International
The Hospitable Text: New Approaches to Religion and Literature
July 14-16, 2011
London Notre Dame Centre, UK
Plenary lecturers will include: Rowan Williams, Julia Reinhard Lupton (UC Irvine) and John Schad (Lancaster University). Other participants include: Jo Carruthers (Bristol University), Paul Contino (Pepperdine University), John Cox (Hope College), Robert Eaglestone (Royal Holloway, University of London), Mark Eaton (Azusa Pacific University), Peter Hawkins (Yale University), Emma Mason (Warwick University) and Susannah Monta (University of Notre Dame).
This conference is sponsored by the Conference on Christianity and Literature, Literature and Theology, Religion and Literature, the University of Notre Dame, and the Calvin Center for Christian Scholarship. Visit the Hospitable Texts website for details about travel, accomodation, and more.
Recent years have seen a resurgence of interest in the relationship between religion and literature, with the broader critical turn to religion in the arts and humanities helping invigorate an interdisciplinary field that has been well served through the work of journals such as Christianity and Literature, Religion and Literature and Literature and Theology. Recognizing the importance of talking further about our different approaches to the field, this conference will bring together a wide variety of scholars in order to enable and enrich contemporary explorations of religion and literature.
The theme of the conference is "The Hospitable Text." Contemporary theorists and theologians have paid considerable attention recently to the idea of hospitality, recognizing, among other things, the value of actively hosting viewpoints different from our own rather than merely tolerating their presence.
One of the distinctive features of the conference will be a slot devoted to seminars. Running concurrently and led by the people listed below, each seminar will focus on a discussion between the moderator and six-eight people who register in advance and circulate pre-written papers to the other seminar participants before the conference begins. Other attendees at the conference will be invited to audit these seminars. Seminars include:
Jo Carruthers, Literature, Religion and Place
John Cox, Shakespeare and Faith
Robert Eaglestone, Religion, Literature and Theory
Mark Eaton, American Literature: Religion, Pluralism, Secularism
Peter Hawkins, The Bible and its Literary Afterlife
Emma Mason, Poetry and Forgiveness
All queries should be addressed to HospitableText@calvin.edu. Further details about registration costs, accommodation details and travel arrangements will be available on the website (http://www.hospitabletext.org/index.html) in the summer.
Organizing committee: Susan Felch (Calvin College), Emily Griesinger (Azusa Pacific University) Mark Knight (Roehampton University), Emma Mason (Warwick University), and Susannah Monta (University of Notre Dame).
Download a copy of the Call for Papers here.