty for the entire…
February 9, 2021
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Changing Faces on Freedom of Religion or Belief

A mere four years – something of a lifetime – ago, the Berkley Center asked many scholars and activists to offer advice for the new administration of President Trump. At the time, I argued that the new administration needed to leverage its multilateral assets: that freedom of religion or belief needed American leadership, but that…
February 8, 2021
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“Just the Answer, Please”

Deep into the throes of last semester—at that juncture when I invariably lose the pedagogical forest for the trees—I noticed a reoccurring discussion across each of my classes. While my courses focus uniquely on topics such as analyzing social welfare policies, child welfare practices, and grant writing—one pressing and underlying question kept emerging. That is,…
February 5, 2021
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The Rationality of Irrationality

Back in 1996, my husband and I had a heated debate over the former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan’s use of the term “irrational exuberance” to explain the bull stock market at that time. He agreed with Greenspan that irrationality was the only explanation for some of the ridiculously inflated price to earnings ratios,…
February 3, 2021