Guest Blog: “Coping with Comps: An Ordeal of Faith”

Part One of Two
by Gregory Jones, Kent State University
First let me say God is gracious.  Sometimes we over use the word “grace,” one of the most beautiful words in the English language.  However, having successfully passed doctoral candidacy exams this week, I can honestly say I feel God’s grace.  The point of this blog is [...]

Labyrinth

I know this is a blog about faith and history, but sometimes it’s a blog about faith keeping us sane in our graduate school journey.
I have had a particularly difficult week with my work (and life, to be honest). I have struggled and wrestled with my work in monumental ways, which has in turn yielded [...]

Q&A with Joel Carpenter

Dr. Joel Carpenter is professor of history and director of the Nagel Institute for the Study of World Christianity at Calvin College. He reminisces with us here about his grad school experience.
How did you choose your area of specialty?
From high school on I was fascinated with U.S. history, and when I got to
college, my [...]

Q&A with the Pres.

CFH President Rick Kennedy reflects on his graduate school experience…
How did you choose your area of specialty (i.e. US History, Puritan history, etc.)?
I stayed at UC Santa Barbara from undergrad through Ph.D. and found my specialty in plankton-esque fashion as I floated through the department.  I enjoyed everything and settled in with a professor, Harold [...]

Breaking the Surface, Gasping for Air

Here is a poetic description of a woman facing that last step in the doctoral journey. Re-posted from This Ordinary Day:
I am sitting on the train. My PhD defence is tomorrow. I feel like I’m under water, slowly slowly drifting upwards. I can already glimpse the sparkling sun above me, magically sending rainbows my way. [...]

A Divine and Supernatural Light

CFH Grad Student member Brandon Cozart runs the fabulous website “A Divine and Supernatural Light,” a site dedicated to all things Jonathan Edwards. He’re my Q&A with him (Cozart, not Edwards):

1) What attracted you to the study of Jonathan Edwards in the first place?
It’s hard to remember exactly how Edwards became such a giant [...]

Dissertators Anonymous

Re-posted from This Ordinary Day
I’m about a year away from finishing my doctorate. I have a bachelor’s degree (with five minors… I wanted to be “well-rounded”), a master’s degree, a graduate certificate, and now my title is A.B.D. (all but dissertation). All this before the age of 30. Impressed?
I have been writing my dissertation for [...]

Historians Who Love Too Much

If you haven’t read it, Jill Lepore’s 2001 article “Historians Who Love Too Much: Reflections on Microhistory and Biography” reminds us of the complicated relationship we historians have with our research subjects. She says, “Finding out and writing about people, living or dead, is tricky work. It is necessary to balance intimacy with distance while [...]

My Journey Through Academia [2]

Perhaps I should begin by starting at nearly the beginning.  When I was eight years old, I came to faith and decided I would one day be the first female president of the United States.  The two were not unrelated, because Christianity gave me a heightened sense of purpose and a mantra of “doing all [...]

Your Journey Through Academia [1]

[Portions of the paper "I Was a Teenage Grad Student: My Journey Through Academia" originally presented at the 2008 CFH Student Plenary, copyright 2008 Lauran Kerr-Heraly]
At the first class meeting of my doctoral program, I felt fully prepared and confident.  I had read and taken extensive notes on the reading, met a few people, and [...]