by Chloe Dent
From a small town in Illinois to OBU, Dr. Nathan Holm has spent years navigating the world of politics and academia. With degrees from Eastern Illinois University, Northern Illinois University and a Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University, he spent the last year teaching at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. Now, he’s bringing his passion for problem-solving and teaching to Bison Hill.
Outside the classroom, Holm stays active and uses physical activity to recharge and focus.
“Outside of school, I like exercising, working out,” Holm said. “I like to do some stuff in my office, just to help keep fresh. It helps to burn off a little energy, and then I can sit down, kind of focus a bit more easily when I get back to work.”
“I also like playing video games. Other than that, probably much the same as anybody else: watch YouTube videos and things like that,” he said.
Holm’s fascination with politics began in high school, where he became interested in how ideas are turned into laws and how government functions at a national level.
“Back in high school, I started getting tuned into politics, and I was really drawn to the big picture… how people’s ideas get turned into law, how it’s made to practically work,” he said.
That early interest in politics eventually led Holm to teaching, where he could explain complex ideas to others.
“One of the most appealing options for this interest in politics was also teaching, because I really enjoy explaining the way things work to students,” he said. “The things that I definitely am most keen on teaching are things like critical thinking skills… the ability to take and hold multiple pieces of information, which may agree with each other or contradict each other, but to evaluate them, compare and contrast them without taking any as a given.”
He explained that he does not provide students with answers, but instead helps them develop the ability to evaluate information independently.
“I can’t give you answers to a lot of questions about politics. It’s not my job to tell them what to think. They may just have to decide what is most convincing to them. Equipping them with the skills to do that is one of the principal things that I strive to achieve,” he said.
Holm described adjusting to teaching in a Christian university setting as a new challenge.
“Faith integration is very new to me,” he said. “It’s a challenge in a lot of ways, because it’s not something that I’ve done. In the academic world, I trained myself very thoroughly not to show any political or religious cards.”
Holm highlighted why studying politics can be important for everyone.
“If anybody were to ask me why they should take a political science class, it is that knowing is also half the battle,” he said. “Pericles said: just because you do not take an interest in politics does not mean politics won’t take an interest in you.”
Holm also discussed historical figures he finds interesting in the study of politics.
“Probably one of the most interesting people I would want to meet would be Diocletian,” he said. “He was one of the biggest reformers of Roman history. Regardless of even his opinion on Christians, he’s still one that I would love to pick the brain of. Another one would be Machiavelli. I’d be very interested in just having an academic discussion with him about his theories and the foundations of what we call real politics.”
Dr. Holm’s arrival at OBU marks the start of a new chapter here at OBU, and in his academic and teaching career.
