Colloquium Topic
Traditionally, Christian theology has tended to exalt the sublimity of divine love by degrading the pleasures of carnal eros. Modern critics of this repression of sensuality have surfaced its deep collusion with misogyny, homophobia, racism, and disregard for the natural world. At the same time, heightened awareness of the covert eroticism funding constructions of divine domination that legitimate oppressive relations (relations at once broadly political and intimately personal) has instilled an attitude of caution toward any simple retrieval of theologized conceptions of desire. As a result of this impasse, progressive Christians frequently remain merely on the defensive in biblically or theologically framed debates about sexuality. Yet scattered voices among theologians and other theorists indicate that our "postmodern" moment may yet yield the resources for an urgently needed rethinking of love that not only deconstructs the stubborn theological binary of agape/eros but also takes on the risks of engaging sacred desire at its sites--both historical and contemporary--of greatest ambivalence and complexity. It is hoped that this colloquium will create a space of transdisciplinary conversation in which such possibilities for the theologizing of love may be further pursued.
Format
Papers will be distributed and read in advance. We will allow roughly an hour for discussion of each paper, led off by brief framing remarks (ca. 5 minutes) from the paper writer and a set of opening comments and questions (also ca. 5 minutes) from a designated respondent. After a further 30 to 40 minutes of round table discussion by paper presenters and invited discussants, conversation will be opened to the public.
To facilitate the balancing of desire for focused, seminar-style conversation with desire for inclusiveness, we encourage any attendees (especially members of the Drew faculty or visiting scholars) who would like to take part in the round table discussion of one or more papers to contact the planning committee so that their fullest participation can be accommodated. All papers will be made available in advance to any colloquium attendee who requests them.
Planning Committee for the 4th Colloquium
Virginia Burrus (chair), Chris Boesel, Robert Corrington, Catherine Keller, Terry Todd.
For more information, please contact:
Virginia Burrus, vburrus@drew.edu
To register, click here.