Star Trek: Into Darkness - A Theological Critique

Theological Critique of Star Trek: Into Darkness (2013) David H. Michels, 2013 In two recent classes of Religion in Contemporary Society we had the opportunity to discuss different approaches to religious critiques of films (theological, mythological, and ideological).  Here is my theological critique of Star Trek: Into Darkness.  Comments and responses welcome. Synopsis “When the crew of the Enterprise is called back home, they find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization has detonated the fleet and...

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Monetizing Mommy & My Online Cred

SMSociety13 Conference #2  Online Communities Mom by Niklas CC No one is advocating selling your Mom. Let's that get that clear.  But maybe your Mom's blog. It is cool when a set of presentations builds on each other.  The Saturday morning Social Media conferences presentations explored blogging.  "Monetizing the Mommy: Community and the Commodification of Motherhood in Blogs" by Andrea Hunter explored the world of motherhood blogs where Moms share their personal lives as wives and mothers.  These are opportunities...

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Trust, Twitter, and "Going Viral": SMSociety13 #1

SMSociety Post #1 So I was at the SMSocial13 conference @ Dalhousie University. It is a conference on Social Media: its use, impact, and possibilities.  The presentations from the first morning went from 'big data' analyses (1 billion tweets) to small networks of Canadian military spouse bloggers.  It is good to see old friends and meet some new ones.  Interestingly conversations among both groups turned to when I'm finishing my PhD.  I suspect collusion but I digress. Saturday Morning Keynote: Our keynote speaker was Sharad...

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Brother, can you spare an interview?

It is finished.  No, I am not quitting my PhD.  I have considered it, and I have asked the existential question "why am I doing this? often"  But I digress. It is time to quit gathering data on the information seeking of leaders of churches in transition.  Did I get all the data I wanted? No, but I got enough. WHY DOESN'T EVERYONE WANT TO BE IN MY STUDY? Hey, I'm a great guy! Why aren't leaders lining up to participate?  I have been reflecting on why it has been so difficult to recruit church leaders.  I have...

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Navigating the Family Tree...

In my research I do not question my respondents' faith (though I can explore its impact on a persons' life and community.)  On a personal level the people I meet, from across the Christian spectrum, often challenge my own faith.  It has been an unintended yet rewarding part of my research experience. But I am reminded of an old joke: A man died and went to heaven, and Saint Peter took him on a tour. He showed him the harps, the streets of gold, the cherubs. The man noticed that there were groups of people gathered in different spots,...

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Yielding the Middle: the Decline (and Fall?) of the Academic Library

From where I sit I can see Gibbons "The History of the Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire" on my bookshelf.  It seems pretentious to claim to understand all the factors that led to Rome's collapse, though many historians has attempted to do so.  Equally pretentious would be my assessment of the decline (and fall?) of the Academic Library.  I have blogged before about academic libraries, sometimes optimistically and often not.  Librarianship is experiencing a sea change no doubt, and times are hard for academic libraries in Canada. ...

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Borrowing from the World or being Strategic?

After a long hiatus I am back to my doctoral research.  There were a few times over the past year when I felt like giving up.  I am inspired by a college roommate who recently successfully defended his dissertation after long years and personal struggles.  He might not think he is an academic inspiration but he is. :-) So what did I do on a mild Saturday morning beginning a week of vacation?  I met with one of my research congregations for a three hour visioning and operational structuring meeting.  Yes, it was a good meeting and I learned a lot.  Coincidentally, I have spent a lot of time recently engaged in workplace strategic planning processes.  Several...

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