blair.bertrand

Nativity Cheese

noreply@blogger.com (blair) — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 00:34:00 +0000

A quick shout out to my friend Marko who is making some big headlines these days with a little project he has worked on the past couple of years. He has collected images of cheesy nativity scenes. As we enter Christmas, let's not forget the reason for the season - a bacon Jesus?

Who Killed Horatio Alger?: The decline of the meritocratic ideal

noreply@blogger.com (blair) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 05:05:00 +0000

Who Killed Horatio Alger?: The decline of the meritocratic ideal

This is a longer read than I would normally suggest but I think that there are a bunch of take homes worth ferreting out. The core argument is that something has changed in the U.S. economy - we've moved to a place where the necessary meritocratic equilibrium for the proper functioning of capitalism is threatened.

"Two powerful forces are threatening to drive America from a meritocratic equilibrium to a nonmeritocratic one. Recall that to survive in a democratic country, a meritocracy must enjoy a welcoming culture and offer large, widespread benefits to citizens. In the United States, both of these factors are being challenged: the first by a spreading belief that markets are a bad method of rewarding the meritorious; the second by a reduction of the benefits that most people derive from those markets."

There is a bit of a chicken/egg going on but if the benefits of capitalism do not spread out to a broad enough portion of the population then people do not trust that there is anyway that they might succeed, creating a vicious cycle downwards.

File under "descriptions of the economic world that young people are coming of age into" which is significantly different than "the way it used to be".

From a new-to-me journal called City Journal.

noreply@blogger.com (blair) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 22:30:00 +0000

To follow up on the last post, Andy has been doing some live blog discussions on the book. In this one he talks to a youth worker from Texas on how Chapter 3 relates to everyday youth ministry. The book is a bit more academic than some might expect from the youth ministry world but the conversation on this blog makes some of the theological thought real. There is a good discussion of pastoral care of young people that might make sense to anyone who cares about young people.

Just to be clear - I don't get any money from this book. I'm posting about it because I'm interested in it more than because I'm getting paid to endorse it. I got one free copy. Total disclosure.

I had supper with a friend on the weekend who also happens to have written one of my top five youth ministry books. I'll put a list up for the next post so that you can see that I don't just self promote.

The Theological Turn in Youth Ministry

noreply@blogger.com (blair) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 21:32:00 +0000

I've worked and studied with Kenda for a number of years and have been colleagues with Andy since our time overlapping at Princeton Theological Seminary. They've put together a book of articles that trace the trajectory of "the theological turn in youth ministry." Both have some pieces up around the net about the book since it got released last month. Amazon reviewers are giving it good marks as are others out there. If you Google it you will discover videos and pod-casts discussing the material. Full disclosure - I helped Andy write a piece that is at the end. I happen to think it is OK although the article did ruffle a few feathers at recent youth ministry gatherings.

Starting Again?

noreply@blogger.com (blair) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 08:10:00 +0000

I've been thinking of kick starting this blog back up. What better article to start with than this article from the Atlantic on why cheap maple syrup is actually better. For anyone who knows my family, my great-grandfather, grandfather, and now uncles run a family farm in south western Ontario - Shady Walnut Farm. My uncles host a pancake day where hundreds come and enjoy hot pancakes cooked by my cousins served with fresh maple syrup. Think I might need to go and grab myself a bowl.

Malcolm Gladwell and Youth Ministry

noreply@blogger.com (blair) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 19:44:00 +0000

I know, long silence. Life as a Phd student gets overwhelming at times.

Take a look at Malcolm Gladwell's bit here. I'm particularly interested in the idea that it isn't what we were drafted out of but what we were drafted into that determines success. Think of the implications for education, especially of ministers. My high grades do not mean that I will be a good minister. Rather, the environment of my first ministry has a large part in determining my long term success as a minister. Maybe we should spend more time mentoring and less time teaching?

Violence and video games

noreply@blogger.com (blair) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 21:09:00 +0000

*note added Nov.7, 2008: This is what I'm worried will happen when people don't do their homework regarding methodology. I agree that we need to parent our children but the conclusion is to facile considering the faults of the study.*

My wife noted last night that I hadn't played a violent video game in a long time. She was not a fan of GTA Vice City. And she likely has cause to be concerned. I am now the father of young children and simply do not have the time to immerse myself in the game world.

Yet another study has come out that co-relates video game violence and aggression. I'm sympathetic to the argument though as argued here, the methodology of the study does leave a lot to be desired.

I'm currently taking an empirical research methods class and I wonder if our intentions are right when it comes to studying violence and video games but our methods are wrong. Quantitative studies like this one will never really get at how young people construct meaning in their world and in their relationships. Shouldn't we abandon the quixotic quest of trying to go for the statistically causal relationship and simply switch methods to qualitative? Shouldn't we look at how actual gamers shape their realities in relation to games? There are oodles of valid research methods other than quantitative ones. Why don't we use them? Better yet, why doesn't someone fund me to do the study? Then I could move past the retro gamer I am into a whole new level of hipness.

