We received the following reflection from an ESN member, a young faculty member at a public research university, with the request to publish it anonymously. Have you experienced similar thoughts and feelings on your academic journey? Have you struggled with either confidence in yourself or reliance on God? If you would like to contribute to the Emerging Scholars Blog, anonymously or otherwise, contact me or Tom. ~ Mike There was a time when the likelihood of getting published felt so small that every success felt … [Read more...] about Academic Success, Security, and Standing on the Rock of God
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How Open Should You Be About Your Faith…at a Christian College?
For the most part, the Emerging Scholars Network serves students and faculty at secular universities, and the majority of our posts and articles are written for that audience. When we've touched on the subject of "being open about your faith," it's generally dealt with the idea of evangelism —such as Rick Mattson on witness in the academy or myself on "thresholds of evangelism" —or with the ability to speak and work as an explicitly Christian scholar on the secular campus. A few weeks ago, we published a talk by … [Read more...] about How Open Should You Be About Your Faith…at a Christian College?
Steve Simmons: Students Are a Lot Like People
Steve Robert Simmons is Morse-Alumni Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Minnesota. He served for 32 years in the Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics where he taught and conducted research on topics ranging from plant physiology to agroecology. He continues to serve as a mentor for graduate students and pre-tenured faculty through the university's Center for Teaching and Learning Services. In his retirement, Steve is writing creative nonfiction and is working on a book of personal essays. He and … [Read more...] about Steve Simmons: Students Are a Lot Like People
Bielo: How Do Evangelicals Read the Bible?
This summer, I'm reading —and blogging about —several books that reflect academic understandings of American evangelicals. The first of these is James S. Bielo's Words Upon the Word: An Ethnography of Evangelical Group Bible Study. Previously, I wrote about Bielo's discussion of Bible study as a social institution and how he decided to answer questions of identity about being a Christian and an academic.This week, I'm going to look at the actual act of reading the Bible in a small group Bible study. At the beginning … [Read more...] about Bielo: How Do Evangelicals Read the Bible?
How Academics See Evangelicals: A Tentative Reading List
Last week, I asked for recommendations for resources on how academics view evangelical Christians. Thank you for all of your great suggestions! In addition to the comments on the blog, I received several more suggestions by email, as well as a generous offer: T. M. Luhrmann, whose book When God Talks Back inspired by post and research project, contacted me and offered to send me a review copy of her copy. I'll be writing at least one post about the book later this year, most likely in June. Image credit: Wikipedia … [Read more...] about How Academics See Evangelicals: A Tentative Reading List