Kendra Weddle

In March 2000, my husband and I spent a Saturday afternoon browsing our way through a local home-and-garden show. We left with a yard ornament—and an application to host an exchange student....

I am embarrassed by where I live. Irving, Texas, used to be known as the home of the Dallas Cowboys, the professional football team. In fact, Valley Ranch, the specific area of Irving where the Cowboys practice, is just a few blocks away from my home. It isn’t this part of Irving that embarrasses me, however. During the last few weeks, Irving has become known for its anti-Muslim sentiment.

Joseph Campbell, the great scholar of mythology, once said that we should read other people’s stories because when we read our own, we assume they are factual, but when we read the myths of others,...

My stereo is always on overdrive in the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas....

The faculty heard about a large influx of Saudi students on campus. I didn't expect to find them all in my world religions class.

I vividly remember my day in Wittenburg, Germany. My husband and I had taken the train from Berlin in order to see the sights connected with the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. Sure, most people who travel to Wittenburg are there to learn about Martin Luther, to stand at the church door where he nailed his 95 Theses, which rather than leading to profitable theological conversation, eventually resulted in his excommunication from the Roman Catholic Church and subsequently going into hiding. But I had made this pilgrimage to learn more about Katharina von Bora.