Replacing absences and extensions with sick days and personal days
There's one week left before the end of the semester. That makes it crunch-time for students. (Then it's crunch-time for faculty who have to grade. Some of my students calculated that I'd have over 600 pages of work to grade just from one class.) With crunch-time comes the inevitable barrage of requests for excused absences …
Continue reading Replacing absences and extensions with sick days and personal days
How rest can save the conversation on vocation from itself
If your college is anything like mine, conversations on "vocation" or "calling" have become integral to campus life. Many of us have become more intentional about helping students prepare for a life of discernment when it comes to making meaning or finding significance, making an impact, and making a living. I've invested quite a bit …
Continue reading How rest can save the conversation on vocation from itself
“The Macondoization of the World” and “rules written with human blood”
Today’s New York Times includes a story on President Trump’s rollback of offshore drilling rules developed after the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe and “written with human blood:” These regulations were written with human blood,” said Lillian Espinoza-Gala, a former offshore worker who now serves as an industry safety consultant and opposes easing protections. “The only way we can …
Continue reading “The Macondoization of the World” and “rules written with human blood”
Getting Daniel Right: What it Should Mean for the President’s Evangelical Advisory Council to Be “a Voice of God in the Ear of the King”
Today brings more news about President Trump’s Evangelical Advisory Council. Apparently, some members have been wrestling afresh with the role of the Council. (Some of my thoughts on this Council can be found here.) Other than A.R. Bernard, who publicly stepped down after Charlottesville, implying that the Council members might be at risk of “political idolatry” (a …
Global Cities, Religion, and Security
Kristin Ljungkvist and I co-authored a piece on Global Cities, Religion, and Security for this Cardus Social Cities report on “Religion and the Good of the City” (pages 18-28). From the introduction by Milton Friesen: “Noah Toly and Kristin Ljungkvist remind us that religious life in global cities is dynamic, persistent, and significantly involved in issues …
The New Urban Agenda and the Limits of Cities
In the autumn of 2016, close to 40,000 people, including official delegates from almost every nation, converged upon Quito, Ecuador, for Habitat III, the Third United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development. The second-highest capital city in the world, Quito rises 9,350 feet above sea level and boasts a historic urban center crowned …
Continue reading The New Urban Agenda and the Limits of Cities
Evangelicals Are Bitterly Split on How to Deal With Trump After Charlottesville
Critics of the council see this as the problem: Evangelical leaders are willing to explain away anything Trump does, even when he creates controversy and potentially exacerbates painful situations. “I think a lot of his advisory council members right now are in the business of enabling,” said Noah Toly, a professor of politics and director …
Continue reading Evangelicals Are Bitterly Split on How to Deal With Trump After Charlottesville
On Wheaton College statements on Charlottesville, Fred Clark’s “Faculty Lounge,” and reluctance to weigh in on other institutions’ situations
This past several months have brought public scrutiny to many campus controversies. From questions about diversity, inclusion, and collegiality at Duke Divinity School to questions of academic freedom at Trinity College (CT) and a campus shutdown at Evergreen State University, colleges and universities have made major headlines this year. (And that’s not including debates about …
Statement by Wheaton College Faculty Regarding the August 2017 “Unite the Right” Marches in Charlottesville, Virginia
Below please find a statement by more than 150 Wheaton College faculty. A PDF of this document is available here.Signatures were solicited at a recent meeting of the faculty and online. It is possible that some faculty were not aware of the opportunity to sign the statement. Others may have agreed and wanted to sign, …
