http://www.myministryminute.com/following-christ-and-seeking-tenure/

Great thoughts from Sarah Hamersma, an Assistant Professor of Economics at U. of Florida, on Christian faith & the tenure process.

A Journey into a Christian Physicist's Mind

I go through nearly the same line of thinking every time I hear or sing "God of Wonders" in church. It goes something like this:

First, I wonder if other Christians expect this to be my favorite worship song. I am a physicist, and the song is about God reigning over the universe. It's a good song, I tell myself, but not necessarily my favorite. Should it be my favorite?

Then, I move on to think that no, it's not my favorite; it's not even about my line of physics, after all. I don't really know that much about astrophysics or cosmology.

This is sometimes followed by a distraction into thinking about my friends in grad school who studied astrophysics or cosmology, or a distraction into thinking about my own field of study, in which case Hamiltonians and conductances and double-quantum-dot diagrams float around in my head. This may be followed by a brief sense of panic---I did actually graduate, didn't I? My Ph.D. defense wasn't just a dream, right?

After that distraction, I return to my original distraction with a little bit of unrest: Why aren't there any worship songs about condensed matter physics? Why don't we sing about God reigning over atoms and quarks and wave functions and strings? I might even try thinking of a few lines for such a song.

This is sometimes followed by a distraction into thinking about how the indeterminate nature of quantum mechanics might harmonize with the notion of a sovereign God. This, of course, gets me nowhere.

I then return to my original distraction, chiding myself for being so petty. I shouldn't let myself be distracted during worship! This is a nice song. We used to sing it all the time at my church in grad school... until we sang it for five weeks in a row one time, and we never seemed to sing it again after that.

The last time we sang it there, I recall, was just after the Space Shuttle Columbia exploded. One of the astronauts on board was a Christian, and his family had requested this song as one of the crew's wake-up calls.

It's at this point that I'm a little teary and a little sobered about my petty distractions. Aren't there so many more serious things out there? All right God, I silently pray, I'm free of distractions, and ready to worship!

It's at that moment that the song ends.

Happy 50th blog entry!

A Conversation with Mr. al'Thor (Spoilers!)

Spoiler Alert: The following blog contains glimpses into the events of The Gathering Storm.

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about the difference between strength and hardness as displayed in Rand al'Thor, the main character of The Wheel of Time. Everyone (readers and characters) agrees that this path will destroy him, but he doesn't seem to realize it.

Well, in the chapter I read last night, Rand acknowledged that his emotional/spiritual path would destroy him, but that he simply doesn't care. In fact, he sees it as inevitable, since he believes he's destined to die at the Last Battle, which is swiftly approaching. His words are chilling:

You all claim that I have grown too hard, that I will inevitably shatter and break if I continue on. But you assume that there needs to be something left of me to continue on. That I need to climb back down the mountain once I've reached the top. That's the key... I see it now. I will not live through this, and so I don't need to worry about what might happen to me after the Last Battle. I don't need to hold back, don't need to salvage anything of this beaten soul of mine. I know that I must die. Those who wish for me to be softer, willing to bend, are those who cannot accept what will happen to me.

A few thoughts:

1. This is a chilling reminder of the key importance the resurrection plays in the Christian faith. Paul said that without it, our faith and everything we do is in vain.
2. I quoted earlier another passage from The Wheel of Time: "Men become hard when they should become strong." We, as Christians, believe that the joy of the Lord is our strength, and that the alternative is hardness of heart. Rand's Creator, however, is (in my interpretation, and Lews Therin's) a deistic god, setting the universe in motion and watching it flourish and wither time and again. (I'm hoping I'm wrong, and that the Creator does something dramatic at the Last Battle, but we'll just have to "read on and find out," as Mr. Jordan always said.)
3. Thus, Rand's attitude above is not the Bible's picture of self-sacrifice (displayed by Jesus and His followers), but what becomes of biblical self-sacrifice when we divorce it from hope and joy.

