WHAT ARE THE MOST COMPELLING THEOLOGICAL ISSUES TODAY?

Issues and Trends in Contemporary Theology

 

APRIL 20-21(Friday and Saturday), 2012

 

ALBRECHT AUDITORIUM

Claremont Graduate University

(Between Dartmouth Ave and 10^th Street)

 

Sponsored by the School of Religion, Claremont Graduate University

Funded by The Margaret Jagels Fund for Catholic Studies

 

CONFERENCE CHAIR: ANSELM MIN

Maguire Distinguished Professor of Religion

 

     The purpose of this conference is to discuss the most compelling issues facing Christian theology today.  Eight distinguished theologians will speak on what each considers to be the most compelling theological issue today and how she or he proposes to deal with that issue.  Each presentation will be followed by a response and a general discussion. A very lively debate is expected.  It is hoped that the conference will bring clarity, vitality, and urgency to the situation of contemporary theology that seems rather confused, fragmented, and exhausted.   The conference is free and open to all. 

 

Friday, April 20, 2012

 

9:00-9:10         Welcome, Tammi Schneider, Dean, School of Religion, and Anselm Min, Conference Chair

 

9:10-10:40       Chair:  Michael Saad (Chair of the Board of Advisors and Chair of the Coptic Council, School of Religion)

John Behr (St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary): "Let us Return to the Word  Delivered in the Beginning" (Polycarp)

Response:  Rhys Kuzmic (Ph.D. candidate, Claremont Graduate University)

 

10:40-11:00    Coffee Break

 

11:00-12:30     Chair:  Nancy van Deusen (Claremont Graduate University)

Anselm Min (Claremont Graduate University): "Deconstructing and Reconstructing Christian Identity in the World of Differance"

Response:  Joseph Prabhu (Cal State U Los Angeles)

 

12:30-2:00      Lunch

 

2:00-3:30         Chair:  Stephen Davis (Claremont McKenna College)

Robert Schreiter (Catholic Theological Union): "The Repositioning of a Theology of the World in the Face of Globalization and Post-Secularity: Prophecy and Crisis"

Response:  James Fredericks (Loyola Marymount University)

 

3:30-4:00        Coffee Break

 

4:00-5:30         Chair:  Patrick Mason (Claremont Graduate University)         

Mark Wallace (Swarthmore College): "Christian Animism, Green Spirit Theology, and  the Global Crisis Today"

Response:  Fabrizio D’Ambrosio (Ph.D. student, Claremont Graduate University)

 

Saturday, April 21, 2012

 

9:00-10:30       Chair:  Karen Torjesen (Claremont Graduate University)          

Susan Abraham (Harvard Divinity School): "Decolonizing Christianity"

Response:  Marlene Block (Ph.D. candidate, Claremont Graduate University)

 

10:30-11:00    Coffee Break

 

11:00-12:30     Chair:  Judy Miles (Cal Poly Pomona)

Rosemary Radford Ruether (Claremont School of Theology and Claremont Graduate University): "Faith and Ecofeminism: Religion and the Liberation of Women and the Earth from Oppression"

Response:  Kirsten Gerdes (Ph.D. candidate, Claremont Graduate University)

 

12:30-2:00      Lunch

 

2:00-3:30         Chair:  Kyongjin Lee (Fuller Theological Seminary)

Mark L. Taylor (Princeton Theological Seminary): "U S Mass Incarceration as Decolonial Struggle: A Theo-political and Theo-poetic Challenge"

Response:  William Walker (Ph.D. student, Claremont Graduate University)

 

3:30-4:00        Coffee Break

 

4:00-5:30         Chair:  Anselm Min (Claremont Graduate University)

Francis Schussler Fiorenza (Harvard Divinity School):  “Faith and Political Engagement in a Pluralistic Environment:  Beyond the Idols of the Public Space”

Response:  Paul Miller (Ph.D. candidate, Claremont Graduate University)

 

For further information including hotel accommodations:  School of Religion, 909.607.9592; Lisa.Maldonado@cgu.edu; Bruce.Paolozzi@cgu.edu.