I went through a painful process last year. Necessary, but painful. But it was a good thing. At my institution, we undergo a pre-tenure evaluation before we go up for tenure —a practice run, so to speak —and my pre-tenure review provided a valuable opportunity for me to reconsider my priorities as a Christian faculty member. As I listed committees I served on, classes I taught, lectures I attended, students I mentored —accounted for how I used my time —I could no longer deceive myself into thinking that I was devoting … [Read more...] about On the Tenure Track
Approaching a New Semester
Editor's note: A powerful piece received a few weeks ago, I encourage you to join the author and myself in prayer for the new term. . . . I have to admit a certain fear as the new semester approaches. Not so much about the teaching itself. It's a lot of work, but I've done it before. What incites fear in me is the realization that I — with all my insecurities, faults and failures —am again being given sixty-some students for four hours a week for fifteen weeks. This is more time than they will spend with their … [Read more...] about Approaching a New Semester
Being a Christian at a Christian University
Below is the first of a periodic offering of posts by Kate Peterson (pseudonym), an assistant professor in the humanities at a Christian institution of higher education. A special thank-you to Kate for expressing her desire to share with us some of her story, thereby providing a lens for some of the challenges faced by and insights which can be uniquely offered by scholars in the context of a Christian institution of higher education. As an alumnus of two Christian institutions, a student currently enrolled at another, … [Read more...] about Being a Christian at a Christian University