The Seminary Explores

Dr. Christian B. Keller, Professor of History and General Dwight D. Eisenhower Chair of National Security, Department of National Security and Strategy, U.S. Army War College, Carlisle, PA, and author of The Great Partnership: Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and the Fate of the Confederacy, argues that the Christian connection between Lee and Jackson was a significant glue that bonded the two generals’ friendship, and this in turn supported their strong professional relationship. Although one was Episcopal and the other a Presbyterian, they were both firm believers in Divine Providence, and as evangelical providentialists, were not that different from many Americans of that era.

Fresh from a day of hanging large format portraits of Garmair Marines in the woods near the National Park Visitor Center, documentary photographer and film-maker Louie Palu took time for a chat with Katy Giebenhain and The Seminary Explores. Palu has navigated combat zones, mining shafts, Arctic terrain and many other sites and situations in his role as artist and photojournalist. For his mid-July to mid-August 2019 residency on the Gettysburg Battlefield he installed the portraits (taken in Afghanistan) and began new work in response to his experience in Gettysburg. Palu’s many awards include a Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting Grant (2012) to cover the Mexican Drug War and a Milton Rogovin Fellowship at the Center for Creative Photography.

The Artist-in-Residence program is made possible by the Gettysburg Foundation and The National Park Arts Foundation, with support from the National Park Service

On their own they are each brilliant. Together – doubly so. In a conversation with Katy Giebenhain poets Corey Van Landingham and Christopher Kempf talk about their current projects, the nitty-gritty details that ground creative work, the expectations of war poetry and what a learning pleasure it is to be back in Gettysburg where each of them has previously taught. The couple was awarded a joint residency in the Gettysburg National Military Park by the National Parks Arts Foundation.

The Artist-in-Residence program is made possible by the Gettysburg Foundation and The National Park Arts Foundation, with support from the National Park Service.

Many thanks to our host site for this interview, Waldo’s and Co. on the Square in Gettysburg.

Gettysburg photographer and resident Gregory Christianson talks about his new children’s book, Gettysburg Kids Who Did the Impossible. Christianson has walked Seminary Ridge and other sections of the Battlefield since he was a child. While working as an inn-keeper in Gettysburg he was frequently asked to recommend books for children about the Battle of Gettysburg. This led to his own research and discoveries, and to a book which fulfills what he had so often been asked to provide.

Thank you to Waldo’s on the Square, our host site for this episode.

Dr. Janet Morgan Riggs, the retiring president of Gettysburg College, highlights the most interesting and challenging issues during her eleven-year tenure as the president of Gettysburg College. She stresses the need for a liberal arts education, not only in literature, history, philosophy and the arts but in all disciplines, including the sciences, where critical thinking, communication, and civic awareness are encouraged. She also highlights the changing demographics of the student body and subsequent change in student needs. Not least, financing this kind of education remains a high priority, both for individual students and for the institution.

Alex Hayes, Managing Editor of the Gettysburg Times, shares his belief that for a local newspaper to survive it must be local.  Despite, and perhaps because of, the competition from on-line news, people still want to read about their neighbors, their town councils, their courts, and their sports events, even if one reads it as an e-edition.  Furthermore, the newspaper, whether the New York Times or the Gettysburg Times, offers a much higher degree of reliability than on-line news which is often driven by unverified opinion or worse—a development in American history that is a major departure from the past and often disturbing as well.

Waldo’s and Co. is a trade shop, coffee shop, event space, and nonprofit collective with artist studios. Or, as Katy Giebenhain calls it, “The Arts Parsonage of Gettysburg.” She joins Waldo’s co-founder and proprietor Chris Lauer for a conversation about collaboration, his own work, the importance of trying new equipment, and what makes Gettysburg special to this transplant who has seen many, many places. Seminarians who have not yet ventured to this underground haven on the square are in for a delight.

Megan Shreve, CEO, South Central Community Action Programs, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania talks housing on this episode of the Seminary Explores. The “Wage Gap,” perhaps the most significant contribution to the housing crisis, occurs when a working family on minimum wage does not qualify for aid, but doesn’t have enough to cover the necessities of food, health, transportation, and child care. In addition, declining resources from state and federal governments are threatening even the most basic programs such as overnight shelters. SCAAP has created two innovative, and biblical, programs that involve community resources. “Support Circles” provide dinner and child care as well as action strategies to rise out of the gap. “Gleaning” allows families to harvest agricultural products that growers can’t market.

James McCarthy tells stories – in more ways than you can shake a stick at. He also cultivates storytelling in others. A singer-songwriter, member of the Screen Actors Guild and Master Teaching Artist in the state of Hawaii, McCarthy joined Katy Giebenhain for a Seminary Explores conversation during his fall 2018 artist residency at the Gettysburg National Military Park. With a master’s in education from Harvard, an MFA in acting from University of Hawaii at Manoa, and a BFA in Music from Lesley University, his training and experience spans genres and time zones.

Thanks to our host site for this interview, Waldo’s and Co. on the square in Gettysburg. The Artist-in-Residence program is made possible by the Gettysburg Foundation and The National Park Arts Foundation, with support from the National Park Service.

This may sound like unexpected advice from a Photographer, but what you think is stunning could get even better. It is one of many tips Jim Schlett discusses with Katy Giebenhain in this conversation. The Virginia-based artist-in-residence at the Gettysburg National Military Park for late summer 2018 shares perspectives from commercial and art photography and extensive visits to National Parks across the country. This year, four artist residencies at four different locations share a link to President Abraham Lincoln. Schlett has been attending daily ranger talks, interacting with visitors and Park staff, and, of course, taking many pictures.

Thanks to our host site for this interview, Waldo’s and Co. on the square in Gettysburg.