ISI Faculty Resource Center

Essays and exams have been marked, final grades submitted, and graduations endured. Now begin the post-commencement rituals of college professors: revising lectures and syllabi, reading through a semester’s worth of neglected journals, reacquainting oneself with the half-finished manuscript that was due on an editor’s desk four months ago.

And, in light of that recently endured graduation, asking oneself—at least half seriously—is any of it worth it?

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It’s not exactly hot off the press, but a year ago now the Templeton Honors College at Eastern University sponsored a speaker series under the heading “Life and Learning in the Great Christian Traditions.” In addition to lectures by Mark Henrie (Catholic), Carl Trueman (Reformed), John Behr (Orthodox), and others, they were kind—or naïve—enough to invite me to present a Lutheran perspective. The lectures were videotaped and are now up on the THC website. Below is a short abstract of my own lecture, followed by a link to the recording.

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This week is final examinations and concludes the semester. Overall I was satisfied with the Introduction to Political Science course, although there are a couple of things I wish I had done differently. First, I should have included more discussion of current events. This would have brought the relevance of the subjects we were studying to the forefront. Second, I should have set aside some time in the syllabus for revision of essays. Students learned how to read and write, but once they turned their essays in, they forgot about them and never revisited them. Setting aside time for revisions would be helpful in teaching them this habit.

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