As 2019 has come to a close, and a new decade is beginning, I have been thinking about a poem by Emily Dickinson – one of my favourites, for its enigmatic imagery and its expression of longing: ‘I did not reach Thee’. Here is the first stanza (you can read Read more
One of the figures in the Bible who I’m most fond of is the prophet Daniel: mainly because, like me, he was a literature student. Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it […]Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring into the king’s Read more
Today I want to share a prayer that has become a regular part of my working life. At the Scriptorium here in Oxford, this is one of the prayers we say together at the beginning of every working day. It’s usually attributed to the medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas; perhaps it will be Read more
I’m drawing closer to the end of my doctoral work, and that means a lot of my work at the moment is revising drafts. In the last couple of weeks I have been redrafting the introduction to my thesis. This is slow, bitty work: fixing various details, doing small pieces Read more
Is gentleness something academics should aspire to? If a colleague or a peer described you as gentle, would you be pleased, or a little worried? I’ve just had a weekend away with my church, and the teaching focused on the character of Christ – specifically the way he perfectly embodies Read more
It won’t be news to anyone reading this blog that life as a researcher – perhaps particularly life as a doctoral student – can be, and often is, very isolating. You’re working on a niche topic, which few other people may understand or seriously care about; your day-to-day research is Read more
A few years ago on FiSch we began a series called ‘Why do a PhD?’ – trying to give some food for thought to readers who might be considering doctoral study. The blogging team has turned over somewhat since then, and new instalments are in order. Today is my turn – in Read more
Last weekend in Oxford saw the second of this year’s Developing a Christian Mind conferences – an annual pair of events inviting postgraduate students to consider and deepen the intersection of their academic work with Christian faith. ‘Seeking Wisdom’ is split into multiple disciplinary streams (this year, Humanities, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, Read more
‘A Christian University Is For Lovers’, runs the provocative title of the final chapter of this book, James K.A. Smith’s first sally in his three-part ‘Cultural Liturgies’ project. Lovers of what? – you might ask. Of knowledge? Of the life of the mind? Of theology? Smith’s answer is: lovers of Read more
Last term I had the opportunity to teach undergraduates for the first time, and alongside that I completed the teaching development course offered by the Humanities division here in Oxford. Part of the course involved writing a teaching philosophy, and so I had to consider: what do I think good Read more