Fruitful Conversations in Religion, Culture, and Teaching
I draw on the strength of these same bonds to announce that this is my last term at Elizabethtown College. In Fall 2018, I will be joining the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Alabama as Assistant Professor of Religious Studies.
A student asked me the other day whether King's legacy is something to be given up since it can be used for contrary ends. My piece doesn't answer this with a clear answer. I do hope that it leaves readers asking that question. To me that question is a prior step to ruthlessly careful and self-conscious criticism.
A few days ago WordPress notified me that I've been blogging for 10 years! Some will remember that Sowing the Seed actually began in 2006 using Apple's iWeb software. In any case, the anniversary was a good reminder for me to take a look around at what's been going on at StS. Believe it or … Continue reading As Good a Time as Any
A start of a new year, the ominous weather forecast, the beginning of yet another semester...if this moment is anything, it is one where we can signify our resolve by any number of means. And in that unremarkable fact, we might ask how and why such moments become remarkable. Currently many students of religion are … Continue reading On J. Z. Smith and the Remarkable
I come to Othello through a twisted confluence of experiences that I now take as proof of this play's potential relevance to modern readers. Whenever I entertain the idea of reading Shakespeare, I feel the burden of attempting to experience something too meaningful for me to appreciate...and so I don't. But these mis-starts have served to make me well-versed in the meaning of pretense. And after years of study and avoidance, I am convinced that to understand the texts by, with, through, and around which we fashion our lives, we would do well to understand the pretext that always accompanies the phenomena of reading and being read.
