Professor, School of Education
Director of Secondary Social Studies Education

I have been married to my wife, Heather, since 1995 and we have two children, both named after historical figures. I graduated from PBU in 1994 and then served as a high school history teacher in Central Virginia for twelve years.  In 2005 I was awarded the Lynchburg City “Teacher of the Year.” I am thankful for the impact my students have had on my career and on my family. While living in VA I became an avid mountain trail runner, enjoying over 20 extreme ultra-running races (distances of 30+ miles on trails and mountains). The experience of being alone on trails with breath-taking panoramas makes it a very spiritual endeavor! Recently, I ran my annual birthday run (38 miles) on the trails at Bald-Pate Mountain Nature Preserve and the Delaware-Ruritan Canal Path in New Jersey.

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September 20, 2009

The Big Questions in Life

In our Student’s Life and Calling classes we have been discussing the big questions humanity has asked and why humans ask them. Part of the background to this has been the books A Mind for God by James Emery White and Engaging God’s World by Cornelius Plantinga, Jr. For our discussions we have looked at a variety of mediums that humans have used to ponder these inquiries, including music, art, literature, and film. The categories below are followed by some of the lenses we have looked through:

Literature
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
A Man for All Seasons by Robert Bolt
Imperial Woman by Pearl Buck

Music
A New Law by Derek Webb
Dust in the Wind by Kansas
Society by Eddie Vedder
I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For by U2
It’s My Life by Bon Jovi
Imagine by John Lennon

Film
Dark Knight
Dead Poets Society
Return of the Jedi
Mona Lisa Smile
Lion King
Gattaca
Armageddon

Art
The Scream by Edvard Munch
Creation of Adam by Michelangelo Buonorotti
Untitled by Mark Rothko
Ben Franklin Drawing Lightning from the Sky by Benjamin West
Seven Deadly Sins by Jerome Bosch
The Ambassadors by Hans Holbein
Bicycle Wheel by Marcel Duchamp

Posted by Chris Palladino on September 20, 2009 11:49 PM |

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