English Professor Dan Ritchie admires the sunset off the coast of Lindisfarne with his wife Judie while they lead England Term in 2015. Lindisfarne was one of Ritchie’s favorite places to bring his students because it holds a unique combination of history, religion, politics and natural beauty. “The geography works on people’s souls,” Ritchie said. | Submitted photo

Finding beauty in the unity of life

On the island of Lindisfarne, English professor Dan Ritchie notices the importance of stepping back.

By Soraya Keiser | Reporter

Bethel University English Professor Dan Ritchie stepped out of a coach bus onto the island of Lindisfarne alongside 19 students taking part in Bethel’s England Term study abroad trip. After touring Sir Walter Scott’s house and Melrose Abbey, these students have had a full day, but the place Ritchie can’t wait to share with his students is Lindisfarne, a tidal island off the English coast.

Lindisfarne is a holy island rich in history, religion and politics. Ritchie loves how these seemingly different topics can be unified into a place, book or topic. They are dependent on each other.

The late summer breeze rushed over Richie as he led his students to the Lindisfarne Castle. The tide comes in, and Lindisfarne transforms. No one can leave across the causeway until the morning. Ritchie wants his students to realize that, while on this island, the rhythms they live by are not their own.

“The geography works on people’s souls,” Ritchie said.

As a person who shows deep respect for history and tradition, going to a place dependent on something other than himself resonates with Ritchie.

English Professor Dan Ritchie takes a moment to himself at the John Rylands Library in Manchester while leading England Term in 2015. On England Term, students focused their reading around books and authors from places they traveled. “The keynote of the trip is literature on location,” said Ritchie. “We are always traveling to locations where the literature either was written or took place.” | Submitted photo

“I came to feel that I couldn’t get to the deepest questions as a journalist.” —Dan Ritchie, professor

This yearning to find the unity rooted in tradition and across disciplines explains why Ritchie decided to become an English and Humanities professor.

“I came to feel that I couldn’t get to the deepest questions as a journalist,” Ritchie said regarding his time as a journalist in Kentucky.

During his nine months reporting, Ritchie covered city council meetings, court cases and even a coal strike. His love for language, the liberal arts and the intersection of it all were not nourished by being a journalist.

This explains why you can now find Ritchie standing behind a podium in Benson Great Hall, sporting a tweed jacket and bowtie, as he lectures on Thucydides and the Peloponnesian War.