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Growing up in a small New England town, I had a friend whose mother, a professor who taught at a private, religious college in the Berkshires, abruptly began dying her hair ash-brown when she was applying for tenure. I was bewildered and asked my friend, why? I thought gray hair was a sign of wisdom—a…

This last week, I spent 45 minutes during a lunch trying to grasp for basic words. I did not know what was wrong with me. I could not ask a simple question of the person at the table, “What was your major in college?” Soon, I could not remember my lunch partners’ names. Fortunately, my…

It is cliche at this point to observe that humanistic learning is declining in American colleges and universities, including Christian ones. There are new data points each year, but the conclusion is always the same: faculty positions supporting particular arts and sciences majors, such as classics, history, philosophy, etc., are being reduced.  It is easy…

Editor's note: Due to an internal error, this post was not distributed this past Thursday when it originally posted. As a result, we are distributing it today. Thanks, PLG The idea of the public intellectual, popularly introduced in the mid-twentieth century, has flourished over the past decade. A public intellectual is an expert, “often a…

How would Jesus do mathematics? He would most likely connect the discipline to his daily experiences (whether in carpentry or in discipleship) and would seek out a community of like-minded individuals rather than work in isolation. I would like to think that he would support the mission of the Association of Christians in the Mathematical…

For my Bible reading this year, I am using the NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible (Zondervan, 2016), edited by John H. Walton, Professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College. I have been humbled by how little I knew about the cultural contexts of Old Testament writers, stunned especially by their religious appropriations. I shouldn’t be.…

This past week The Wall Street Journal published an article about the crisis facing men with regards to higher education. In the article, the writer noted that Baylor University actually recruits women, male applicants’ mothers, to make sure young male applicants get their transcripts in on time. Apparently young men tend to be laggards in…

This post is a slightly edited version of a recent editorial published in the International Journal of Christianity and Education.Smith DI (2021) For the birds: Absence and vision in teaching texts. International Journal of Christianity & Education. July. doi:10.1177/20569971211031437 (LINK: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20569971211031437) Birds are excellent indicators of environmental health and ecosystem integrity…Results from long-term surveys, accounting…

Science validates what many know by experience– the college years are a time of self-discovery and personal formation.Madelynn D. Shell, David Shears, and Zoe Millard, “Who Am I? Identity Development During the First Year of College” in Psy Chi Journal of Psychological Research, 25.2, 2020, 192-202. While peers, families of origin, socio-economic levels, and general…

When is illumination, as light shined upon knowledge, no more than sound and fury—signifying nothing? Are there times when illumination is even perilous? I have been on a tear this summer reading books whose copyrights have expired, allowing me to download them for free. I recently read the 1896 novel, “The Damnation of Theron Ware;…

Trying to keep abreast of the relevant findings about SARS-Cov-2 is a fully time job for someone, but it is a real challenge for a busy college professor with a host of other responsibilities. I am grateful for the work of public health organizations that curate high quality scientific publications and summarize those most pertinent. CIDRAP,…

Among the modern artists my students resonate with most are the German Expressionists who worked mainly in the years just preceding and including the First World War. Something about their frank, garish and often gruesome work feels honest. With its jagged lines and dark narratives, it doesn’t sugar-coat or lie. It’s jarringly autobiographical, shamelessly confessional.…

In a dissertation proposal defense a few years ago, one of my colleagues declared to the nervous student, “Your paper sounds like a good Ed.D. but not a good Ph.D. You’re getting a philosophy degree , so you need to make a contribution to theory.”  First, I thought, “Do I agree that should be the…

The recent publication of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) sixth report reminds us again of the challenges facing humanity in regards to human-caused climate change.IPCC, 2021: Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate…

Two weeks ago, a meme circulated with two pictures, labeled “My Fall Plans” and “The Delta Variant.” Usually the former image was cheerful and the latter considerably more dark. I saw most of these posted by my professor friends, asking a very good question: How can professors be expected to write a syllabus in this…

The Prince of Peace said, “I have not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Mt 10:34). Amid the ubiquitous anger of 2021 America, especially virulent on college campuses, Christians and non-Christians alike can see the truth of this paradox. A paradox that is harder to see, but could be a key to restoring peace,…

Dire prognostications have been floating around based on the supposed lack of preparation incoming college students are likely to have because of the tumultuous disruption in their education caused by COVID. I worry that the class of 2025 will get discouraged by these pronouncements to the extent that they become a self-fulfilling prophecy. To help…

Some colleagues and I recently undertook a national study of Christian faculty development programs at Christian colleges and universities. Although I will share a link to the academic publication containing the results when published, I want to share one of our conclusions. We realized in the end that Christian institutions need some fresh ideas in…