The Emerging Scholars Blog

The ESN Day Ahead ended well, and the main Following Christ conference has begun. I am assisting with the Humanities track, chaired by Michael Murray of Franklin & Marshall. In his opening remarks about human flourishing, Dr. Murray described the danger that ethical subjectivism poses to the gospel. If there is no right or wrong, if “evil” is an outdated concept and what we think of as “sin” is really just “bad manners,” then the gospel no longer makes sense. God seems cruel and vindictive to send his only Son to die on the cross to save us from…bad manners. Therefore, it is key for Christians to maintain the reality of evil in the world and in our own lives.

Interestingly, this dovetails with remarks made by Mary Poplin during the ESN Day Ahead. Before she became a Christian, she held a very pantheistic view of reality, and denied the existence of true evil. One of her students consistently asked her whether she believed evil was real, and refused to let her explain it away. Part of her conversion was the realization that evil truly existed - that, in fact, it existed within her own self and that she need Jesus to cleanse her of that evil.

The first part of Following Christ has started. I’m with the ESN Day Ahead, listening to “stories of calling” from Christian professors. More details to come.

Following Christ 2008 begins tomorrow with 5 Day Ahead events, including ESN’s first national gathering, Flourishing in the Academy. We’re hosting a couple of guest bloggers to post updates about the conference. Whether you’re at the conference yourself or following from home, I hope you’ll join the conversation.

Today, we introduce our second guest blogger, Dr. Carsten Vala, assistant professor of political science at Loyola College. Here’s a little more about him: Read the rest of this entry »

Following Christ 2008 is now less than a week away (not to mention that other important event this week). Here at the ESN blog, we will be privileged to welcome Dr. Cynthia Lo, assistant professor of chemistry at Washington University, as a guest blogger during FC08. Here is a little bit more about her: Read the rest of this entry »

My home state of Kentucky is considering ending tenure for its entire community college system. This news prompted Mark Bauerlein (professor of English at Emory and regular blogger at the Chronicle of Higher Education) to ask “Is Tenure Doomed?” at MindingTheCampus.com. As he notes, Read the rest of this entry »

I have been thinking about cynicism lately, particularly of how pervasive it is in the academy and how easily it spills over into the rest of my life. What should I find, but a lecture about the very topic from one of our ESN mentors, Greg Ganssle. Thwarting Cynicism and Discontentment: Virtuous Practices of the Christian Scholar was presented at Faculty Commons’ National Faculty Leadership Conference this past summer. Greg works with the Rivendell Institute, as well as serving as a lecturer in philosophy at Yale.

Greg notes that cynicism is a professional hazard for academics: Read the rest of this entry »

In our most recent Emerging Scholars Review, we told you about a new website connecting faculty and administrators to campuses of faith, AcademicVocations.org. Yesterday, they began a new offer: a weekly drawing for a $250 scholarship to the academic conference of your choice (including Following Christ 2008). Read the rest of this entry »

Today is John Milton’s 400th birthday - or, rather, would have been. If you choose to celebrate this occasion, you can visit the John Milton Reading Room at Dartmouth, which contains ALL of Milton’s poetry (in English, Italian, Latin, and Greek) and selections from his prose, along with annotations.

(HT: The Wired Campus)

In the ESN Discussion Forum, I have just posted a new listing for a biology faculty at John Brown University.

Also, if you haven’t yet, check out the new website, Academic Vocations. Most ESN members study and work at secular universities, but there are many opportunities at Christian colleges and universities, too. Academic Vocations allows you to search job listings at Christian colleges and post your CV for Christian colleges to review.

Insider Higher Ed reports on a meeting of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, in which assessing student outcomes was discussed. I’ll let you read the article yourself, but one of their conclusions was:

It might be possible, and could be valuable, for humanists to reach broad agreement on the skills, abilities, and knowledge they might seek to instill in their students, and that agreement on those goals might be a starting point for identifying effective ways to measure how well students have mastered those outcomes.

Notice the words “might” and “possible,” which express considerable reservations.

So, how should student outcomes in the humanities be assessed? Or can they be assessed? And what sorts of outcomes should be sought in the first place?