A Mild Rant about North American Education
It has been a very hard year for students everywhere, it seems, and in ways peculiar to each person. As I grade final papers, I am...
top of page
THINKBETTER
What's wrong? How did we get here? What shall we do?
JOHN G. STACKHOUSE, JR.
Thoughts on
CHRISTIANITY, THE ACADEMY, AND PUBLIC LIFE
Write Better
At this time of year, students are receiving back papers from professors with various forms of the same advice: “Please get help for your...
To My Teachers: Thanks
My friend Tom Morris recently reminisced on Facebook about teachers who had blessed him in special ways over his life. His poignant...
Quebec, Education, Parents, Religion: A Recipe for Conflict
The Coalition Avenir Québec continues its remarkable record of concentrating power in the provincial government on behalf of its pure...
John G. Stackhouse, Jr.
- 12 min
Rest in Peace, David Martin (1929-2019)
I’ve only just heard that my latter-day mentor in the sociology of religion, David Martin, passed away last month. I confess that I...
Gay-Straight Alliances, Secrecy, and the Public Trust
The word out of Alberta about Gay-Straight Alliance clubs (GSAs) hasn’t been good of late. According to the Calgary Herald, the Alberta...
Some Advice for Students at “Crunch Time”
Farmers work harder during harvest than at any other time. But they also work happier, because they see every day the literal fruit of...
The Latest (Un-?)Reasonable Accommodation
It seems like a headline from The Onion, the American satirical website that daily tests our credulity, but it’s real: “U.K. student...
Advice for Students in Unsafe Places
“But, Professor, I learned in church that God wrote the Ten Commandments himself on stone tablets and gave them to Moses. Isn’t that what...
Body-Shaming? Or Education-Honouring?
It’s back-to-school time and, for many Canadian pupils, it’s back to the demands of school dress codes. Not just in private schools, but...
Different Schools for Different Folks—or Not? Reflections on Trinity Western’s Law School
No political issue in Canadian history has been more important, contentious, and complex than schooling, and particularly the question of...
When You Invite a Visiting Speaker…
Since most people who invite speakers (and the same goes for musicians, I daresay) are not themselves professional speakers, and...
Religious Violence in Canada: Will It Happen Again?
The recent shooting in a Quebec City mosque has prompted shocked Canadians to wonder whether we will see more religiously motivated...
And Having Said That about Seminaries…
I promised to represent people who responded to a previous post about seminary education, and I’m glad to do so. As one might have...
One Hour at a Time
[The following is my address to the academic chapel of Crandall University this past September.] “The lyf so short, the craft so long to...
Christian Universities: Moving Ahead by Standing Still
The fall term has begun in North American universities and colleges, and what’s increasingly distinctive about Christian institutions is...
How to Study: Top 10 Tips for Guaranteed (!) Success
Here’s my Top Ten list of counsels to help students avoid shipwreck and instead sail safely into port to the cheers of thousands.
Plan, Plan Well, and Plan to Fail
This autumn I will begin my 54th year of starting school. (My overtaxed mother sent me, her firstborn, out to half-day nursery school...
Should Muslims Pray in School? Should Muslims Even Go to School?
Canadian society faced another challenge this past month as a school district in suburban Toronto wrestled with the accommodation of...
Why Spelling Counts
Students often complain about professors meticulously marking spelling…and grammar…and usage…and other sentence-level problems in their...
bottom of page