Western Regional Conference on
Christianity & Literature
Crossing Borders/Exploring Boundaries
CALL FOR PAPERS
Committed to educating students for employment and service in the United States and abroad, Point Loma Nazarene University is also committed to forming Christian disciples. Teaching in the humanities in this context presents both great challenges and amazing opportunities. Literature is sometimes seen as an unneeded luxury for students preparing for employment and a challenge (or even a detriment) to Christian formation. At the same time, literature allows students and faculty to cross boundaries and borders, offering them the opportunity to read the stories of those whom they are called to love whose life experiences may be very different them their own.
In the spirit of Christian communion and intellectual dialogue, we invite papers, panels, creative presentations, and roundtable discussions that explore this broad theme: the crossing of boundaries and borders. We welcome proposals from a variety of perspectives including, but not limited to literature, creative writing, faith communities, film, visual arts, philosophy, popular culture, and pedagogy and practice.
POSSIBLE TOPICS
● Exploring boundaries between the sacred and the secular
● Crossing borders between face-to-face pedagogy and on-line teaching in the humanities
● Crossing boundaries in the traditions of faith communities
● Exploring boundaries between the classroom and service learning,
● Exploring boundaries between literature and Christian formation
● Issues related to teaching works in translation
● Reading literature and the Bible in translation
● Crossing borders between genres
● Adaptation from print to film
● When writers travel—crossing borders between national traditions in literature
● Exploring gender boundaries
● Christian scholars and queer theory
● Teaching across racial and ethnic boundaries
E-mail 250 word abstracts and session proposals by March 1, 2017 to:
Dr. Karl Martin at WesternCCL@pointloma.edu. Undergraduate students must submit their entire paper for consideration. Graduate students are encouraged to apply for the CCL grant; for more details, visit http://www.christianityandliterature.com/Travel_Grant_recipients
Keynote Speakers:
Catherine Kapikian is the founder and director emerita of The Henry Luce III Center for the Arts and Religion at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC. The author of Art in the Service of the Sacred, Professor Kapikian will address the interrelationship between theology and the arts. A skilled visual artist, Kapikian will also explore the relationship between literature and the visual arts. More information about her work can be found at www.catherinekapikian.com.
Diane Glancy is a noted playwright, poet, essayist, and fiction writer. Of Cherokee, German, and English descent, Glancy is noted for her work exploring the boundaries between racial and ethnic identities as well as the boundaries between Christian faith and Native American beliefs. A long-time faculty member at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, Glancy has also been a visiting professor at Kenyon College and Azusa Pacific University. She has been invited to both give a public reading and offer theological reflections on her work.