Inspiration for Twilight

noreply@blogger.com (blair) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 19:25:00 +0000

Is it not a little sad that Meyer names 12 artifacts as inspirational for her books but only two are books? Jane Eyre and Lucy Maud Montgomery. I have to be a little happy I suppose that a Canadian made the list but still, not Mary Shelly? No Bram Stoker? Not even Anne Rice?

As well, I'm a little disappointed that Buffy wasn't one of the movies listed. As great as Tina Fey is, how does she rate above Joss Wheadon?

Camp Camp

noreply@blogger.com (blair) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 18:31:00 +0000

My new favourite blog. Must get the book. In the spirit, here is a pic from the 80's camp experience. I have so many more not scanned. Vivian and I are both here.

God Blessed America

noreply@blogger.com (blair) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 13:33:00 +0000

I've never said, "God Bless America" (nor God Damn America) and have thought the practice trite at the least and idolatrous at worse. Last night, after listening to Obama, I felt a gladness and delight in the American ideal as symbolized in the electoral victory last night. Hundreds of thousands of people gathered without tanks or military coups to transition from a horrible government to a new one. In defeat McCain was gracious. In victory, Obama set out an audacious vision. McCain and the Republicans may have lost but America won last night. The world is a slightly better place this morning. God blessed America.

youth vs. student

noreply@blogger.com (blair) — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 01:40:00 +0000

At AYME last weekend Rick Lawrence was giving out free copies of GROUP magazine. I've been an on again off again reader for years. I usually turn off when there is a bad issue and then later on read something interesting. This one opened up with what I thought was a great editorial.

Student vs Youth: Is There a difference?

In the two decades I’ve been editor of group, I’ve only given over my column space one time. Make this #2. I’ve known Christian Smith a long time—he’s the brilliant director of the National Study of Youth and Religion, and is now a professor of sociology at Notre Dame...Today, out of the blue, Chris sent me what you’re about to read—he does a better job explaining my eccentric, totally unreasonable anti-student ravings than I could.

Not sure if you checked out the comments but I was left speechless. Folks think that this is political correctness? That names don't matter? That Smith is wrong?

I could go through and refute each argument but I don't feel like Smith needs help here. A lot of young people aren't students (and no, some BS line about how all Christians should be students doesn't take this one away) and therefore calling this age students doesn't cover all of the people we would like to. When Men's Ministry becomes Gainfully Employed Male Tax Payer group, then we can call it Student Ministry. When we start letting the state develop our theological anthropology for us, let me know so that I can join the Old Order Mennonites who seem to be one of the only groups who understands the subtle dangers of letting the state exercise total control over society.

I'm so not in touch with a good chunk of the youth ministry world. Next post will prove that even more.

Stodgy No More

noreply@blogger.com (blair) — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 14:58:00 +0000

In case you think the ALA (American Library Association) is a tad stodgy in their list generation (they narrowed the nominations down so that young people could vote on a slate prepared by adults) you can click over to the Cybils.

The list is long and I definitely don't have time or money to look at the whole thing but I love the fact that the Internet has allowed disparate readers to gather together. As a young person, I would have loved to have had conversations about books but wouldn't want to be a geek in my own school. The Cybils represent a great new way of thinking about reading.

Top Ten Teen Books

noreply@blogger.com (blair) — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 14:46:00 +0000

The American Library Association has a teen read week every year and they allow young people to choose the past year's top ten books. Here they are (apparently over 8000 votes):

Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
Maximum Ride: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports by James Patterson
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray
Extras by Scott Westerfeld
Before I Die by Jenny Downham
Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson

Why care? First, unless high school English has changed a lot, none of these books are assigned reading. There is clearly a disconnect between the lists of what young people want to read vs. what adults think they should read.

Second, since there is such a disconnect, I've got to wonder whether young people employ different ways of reading for 'pleasure' vs reading for class. I'm thinking that young people are learning to read in one way (analytical) but are choosing another way to read outside of the school context. Should we not help young people integrate the two?

Third, I know Romeo and Juliet a whole lot better than I know the Twilight series. If I hope to talk to young people about reading, I better get cracking at reading about adolescent vampires.

Morality and youth

noreply@blogger.com (blair) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 22:47:00 +0000

You may not agree with who they promote but the sentiment is bang on - voting is a moral action for young people and we need to treat it as such. Of course they are making fun of anti-drug PSA but that is the point. Adults get obsessed about the wrong moral issues, like drugs, and leave aside the most important ones, like who is the next president of the largest military power in the world.

Book lists

noreply@blogger.com (blair) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 04:34:00 +0000

I'm ramping up a project on trying to figure out how young people read. I know that the physical process is similar for everyone but there are so many things different about young people - their developmental stage, the culture they are immersed in, the schools they learn to read in - that I'm betting that they read in a different way than people in other developmental, cultural or educational contexts.

Saying that, I've been combing the Internet for interesting places to find young people reading. One of the things that I've been interested in is lists of books that people now believe were important for them to read as young people. Jeff Keuss, who I met over the weekend, has such a list in his "book shrine." While I will never agree that Mill on the Floss should be required reading for young people, I wouldn't mind if my daughter read it as a young person.

All of this is to say, any lists out there? Any push back on Jeff's? He has no comments in relation to the post so who knows, maybe people don't care about books.

