• Skip to main content
  • Current
  • Home
  • About
    • About Current
    • Masthead
  • Podcasts
  • Blogs
    • The Way of Improvement Leads Home
    • The Arena
  • Reviews
  • 🔎

Jon D. Schaff

Jon D. Schaff of Professor of Political Science at Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota. He’s the author of Abraham Lincoln’s Statesmanship and the Limits of Liberal Democracy and co-author of Age of Anxiety: Meaning, Identity, and Politics in 21st Century Film and Literature. 

REVIEW: The Country Under Heaven

Jon D. Schaff   |  March 12, 2025

A haunted and haunting journey through uncanny (big) valley 

Reconstructing Gaza

Jon D. Schaff   |  February 24, 2025

The fate of the Bibas family shows there is no real “deal” one can make with Hamas.

A Symposium on Love

Agnes Howard, Timothy Larsen, Jon D. Schaff, Nadya Williams and Robert Erle Barham   |  February 14, 2025

Love’s complexities endure—and love does, too

Beyond the fourth branch: reconsidering civil service independence

Jon D. Schaff   |  February 12, 2025

Civil service is operating too much like a fourth branch. That’s a problem.

Chimes of freedom: On ‘A Complete Unknown’

Jon D. Schaff   |  January 20, 2025

For good storytelling, and good storytelling about storytelling, go see A Complete Unknown.

REVIEW: Hateful Jane Austen 

Jon D. Schaff   |  January 8, 2025

All you need is love?

Almost all things must pass

Jon D. Schaff   |  December 31, 2024

Reminders from Boethius for the end of year.

Some of our favorite things III: Current writers and editors reflect on 2024 (conclusion)

Jay Green, Jon D. Schaff and Daniel K. Williams   |  December 23, 2024

Current writers and editors conclude their reflections on favorite things from 2024! (And check out Part I and Part II) *** Jay Green As the co-founder of a “little magazine,” I feel like something of a traitor to my class. Aside from […]

Wreckers

Jon D. Schaff   |  December 5, 2024

The temptation to be a Wrecker is strong. Augustine reminds us a better way.

Belated book suggestions

Jon D. Schaff   |  November 26, 2024

Jon Schaff recommends two new books: Miles Smith, Religion and Republic; and Luke Burgis, Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life

Don’t call it a realignment: Thoughts on the 2024 election

Jon D. Schaff   |  November 13, 2024

Sit down, buckle up, and get ready for another wild ride.

FORUM: Election 2024, Part II

Jon D. Schaff, Elizabeth Stice and Eric Miller   |  November 12, 2024

A time to be silent, a time to speak

REVIEW: Words for Conviviality

Jon D. Schaff   |  November 8, 2024

Don’t be a tool

Against early voting

Jon D. Schaff   |  October 29, 2024

Early voting doesn’t increase voter turnout and has underexplored downsides.

Stop reminding me: a theory about this election

Jon D. Schaff   |  October 23, 2024

Maybe the key to winning this election is to stay out of sight.

Donald Trump as Rex Mottram

Jon D. Schaff   |  October 1, 2024

A buffoonish literary character with many vices is entertaining. But not so in real life.

As the world turns

Jon D. Schaff   |  September 17, 2024

A good citizen keeps up with current affairs. But age should educate us that some perspective is necessary. Change is the only constant of daily news.

REVIEW: Where Is Freedom in This Book?

Jon D. Schaff   |  September 10, 2024

Timothy Snyder’s thin take on freedom reflects larger, more troubling deficits

Speaking from Mars Hill

Jon D. Schaff   |  August 30, 2024

Hosted by the indomitable Ken Myers, Mars Hill Audio (MHA) is a more than three-decade effort to bring the best of scholarship to the attention of thinking Christians.

Ready to take a chance again

Jon D. Schaff   |  August 23, 2024

As the old song goes, we’re ready to take a chance again. Who knows what the next year will bring.

Next Page »