Earlier this week I announced my departure from the Anxious Bench. Today, it is my privilege to introduce my successor, Dr. Michael Jimenez, Associate Professor of History at Vanguard University, an involved member of the Conference on Faith and History, and the author of Remembering Past Lives: A Historiography from the Underside of Modernity and Karl Barth and the Study of the Religious Enlightenment: Encountering the Task of History.
In other words, as the above list shows, Mike brings an impressive list of credentials and qualifications with him to the Bench and will further strengthen the conversations in this space about Christian historiography, higher education, and global church history. But laundry lists of accomplishments never tell the full story. What most stands out about Mike to me is his breadth of reading and thought. Mike is equally comfortable reading novels from any period or geographic location as he is reading monographs in theology and history. He has reviewed a broad array of books for Fides et Historia and for Current, among many other places. If you follow him on Twitter, you will find a lot of excellent book coverage!
So what might you expect from Mike here on the Bench? If Mike’s previous publications are any indication, there are likely to be book reviews and reflections on books both old and new, fiction and nonfiction; reflections on films, old and new; and on issues related to music and culture. In addition, I expect we may see insightful pieces on his Latino heritage, as this essay on Costa Rican history from last summer shows, as does his essay in this recent edited collection on The Hispanic Faculty Experience.
There are sure to be surprises, but of the best sort. I look forward now to reading Mike’s ideas in this space on the second Wednesday of every month!
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