Happy Birthday, RiAH!
Jonathan Den Hartog
Blogmeister Cara Burnidge has pointed out that this month the Religion in American History Blog turns 10. Happy Birthday!
2007 seems a long time ago professionally, as this rather fresh Ph.D. had just completed his first year of teaching in Minnesota. Even out of graduate school, I quickly became aware of the Religion in American History blog. It was a great way to keep a finger on the pulse of American Religious History and monitor what people were thinking about.
Several years later, I appreciated the invite from blog founder Paul Harvey to contribute. One of my earliest posts was this one, a review of a novel about American missionaries abroad.
I appreciate Paul's grace as I learned the ropes, whether of etiquette (not stepping on someone else's post!) or of technology, as one of my posts broke the site (hint: Microsoft products and blogger don't play well together).
Participating in the blog has allowed me to stay in touch with the community of scholars of American religion. This could be in the comments section of any post or in the emerging discussion as post builds on post. The blog thus has worked to foster a digital community, and I've appreciated that, even if I couldn't make it to every conference in the field.
Through the blog, I've appreciated the opportunity to remind the world of the on-going work and importance of religious developments in colonial, Revolutionary, and early republican America.
Finally, I continue to enjoy reading the blog as new ideas get shared, as new writers come on strong (welcome, Andrea Turpin!), and as Paul Putz keeps my reading list stocked with more titles than I can get to!
Here's to many more years for the RiAH community!
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2007 seems a long time ago professionally, as this rather fresh Ph.D. had just completed his first year of teaching in Minnesota. Even out of graduate school, I quickly became aware of the Religion in American History blog. It was a great way to keep a finger on the pulse of American Religious History and monitor what people were thinking about.
Several years later, I appreciated the invite from blog founder Paul Harvey to contribute. One of my earliest posts was this one, a review of a novel about American missionaries abroad.
I appreciate Paul's grace as I learned the ropes, whether of etiquette (not stepping on someone else's post!) or of technology, as one of my posts broke the site (hint: Microsoft products and blogger don't play well together).
Participating in the blog has allowed me to stay in touch with the community of scholars of American religion. This could be in the comments section of any post or in the emerging discussion as post builds on post. The blog thus has worked to foster a digital community, and I've appreciated that, even if I couldn't make it to every conference in the field.
Through the blog, I've appreciated the opportunity to remind the world of the on-going work and importance of religious developments in colonial, Revolutionary, and early republican America.
Finally, I continue to enjoy reading the blog as new ideas get shared, as new writers come on strong (welcome, Andrea Turpin!), and as Paul Putz keeps my reading list stocked with more titles than I can get to!
Here's to many more years for the RiAH community!
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