"Reclaiming conversations, that's the next frontier." -- Sherry Turkle's [1] concluding line to her TEDxUIUC 2011 presentation Alone Together. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtLVCpZIiNs This morning David O'Hara's Can I Ask Questions In Church? [2] spurred me to read Jaweed Kaleem's Keeping Alive The Big Questions [3]. In Kaleem's resource rich article I once again came across Sherry Turkle, Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology in the Program in Science, … [Read more...] about Reclaiming Conversations?
conversation
Talking with Non-Evangelicals (When God Talks Back)
A couple of weeks ago, I finished reading T.M. Luhrmann's When God Talks Back: Understanding the American Evangelical Relationship with God. As I mentioned then, please read Mark Noll's review, which is much better than what I could have written. This week, I'd like to share a few things that I learned from Luhrmann about engaging and talking with non-evangelicals. Next week, I'll have a few thoughts about how we evangelicals can talk amongst ourselves. 1. Encourage good scholars and thinkers, whatever their beliefs. … [Read more...] about Talking with Non-Evangelicals (When God Talks Back)
The Art of Mentoring as a Graduate Student
Tom recently posted about graduate students mentoring undergrads at Johns Hopkins. Graduate school offers many opportunities to mentor, whether that means chatting with your undergraduate students during office hours or introducing new graduate students to your department. Here are a few things I've learned about mentoring during graduate school. 1. Treat the person you're mentoring as a less-experienced peer. One of the things that most impresses me about my own mentors is how well they do this. They show … [Read more...] about The Art of Mentoring as a Graduate Student
The Art of Maintaining Relationships With Mentors
My last post ended with a section on following up with mentors, and I'd like to expand on that a bit here. In this post, I'll look at a few ways of maintaining mentor relationships over time. Sustaining anything over years is a challenge, and maintaining mentoring relationships can be hard, however appreciative you are of a mentor's gifts to you. It's difficult to catch up with people, especially in academic life where there are so many time pressures. But here are a few thoughts on staying in touch with … [Read more...] about The Art of Maintaining Relationships With Mentors
The Art of Learning Wisdom from Mentors
Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out. -- Proverbs 20:5, KJV Even if you have good mentors, learning wisdom from them is a skill. It's an art that takes a lifetime, and I certainly haven't mastered it. But the wisest people I know do several things. They ask good questions, they observe carefully, and they follow up with those from whom they've learned. Here are some thoughts on applying these patterns in your grad school mentoring relationships: 1. … [Read more...] about The Art of Learning Wisdom from Mentors