A number of my colleagues recommended I read What is the “Good News” of Jesus Christ?*, delivered by David Suryk at the 2016 Midwest Faculty Conference (Cedar Campus, 6/19/2016). When I had opportunity to connect with David at this summer's Midwest Faculty Conference, I asked him not only for a copy of What is the “Good News” of Jesus Christ?, but also the permission to share the sermon with the Emerging Scholars Network via a series on the blog. So, here is Part 1. "Thank-you!" to David for the series and Hannah for … [Read more...] about What is the “Good News” of Jesus Christ? Part 1
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Peace, Beauty, Relationships: Teenage reflections on the MidWest Faculty Ministry Conference
It's about time for a follow-up to The End of Higher Ed —Update #1 and what a joy to have one of my talented teenage daughters looking for the opportunity :) If you have a story to share about one of this summer's faculty conferences, please be in touch with me. Thank-you! ~ Thomas B. Grosh IV, Associate Director, Emerging Scholars Network Peace and Beauty . . . The air grew crisp and it was so incredibly quiet... It wasn't until we arrived at the lake that we realized it may not be the city at all that seemed … [Read more...] about Peace, Beauty, Relationships: Teenage reflections on the MidWest Faculty Ministry Conference
Book Review: Louis Agassiz: A Life in Science
Louis Agassiz: A Life in Science by Edward Lurie My rating: 4 of 5 stars Louis Agassiz might well be considered the foremost naturalist of the first half of the nineteenth century. He brought a rigor to the scientific enterprise in America that inspired everyone from cabinet members to farmers. And he also reflects the human dilemma of being caught late in life in a paradigm shift as the work of Charles Darwin won over a younger generation of zoologists, some who had studied with Agassiz. This is an … [Read more...] about Book Review: Louis Agassiz: A Life in Science
Book Review: Education’s End
Education's End: Why Our Colleges and Universities Have Given Up on the Meaning of Life by Anthony T. Kronman (New Haven: Yale U. Press, 2007). My rating: 4 of 5 stars. Anthony Kronman had me by the time I got to the subtitle. I wanted to know, “why, indeed, have our colleges and universities given up on the meaning of life?” It brought to mind a conversation with a religious studies faculty about the evidence from studies of spirituality in higher education of the longing of students to talk openly about … [Read more...] about Book Review: Education’s End
Book Review: The Humanities and Public Life
The Humanities and Public Life edited by Peter Brooks with Hilary Jewett (Bronx: Fordham University Press, 2014). My rating: 3 of 5 stars. There is no question but that the humanities are under fire. Budgets are being cut, sometimes whole departments. How then to justify the humanities within the university, without accepting “instrumentalization”, a term thrown around much in this book, which means roughly, being able to demonstrate some “deliverable” or bottom line worth. Peter Brooks, the editor of … [Read more...] about Book Review: The Humanities and Public Life