Spring 2012 Events
Friday, February 17: James Bratt & Ronald Wells
3:30 in the Meeter Center Lecture Hall
Book Presentation: The Best of The Reformed Journal
For four decades, from 1951 to 1990, The Reformed Journal set the standard for top-notch, venturesome theological reflection on a broad range of issues. With a lively mix of editorial comment, articles, and reviews, it addressed topics as diverse as the civil rights movement, feminism, the Vietnam War, South African apartheid, the plight of Palestinian Christians, and the rise of the Christian Right, all from a Reformed perspective. In this anthology James Bratt and Ronald Wells have assembled select pieces that exemplify the Journal's position at the cutting edge of thoughtful Christian engagement with culture. Just published by Eerdman's. Co-sponsored by CCCS.
March 7: Mellema Program in Western American Studies Lecture
Dr. Carol L. Higham
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
“Seeing Cannibals: Spanish and British Accounts of Cannibalism in Nootka Sound, 1770-1795”
3:30 p.m., Science Building Lecture Hall 010
Co-sponsored by History. Read more.
March 14: Dr. James LaGrand
Professor of History,
Messiah College
“Is There a Place for the Nation in Modern American History?”
"The beginning of History as a professional discipline was bound up with the development of the nation-state. But today, we live in a very different intellectual climate. In contemporary American historiography, the nation is often absent—replaced by trans-national processes, borderlands, de-centered narratives, and various expressions of “otherness.” Has anything been lost in this process? Might another look at the nation and national attachments help us make sense of various chapters in modern American history? If so, can this project be pulled off while avoiding the pitfalls of assuming American consensus and celebrating American exceptionalism?
My paper addresses these questions, using as a case study the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. I argue that nation, nationalism, and national identity played a significant role in the thinking and work of Martin Luther King, Jr., and help us to make sense of him and his legacy."
April 4: Dr. Timothy Gloege
“The Digital Humanities:
What It Is and Why It Matters”
The nexus of humanities scholarship and digital technology, the “Digital Humanities,” has been alternately hailed as a scholarly revolution and denigrated as a passing fad. But what is the Digital Humanities, really? And why should anyone care about it? This presentation will sketch a brief history and suggest some ways that its practitioners are quietly changing the humanities. The Digital Humanities is not a traditional academic field. It is a community of scholars and technologists who share three overlapping interests: to understand the digital (in itself, and how it affects humanity), to better use the digital (in research and teaching), and to extend the digital (by creating better tools, new resources, and new modes of inquiry). The potential of the Digital Humanities lies in its blurring and blending across traditional divides: between practical and theoretical, the humanities and quantitative disciplines, the academy and public-facing institutions, the scholar and engaged layperson.
May 2: Honors Thesis Presentations
Luke McRae: “The Expanding Role of Jews as 'Violators of the Body of Christ' in Medieval English Thought and Action”
Michael Valk: “The Ancient Names for Palestine and their Meaning Today”
Recent Events
September 21: McGregor Fellow Stephen Clemenger with Bert de Vries
"Three Dimensional Virtual Reconstruction of Ancient Buildings of Umm el-Jimal, Jordan: An Application of Engineering and Computing in Archaeology"
Read more. Listen to the presentation on MP3.
October 12: Daniel Bays
Book Release: A New History of Christianity in China
October 19: Kees van der Kooi, professor of theology, Free University of Amsterdam
"Barth, Bell, and Hell"
See the video.
February 16: James Bratt
"Abraham Kuyper and Race: A New Look"
Listen to the lecture on MP3.
March 16: Robert Schoone-Jongen
"Religion in Riverside: How Faith Defined Two Dutch Identities in One Neighborhood (1880-1920)"
Read a transcript and see the maps from the talk (both pdf).
March 30: Annual Mellema Lecture by Ralph Stearley
"Where Have All the Fishes Gone? LONG Time Passing…"
April 15 (Friday): Gordon Campbell
“1611” To see a video of this presentation, go to the CCCS website.
April 20: Karin Maag
"The Advantages of Being Under Threat: Geneva and the Myth of the Escalade, December 1602"
Listen to lecture on MP3
May 4: Honors Student Presentations
Kristen Fletcher: "Steroid-Infused Soviets and 'Bouffant Belles': How Western Perceptions of Soviet Female Athletes Changed American Athletics"
Jared Warren:" Poets, Prophets, Priests, and Pianists: Poles and Parisians, 1830-1848"
Listen to both presentations on MP3