Nerd Girls

noreply@blogger.com (blair) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 01:56:00 +0000

A friend emailed me this week about a talk he was giving. The group were claiming "nerd" as a badge of honour. Thought that he might appreciate this:

For my blue state friends

noreply@blogger.com (blair) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 13:25:00 +0000

Perhaps because I currently live in NJ (a Democratic state) I often hear, "If McCain and/or Palin win, I'm moving to Canada." The following public announcement should help:

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid271557392/bctid1842856410

reading is good for your body

noreply@blogger.com (blair) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 12:39:00 +0000

According to this article in the NYT (you may need to register to follow the link - it's free and easy) girls reading a particular book with an overweight heroine lost more weight than girls who did not read the book. Sedentary lifestyles, like mine, apparently aren't making me get blobbo.

yo yo guru

noreply@blogger.com (blair) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 00:13:00 +0000

Marko found this. I'm convinced it is my new PTS colleague Stephen Cady as a middle schooler.

Winning without winning

noreply@blogger.com (blair) — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 13:25:00 +0000

The results are in. Harper, Layton, Duceppe win. Dion and May lose. In the end, nobody really won. Harper has more seats but not a majority. Layton has more seats but not as many as Broadbent. Duceppe holds even but hasn't furthered his separatist agenda. Dion clearly is the biggest loser. May didn't even get a seat (why the heck did she think she could beat McKay?)

I hope that Harper and the Conservatives do not interpret the rejection of the Green Shift plan as a rejection of the environment by the Canadian electorate. Can't the Tories reclaim the leadership that Mulroney showed regarding the environment? Can't they find a truly conservative policy regarding global warming? Can't they find a way to connect their economic policy with a progressive environmental agenda? My hope is that Layton and May can give up their left agendas and focus on crafting an environmental policy palatable to Harper.

I hope that this environmental soul searching will also lead to a renewal of the Conservative party. I'm dismayed that they can't win in Montreal, Toronto or Vancouver. Maybe Harper needs to look to Britain for ideas on how to renew the party. If he doesn't, he may end up like Diefenbaker - a Western prime minister unable to govern a majority who gets pushed to the edges when the opposition party finally elects someone who can rally the troops against him. Heck, there is even a Trudeau in Parliament again.

Do Hard Things

noreply@blogger.com (blair) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 13:39:00 +0000

Marko pointed this meme out to me through his blog. I wasn't aware of these guys before but I think that they are entirely correct in their assessment that young people are significantly more competent and able to deal with challenge than the "mook" or "mid riff" image of adolescence promotes.

Tie this into one of the questions asked by an elderly man from Chicago at last night's Presidential debate. "What sacrifices, other than military service, are you willing to ask Americans to make?" (I'm paraphrasing). Obama started to get it although I thought that his answer wasn't as strong as it could have been. He should have gone the direction that the Harris twins go - life has more meaning than consumption and we need s to step up and start to claim meaningful challenges for the young people in their lives.

New Blog

noreply@blogger.com (blair) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 13:04:00 +0000

I recently found a new blog that ties into my interest in how young people read - Guys Lit Wire. It is mostly written by those who are invested in the YA genre but who aren't young people (largely, there does seem to be some young reviewers). To that extent you get an alternative take on YA lit, alternative that is from the industry but not alternative as in from young people themselves. Still, worth checking out, especially if you want to help a young male in your life find interesting things to read.

Please Register to Vote

noreply@blogger.com (blair) — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 03:19:00 +0000

I have a bias for who you vote for but it is more important to me that you vote. Democracy matters.

New Book

noreply@blogger.com (blair) — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 02:10:00 +0000

My friend and colleague Jason Santos has a new book out today. Here is what Publisher's Weekly said about it. Haven't got a copy yet so more later.

A Community Called Taizé: A Story of Prayer, Worship and Reconciliation
Jason Brian Santos. IVP Academic, $15 paper (180p) ISBN 978-0-8308-3525-6

When he first visited the Taizé ecumenical community in France's Burgundy region, author Santos, now a doctoral candidate at Princeton University, had no plans to write a book. By his second trip, however, the idea for one had taken root. Geared to an English-speaking, North American audience and said to be a first-of-its-kind account, this lovely and instructive book mingles the community's history with descriptions of day-to-day life and practical information about making a pilgrimage to Taizé. Although many American Christians are familiar with Taizé's chants, few may know the details Santos imparts. Most compelling among them is the author's witnessing Taizé founder Brother Roger's violent death in 2005 at the hands of a disturbed woman during evening prayers. Santos insists that this did not lead him to write the book, but it provides a remarkable context for writing about the community that has attracted so many with its message of reconciliation, trust and freedom. Besides Santos's careful research, readers will appreciate his thoughtful ideas about how to take Taizé's spirit beyond the community. (Nov.)

Mixed Race and Risky Behaviour

noreply@blogger.com (blair) — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 01:34:00 +0000

I'm sure its because of Obama that the Atlantic drew attention to this piece of research but, regardless of motivation, it is an interesting look at why mixed race young people seem to engage in riskier behaviours than their peers.