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Kristin Kobes Du Mez

Kristin Du Mez is associate professor and chair of the history department at Calvin College.

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Why is Fear an Evangelical Habit of Mind?

This past weekend, a man entered a Pittsburgh synagogue and massacred 11 people gathered for worship. The assailant was armed with an AR-15 assault rifle, three Glock .357 handguns, and a heavy dose of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. Minutes before entering the synagogue, he posted on social media that HIAS, a Jewish nonprofit helping to resettle refugees, “likes to bring invaders that kill our people.” He was likely triggered by theories bandied about by Republicans in recent days that the migrant caravan winding its way…
Kristin Kobes Du Mez
November 4, 2018
GenderPoliticsSexuality

Evangelicals, Let’s Talk About Violence Against Women

So, it turns out close to half of all white evangelicals think Brett Kavanaugh should be confirmed even if Christine Blasey Ford’s allegations of sexual assault are true. (An NPR/PBS NewHour/Marist poll conducted last week, 48% of white evangelical Christians believed he should be appointed to the highest court regardless; an additional 16% were unsure, leaving only 36% of white evangelicals who would apparently have a problem with an unrepentant perpetrator of sexual assault serving on the highest court of the land.) To be…
Kristin Kobes Du Mez
October 6, 2018
Essays

What if This Had Been Me? A Gendered Analysis of the Funniest Video Ever

Confession time: I have a guilty pleasure. Some very smart, very sophisticated people I know watch reality TV. The ridiculously staged, morally questionable, emotionally manipulative kind of reality TV. I don’t. But I’ve always had a soft spot for America’s Funniest Home Videos – I’ll laugh shamelessly at other people’s misadventures, bloopers and pratfalls. With Netflix, I rarely watch any television any more, and I can’t remember the last time I watched AFV. But thanks to social media, I still…
Kristin Kobes Du Mez
August 31, 2017
As We See It

Hillary Clinton and Christian America

Let’s start with a disclaimer. I’m a historian, and as such I have no particular skills when it comes to prognostication. Case in point: At the start of this election season, I would have placed my money on Scott Walker as the likely Republican nominee. For Clinton, bringing faith into politics isn’t anything new. But if history teaches us anything, it’s that anything can happen. This was first brought home to me in 1991. I was a high school student,…
Kristin Kobes Du Mez
September 1, 2016
As We See It

Gender and Grace 25 Years Later: An Interview with the Author

by Kristin Kobes Du Mez This year marks the 25th anniversary of the publication of Mary Stewart van Leeuwen’s book Gender and Grace: Love, Work and Parenting in a Changing World, a book that has been a touchstone in the Reformed community’s understanding of sex, gender and feminism. Having gone through 14 printings, Gender and Grace has had remarkable staying power and has been translated into Korean, Arabic and Chinese. Perspectives: Tell us how you came to write this book.…
Kristin Kobes Du Mez
September 1, 2015
As We See It

Building a Tradition of Christian Gender Studies

Twenty years ago, I was a college student attending a Christian college in the Reformed tradition. (Dordt College, in case you’re curious). It was my junior year, and I had yet to have a female professor, I don’t believe I had read a book by a woman in any of my classes, and I’m certain I hadn’t read anything about women – until I was assigned to read Mary Stewart van Leeuwen’s Gender and Grace. Until that time, the only…
Kristin Kobes Du Mez
September 1, 2015
Uncategorized

Selfishness or Sacrifice? Rethinking the Second Sunday in May

by Kristin Du Mez It won't be long until another Mother's Day is upon us, and I have to admit that I'm a bit ambivalent when it comes to this holiday. It's not that I don't cherish the construction-paper cards and hand-crafted presents my kids lovingly bestow upon me each year—I really do. It's when we get to church Sunday morning that I can't help but find the whole idea of Mother's Day more than a little troubling. Mother's Day, of…
Kristin Kobes Du Mez
March 1, 2013
Uncategorized

The Legislation That Made the Greatest Generation

DECEMBER 2007: REVIEW With its red, white, and blue cover and patriotic stars sprinkled throughout the text, Edward Humes'Over Here: How the G.I. Bill Transformed the American Dream appears to be yet another paean to America's "Greatest Generation." In many ways Humes' stories of heroic American veterans defending their country and achieving the American dream reinforce popular myths of a lost age, a time when a sense of duty drove ordinary Americans to extraordinary deeds. But Humes, a Pulitzer Prize-winning…
Kristin Kobes Du Mez
December 16, 2007