Dear Robert:

Congratulations on your well-earned retirement from Temple University. I wish you many years of sun in Arizona while I continue to shovel the snow in Iowa, though global warming seems to be reducing the amount of that snow every year!

On this occasion let me say thanks for all the help and support you provided to me during my years in the Temple graduate program. Having just received tenure at Luther College I can now fully appreciate how well my Temple education prepared me for the position I now hold, and as my advisor you deserve much of the credit for that. While my dissertation topic was not really in your main area of expertise, you encouraged me to follow my interests, not yours, and trusted me to pull off the dissertation with a minimum of direction. For this I have always been grateful.

I also remember your advice to me, after I had completed the proseminar on Islam, to consider taking a second course in Islamic Studies so that I could market myself as being able to teach an undergraduate introduction to Islam. You said this would make me much more marketable. I followed this advice and I can now see how it was one of the best decisions I made at Temple. I now know that I was hired at Luther because of my ability to teach introductory Islam along with biblical studies. Moreover, the 9/11 attacks occurred during my second year at Luther, and suddenly the fact that I knew something about Islam put me in demand both on campus and in the larger community. I began giving talks on Islam to many different groups, developed relationships with the Muslim students on campus, and became interested in learning more about Islam in the contemporary world, an interest that got me a trip to Turkey in 2004 and led to the development of a second course on Islam here at Luther. I have published a couple of articles about Islam in the contemporary world and presented a paper at the annual meeting of the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy in Washington, D.C. in April of 2005. Islam is fast becoming one of my primary areas of interest. This unexpected direction in my career would probably have not happened if I had not followed your advice. Thanks!

Best wishes on your retirement,

Bob Shedinger
Associate Professor of Religion
Luther College

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