tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post7175921466522802215..comments2024-03-26T11:33:59.219-06:00Comments on Religion in American History: Risk, Wisdom, and EducationPaul Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13881964303772343114noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post-27727903652723905172009-12-14T06:01:03.146-07:002009-12-14T06:01:03.146-07:00Just wanted to say how much I enjoyed reading &quo...Just wanted to say how much I enjoyed reading "Risk, Wisdom, and Education." It rings so true in so many ways with students coming to get an education so they can get good jobs and not wanting to be bothered with the challenges of thinking from differing vantage points, or learning how the past informs the present and shapes the future. The comments about "curiosity" also resonate as I recall my first time teaching when I couldn't understand why students in my history survey course had, for the most part, no basic curiosity about the world around them. This was at a state university where I was a young adjunct and continues for the majority of students in my classes at a public college today. Even students who take my Middle East history survey (an elective)often have difficulty breaking through the way they see the region, which is usually shaped by the simplicities of the airwaves. In any event, thanks for sharing your experiences and for this blog, too.David Kalivashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12671970119437480665noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post-3514001747552692432009-12-04T09:54:43.638-07:002009-12-04T09:54:43.638-07:00John: No, I didn't get that from your post at ...John: No, I didn't get that from your post at all; I think we are talking about variants of a common issue faced at many colleges and universities; the Christian liberal arts college has a particular version of it, the generic branch-campus-of-a-state-university another. <br /><br />As for sparking curiosity, I switch radically back and forth between showing "relevancy" versus just going through the material for its own sake and demanding attention to it, whether they think it's relevant or not. But of course, if they won't read the material at all because it's "offensive" to them, for whatever reason, then it's a moot point. And actually, I think this has less to do with curiosity than with a strange sense of entitlement, but that may require another post to elaborate. <br /><br />Matt: Thanks. See you on the smack boards.Paul Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13881964303772343114noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post-27572911310478381582009-12-04T08:58:28.115-07:002009-12-04T08:58:28.115-07:00Great post Paul.Great post Paul.Matt Suttonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04772640859197746965noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post-82582218192377954742009-12-04T08:12:55.352-07:002009-12-04T08:12:55.352-07:00Interesting assignment idea, Darren. While I try ...Interesting assignment idea, Darren. While I try as much as possible to emphasize that "things were different back then" (even if the "back then" is 20 years ago) I agree that it is very important (in survey courses, especially) to make connections with the present. At the very least, doing so can lead to discussions of continuity vs. change.<br /><br />John, my Lancaster County relatives are likely among those complaining about Messiah. Before that, they complained about EMU; and before that, Goshen.Steven P. Millerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02068897035889270986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post-72178173438838442732009-12-04T07:57:00.630-07:002009-12-04T07:57:00.630-07:00It's a hard row to hoe, but I think it's a...It's a hard row to hoe, but I think it's a necessary one. I've got "spark curiosity" as the number one goal in my courses, and I try to do that by using my students' narcissism against them. I'm painting with a very, very broad brush, but most students don't respond at all to history if they don't get how it applies to them. This is especially true of non-majors and students who are taking history because the registrar demands it. So, in my survey courses, I emphasize to varying degrees in lectures and supplementary work how history - even history from 500 years ago - is alive and well in their daily lives. To get them to do that on their own, they have to write a reflective essay at the end of the term, showing that they've "researched" themselves and drawn certain conclusions about how history informed where they grew up, how they vote, what they buy, etc. Maybe it's a bit gimmicky, but students have responded favorably to it in evaluations, many claiming that it not only sparked their curiosity but made them rethink other aspects of their received wisdom.<br /><br />Like you said, ideally students would come in ready to learn, but that's just not going to happen. Heck, when I think back on my own move toward professional history, I did it because I wanted to answer certain questions about myself and my own upbringing. I think that's probably true for most scholars, and it's certainly true for students who generally see the humanities - not just history - as disconnected from their own past and their intended futures.DEGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12172696007825023445noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post-49420060951433974052009-12-04T07:54:49.771-07:002009-12-04T07:54:49.771-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.DEGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12172696007825023445noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post-84863543453462277722009-12-04T07:32:44.315-07:002009-12-04T07:32:44.315-07:00A provocative post.
I would add a general war st...A provocative post. <br /><br />I would add a general war story. Or, a dirigible view of the battlefield. <br /><br />It would be ideal if students came to survey classes with some real curiosity about the world and about the world of ideas. Too often, at least with some of the students I have taught, there seems to be little interest in anything beyond their immediate existence. Is there a way to "cultivate curiosity"? I've wondered if that could be the slogan for a campaign.Randallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16755286304057000048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post-84225939649172168512009-12-04T05:27:39.098-07:002009-12-04T05:27:39.098-07:00Paul: I hope I did not come across as if this was ...Paul: I hope I did not come across as if this was something that might only happen at a "Christian" college. It can and should happen anywhere. I think Schwehn would agree. <br /><br />There is, however, a subtext to my piece that targets the kinds of Christian students I teach. I hear over and over again from parents in the evangelical subculture that "Messiah is too liberal." Wow! What they really mean is that their children are not being indoctrinated with a particular form of Christianity or politics in the way that they might be at some other "Christian" colleges.<br /><br />Thanks for the plug.John Feahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17856498511226523417noreply@blogger.com