A few different strands of thought came together for me this morning in the form of a question. Let me throw out the question first, and then elaborate. Is there a public Christian intellectual presence on your campus? Here are the threads that came together for me. First, in our recent book discussion of John Stott's Your Mind Matters, Stott describes a kind of intellectualism that is very public. For example, in chapter 3, he "examines six spheres of Christian living, each of which is impossible without the … [Read more...] about Is there a Christian intellectual presence on your campus?
john sommerville
Can New Symbols Change Academic Culture?
Two weeks ago, I was at InterVarsity's Cedar Campus for our 2009 Midwest Faculty Conference. John Sommerville, professor emeritus of history at U. Florida and author of The Decline of the Secular University, was the featured speaker. He spoke about the influence of secularism on the ideas and structures of the university (as he has previously written in the Chronicle), but also discussed new opportunities for Christian scholars in a "postsecular" university. The third of his four talks addressed a key question: How … [Read more...] about Can New Symbols Change Academic Culture?
Week in Review – Summer Reflections on Education, the Outdoors, and the Mind
This week's Week in Review includes possible ways to address the shortfall of America's schools, to keep pace with textbook technology, to enjoy the outdoors through reading, and more! If you'd like to contribute to next week's Review, add your link(s) in the comments, or send them to Tom or Mike directly. From Tom Five Ways to Fix America's Schools (Harold O. Levy, NY Times Op-Ed, 06/08/2009): Any comments and/or recommendations? The biggest improvement we can make in higher education is to produce more … [Read more...] about Week in Review – Summer Reflections on Education, the Outdoors, and the Mind
Book Review: The Decline of the Secular University
C. John Sommerville is Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Florida. In 2006, Oxford University Press published a little book of his called The Decline of the Secular University, a selection from which was featured in the Chronicle of Higher Education. He will also be the featured speaker at this summer's Midwest Faculty Conference, so I thought I should read his book before spending a week with him in the cabins along Lake Huron. Sommerville summarizes his book as follows: My thesis in what follows … [Read more...] about Book Review: The Decline of the Secular University