I'm really looking forward to the end of this book, and the next two to come! But I'm also looking forward to seeing what this hope and joy does in my life this year to motivate me to self-sacrifice.

Undergraduate Corner: When Do We Stop Cheering?

On this blog, the first and third Tuesday of each month are dedicated to presenting discussion geared toward undergraduate students, in a series called, "Undergraduate Corner."

As a physicist, I'm interested in phase transitions (such as the melting of ice into water or a substance beginning to superconduct), and I see the evidence of a phase transition at every college sporting event I attend: Students scream at the top of their lungs to support their team and distract their opponents (or, in the case of the game I attended last night, harass the coach hysterically), while alumni sit stoically, perhaps clapping when their team takes the lead.

I see the evidence of this phase transition, but have no idea how or when it occurs.

When do these students stop cheering? When do they stop being a vital part of their team's success and turn into silent observers? And, more importantly, why?

We could ask the same question of Christians who lose their fire. When (and why) do we stop cheering on the progress of the gospel? When (and why) do we become silent observers? When (and why) do we begin to care more about what we'll eat for lunch after church than who we can stop and take time to minister to?

I'm writing this as part of Undegraduate Corner because, for far too many Christians, this phase transition occurs either during college, or shortly thereafter. Let's pray that we'll remember that the Christian life is a marathon and a relay race, but not a sprint.

Pascal-esque Experiment, Part II

I think my Pascal-inspired group problem-solving session went well. The students were very quiet at first, seeming to not know who should speak first as they read over the first problem. A couple of groups didn't even stand up to use the whiteboard for the first five minutes.

But after only a short time, the room was filled with discussion, and the boards were filled with writing.

A few interesting observations:

1. As always, I find that students think more clearly and write more neatly when they are standing at a markerboard. I think the blood flows to the brain better because the body is more active. Also, seeing your handwriting on a whiteboard makes it all look so much more "official."
2. As always, I also find that students think more clearly and write more neatly when they are working out a problem with others watching them. You can't simply gloss over an assumption or a math step with other students---especially an assigned Skeptic---watching you.
3. Speaking of the skeptic role, I heard a lot of chatter between Skeptics and Leaders! What I noticed, though, was that the Skeptic always countered the Leader's statement with another piece of information: "Yes, but we also know that..." or "Perhaps, but the textbook says that..." were typical beginnings of their sentences. They were never skeptical for skepticism's sake, but always challenged the Leader's statement with a purpose and a counterbalancing idea.
4. Lastly, one student (assigned the role of Scribe) asked what the Scribe was to contribute to the discussion. I hadn't considered this, but quickly realized that part of the Scribe's role was to ask the Leader and Skeptic to clarify their ideas so that the Scribe could write them on the board. This is a crucial role that we often miss in the classroom.

So, did the session work? I think so, but we'll see when I get their homework scores in...

A Very Pascal-esque Experiment

Pascal said,

One must know when it is right to doubt, to affirm, to submit. Anyone who does otherwise does not understand the force of reason. Some men run counter to these three principles, either affirming that everything can be proved, because they know nothing about proof, or doubting everything, because they do not know when to submit, or always submitting, because they do not know when judgement is called for. (Pensees, 170)

This morning, I'm going to be putting this into action in a new group problem-solving system I'm introducing in my classes, which I read about in Just-in Time Teaching. The students will be randomly sorted into groups of three. Each student is assigned a different role: the Leader, the Scribe, and the Skeptic. Each of these reflects Pascal's actions of affirming, submitting, and doubting, respetively. Each group will receive one or two physics problems and given the majority of the class time to solve.


The Leader is to direct the group's conversation, putting forth ideas and looking things up in the textbook. Only the Scribe is allowed to write anything down. The Skeptic is to ask questions of and poke holes in what the Leader says.


This makes me excited, because it is, quite literally, Pascal in action! I'm excited to see how it works out. Tomorrow, I'll post a synopsis of how it went.

