Some Christian students in the sciences may encounter apparent tensions at the interface of science and religion, resulting in struggle, doubt, or loss of faith. While the content of these tensions is often addressed in the classroom, the experiential process of struggle is not often addressed. The goal of this paper is to explore two…
Many confessional colleges and universities encourage diversity among their students and faculty. Yet while affirming diversity, there are sociological hurdles to overcome which rarely are acknowledged or confronted. Within the field of Biblical Studies, Kathryn J. Smith points out that these hurdles include the tendency to limit pedagogical offerings to those methods developed out of…
The fullness of human community that Dante depicts in the final third of his Divine Comedy becomes more imaginable and compelling if we can see its playfulness and can, in turn, show the importance of play in our present communities, especially communities of learning. With help from James P. Carse’s distinction between finite and infinite…
In the forty-third episode of the “Saturdays at Seven” conversation series, Todd Ream talks with David N. Livingstone, Professor of Geography and Intellectual History Emeritus at Queen’s University Belfast. Livingstone opens by detailing the sufficiencies and insufficiencies of maps. As finite constructs devised for specific purposes, some maps, for example, may do a good job of offering expedient directions between two points. What those maps may lack, however, is the ability to note the cultural transitions people may experience while traveling between those points. Ream and Livingstone then transition to discussing Livingstone’s education and career in Belfast. Arching across much of the season known in Northern Ireland as The Troubles, Livingstone notes that although academic life at Queen’s University Belfast occurred relatively uninterrupted, daily life came to include observing security measures that became second nature. They also discuss a sample of Livingstone’s books including Dealing with Darwin, Livingstone’s widely cited Putting Science in Its Place, and Livingstone’s recently released The Empire of Climate. Ream and Livingstone then close their conversation by discussing the academic vocation, the virtues it demands, and the university’s responsibility for nurturing the commitments that define such a vocation.
In the forty-fourth episode of the “Saturdays at Seven” conversation series, Todd Ream talks with John Inazu, the Sally D. Danforth Distinguished Professor of Law and Religion at Washington University in St. Louis. Inazu begins by discussing the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, why its components prove valuable to so many people, and why the debates surrounding those components may bespeak something positive about citizenship in the United States. Ream and Inazu then discuss Inazu’s commitment to the study and practice of law, how it emerged, and the mentors and readings that impacted it. Such an understanding of the practice and study of the law then led Inazu to write his recently released Learning to Disagree as well Uncommon Ground which Inazu co-authored with Tim Keller. Ream and Inazu then close their conversation talking about the academic vocation, Inazu’s understanding of such a calling, and the virtues that prove critical to its exercise.
“Exvangelicalism” is a relatively new term for a much older phenomenon: those who’ve been raised as evangelicals coming to realize that they no longer identify as such, and intentionally reckoning with the continuing impact of that tradition in their lives. Philosophers have not had much to say about this phenomenon – until now. These four…
Editor’s Note: Due to a technical error, this post was not e-mailed on May 2 as intended. As a result, we are reposting it today. Thanks, PLG May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. How might Christian scholars effectively engage AAPI topics during this month and beyond? I had the joy of…
This collaboration between a social work researcher with expertise in systems of care for those with disabilities and a literary scholar asks whether mimetic theory can shed light on relational dynamics surrounding children with intellectual disabilities. Data came from two sources: field experience with organizations in China and interviews with stakeholders of organizations in Michigan….
Anyone working in a healthcare-related field or maybe just anyone who knows a teenager or young adult is well aware of the current mental health crisis among us. In the last decade, the number of young people going to emergency rooms for self-harm related incidents has increased by 329 percent. Rates of anxiety and depression…
Empirical research on work as a calling has grown exponentially over the last two decades; it is now a global and vibrant area of scholarship within the fields of psychology and organizational behavior. Results emerging from research on calling address questions of major interest to Christians, yet remain almost entirely overlooked within contemporary Christian discourse…
Like many others, last fall I read with interest, in Christian Scholar’s Review, scholars’ reflections on George Marsden’s The Soul of the American University Revisited and Marsden’s response. The experience was—in no particular order—encouraging, convicting, and depressing. At different points, I, likely along with others, saw reflections of both the successes and challenges of my…
Feelings of tremendous pride well up when I hear about alums who are ascending career ladders on Wall Street, in Silicon Valley, or at locally based tech companies like Amazon. Then, I start to wonder if some of these grads are moving up because they are just good at helping their employers “make money,” but…
Feelings of tremendous pride well up when I hear about alums who are ascending career ladders on Wall Street, in Silicon Valley, or at locally based tech companies like Amazon. Then, I start to wonder if some of these grads are moving up because they are just good at helping their employers “make money,” but…
Alan Wolfe once made the observation that among religious traditions, the intellectual standing of evangelicalism “ranks dead last.” In a somewhat bereaved tone, Randall Stephens and Karl Giberson contest the very nature of what stands for credible thinking among the majority of American evangelicals, almost one-hundred million strong. How have leaders lacking scholarly gravitas attained…
A year and a half ago, in the middle of lockdown, it seemed like reunion would never come. Now, it is coming and has already come, in an “already/not yet” sort of dichotomy. Our campus communities are experiencing the joys, and problems, of reunion, as people like me keep an eye on my university’s COVID-19…
“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.” Matthew 6:1 I rarely see so many public intellectuals misunderstand the implications of a Supreme Court case as the recent Kennedy v. Bremerton School District decision…
Despite historical and recent scholarship that demonstrates the need to appeal to the affective dimension of students to enable appropriate behavior, Christian business education is dominated by cognitively focused “worldview integration.” In this essay Kenman Wong, Bruce Baker, and Randal Franz argue for reimagining business education as a formational enterprise in order to facilitate a…
Looking over my chapter again from Power Women: Stories of Faith, Motherhood, and the Academy induced a set of mixed feelings. On the one hand, re-reading the words I originally penned in the Fall of 2018 provided encouragement, reminding me of what a privilege it is to pursue both scholarship and motherhood, and how God’s…
Survey Q: How does the Christian faith inform your message about alcohol?Participant: “We don’t really have a message about alcohol, aside from ‘don’t do it’.” When I worked in public policy, I once spoke at a governor’s conference in North Dakota. After my talk, I struck up a conversation with the Lt. Governor. She made…
Sometimes students’ reasons for becoming entrepreneurs go beyond the desire for lifestyle freedom. Some young people bristle at the idea of having someone in authority over them. More than autonomy, they want power and immunity from the demands of others, and they imagine being their own boss as equivalent to achieving it. They imagine organizing a business in which they “call the shots” while others “wash the pots”; a business that serves them. These would-be entrepreneurs evidence a misunderstanding of business. Serving the needs of clients, fellow employees, or others is the very nature of value creation in business. Some may prefer to serve indirectly through an organizational structure while others may prefer to serve more immediately by starting their own business.
