My favorite part about teaching at Johnson is: Our mission. I could teach history anywhere. But only here can I teach with colleagues this committed to the extension of God’s kingdom. That unity of purpose makes Johnson a special place for faculty, staff, and students.

When I’m not teaching, I love to: Think about what I am going to teach next, perhaps while I am outside, in the mountains, by a stream.

In my classes, students can expect: To discover that history is about people and their stories. And that learning about how we got here, as a people, gives us the opportunity to make things better.

My best advice to a new student in my program is: Be prepared to read. And write. And think. A lot.

Because of my influence, I most want my students to become: Agents of change in their own communities who understand the backgrounds of the people they meet and the work that still needs to be done to bring the love and justice of God to all.

The myth-busting truth about my discipline I most want people to understand is: The world has not always been the way it is now. We can envision a different future based on our understanding of the past.

A quote that influences how I live is: “For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings” (1 Corinthians 9:19-23).