This semester I’m leading one portion of a Directed Readings class for honors students at my university. The book we’re discussing together is Pastrix, by Nadia Bolz-Weber, which tells the author’s story of becoming a…

In the last week or so, I’ve stumbled across a number of articles that focus on women working outside the home. One of those articles was Tess Taylor’s But Do You Have to Work?,…

Many years ago, I remember reading Roger Ebert’s review of the movie Wonder Boys. I remember that review mostly because it’s the only one I know of that states a very simple fact: on university…

About a year after my dad passed away, I remember my mom lamenting “I just don’t know my purpose in life.” She was nearly 80 years old by then. She’d spent her entire adult…

One of the things I like most about working in academia is this time of year. As much as I hate giving up the freedom that summer offers, the opening of a school year…

I came across the quote in the image above some years ago. Here it is in its entirety, just for context: The future is called “perhaps,” which is the only possible thing to call…

I’ll be honest: I kind of hate it when people say things like “You’re such a strong person, you can handle this.” I know they mean well, but the implication is that “this”–whatever it…