Augustine & Setting up for Success

Augustine made a great statement about the dichotomy between God's sovereignty & man's responsibility, in the form of a prayer:

Command what Thou will, and grant what Thou commandest.

Paul said it another way:

It is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work according to His good pleasure.

In a very small, but very scary way, professors & teachers imitate God in this way. We set up the requirements for a course---never entirely on our own authority, but usually with a lot more freedom than we recognize---and our preparation of our students is a necessary requisite for their success in meeting those requirements.

It makes me appreciate how perfectly God fits together His particular requirements of my life and His preparation of me to meet those requirements. He always sets me up for success, which makes it even more hurtful to me & others when I don't live out that success.

Are we setting up our students (or employees, or children) for success? Are we spelling out our requirements clearly? Are we providing them with the tools & time they need to meet those requirements? If we're not, what does that say (to us and to them) about our view of God? If we were to set them up for success, how might that set us apart from our colleagues, and give our students a glimpse of the gospel?

The Real Academic Calendar

This was forwarded to me by a colleague. Very true!

The Real Academic Calendar



By Laurie Fendrich


I just learned from my very smart colleague, Neil Donahue, associate dean of Hofstra’s Honors College, that I’ve been stupidly following the wrong academic calendar in setting up my spring courses. I was structuring the content of my courses around our two-day spring break, our long spring vacation, our study days and the examination schedule. How foolish could I have been? Turns out the real academic calendar follows the successive philosophical stages through which all students necessarily progress.


For the reader’s benefit, I’ve added my own words of explanation to Neil’s academic calendar and have forwarded this to the provost’s office. I’m confident that by next spring our academic calendar will be organized the right way, and look like this:


Idealism


Early January. Because students don’t have very many claims on their attention, it’s good to send out reading assignments even before school begins.


Optimism


February. Students love all their courses, and are gung-ho about doing well. There’s no reason they can’t earn a grade of “A” in just about every course. This is the time when smart professors really pile on the work.


Realism


March. Students have come to terms with the fact that it’s going to be darn hard to get all those “A’s” they originally thought would just fall in their laps. The moment calls for triage: It’s time to figure out whether to drop calculus or the course in the history of mirrors. Also, students need more sleep than they’re getting, and the way to fix that is to sleep through the first half of the early morning class.


Pessimism


April. It’s too late. Whole lives are doomed. Students will never get into law school with the grades you, the vile, wretched, cruel-hearted professor, have been unfairly giving out.


Cynicism


May. The semester ends. Professors never gave students a chance, or considered how hard they tried. The world is stacked against them. What does it matter? There are no jobs out there anyway.


Sybaritism


June. Whatever happened in the past is over and done with. Time to forget everything and party like hell.


NOTE: Summer inevitably passes. With fall, the Sisyphean climb resumes.

Undergraduate Corner: Praying for First Impressions

On this blog, the first and third Tuesday of each month are dedicated to presenting discussion geared toward undergraduate students, in a series called, "Undergraduate Corner."


As you've probably guessed from the time of year and the lateness of this blog post, the Spring semester is about to begin! Mine begins tomorrow morning at 9:00 am.

And that means that I and other Christian professors get another chance to make a good first impression for the sake of the gospel. We know that a student's first impressions of a professor and the course largely determine his experience the rest of the semester. I often realize all too late into the term that I failed to show my students an honest representation of myself, and that my public witness has suffered because of it.

It's also a time, of course, for Christian students to make a successful first impression on their professors. It's very easy for a student to stand out at the beginning of the semester, simply by asking a question, visiting office hours the first day, e-mailing a question to the professor, or (as one of my students has already done) getting a head start on the first homework assignment.

So, let's pray for each other this week, as we all begin to learn new faces and names, as we forge new relationships that could serve as conduits for the gospel. Let's pray that we'll bear in mind that we don't want to ultimately be remembered as someone who got all the questions right, or spoke up every class, or wrote a killer term paper, but as people who are in love with a living savior, who respond eagerly to His call.