The Art and Practice of Teaching Theology

2023 Call for Papers

Dana Dillon, Providence College (RI)

ddillon@providence.edu

Patrick Manning, Seton Hall University (NJ)

patrick.manning1@shu.edu

The Art and Practice of Teaching Theology section of the CTS invites presentations that address pedagogical issues related to the conference theme: “Theology and Media(tion): Rendering the Absent Present.” Proposals may include, but are not limited to:

• What does it mean to think of theological education as mediating God’s presence and/or revelation?
• What kinds of pedagogical practices help us navigate the presence/absence of the divine?
• How does theological education mediate between a tradition that holds on to the possibility of some universal truth claims and a postmodern culture that often relativizes truth claims?
• How do we mediate Scripture and Tradition to our students? How do Scripture and Tradition mediate reality to them?
• What is the role of technology and media in the theological classroom, and how does it relate substantively to content?
• What is the history of the church’s negotiation with various forms of media in theological education?
• What is theology’s role in mediating between a “reason alone” approach to truth and the kind of “faith and reason together” approach to truth that faith-based institutions of higher education aspire to offer?
• How do issues of race, gender, and ethnicity render the divine present or absent?
• How do current struggles with distraction and boredom cause us to miss God’s presence in our classrooms, the world, and our lives?
• Other topics related to the conference theme which focus on the art and practice of teaching theology, especially to undergraduates.

Preference will be given to collaborative and interdisciplinary papers and presentations. Proposals for pedagogically creative formats are welcome as are proposals for traditional paper presentations.

Proposals should be 250-500 words in length and include:

• one’s current institutional affiliation and position.
• a working title
• a brief description of methodology
• a selected bibliography

Proposals should be emailed to both conveners by December 15, 2022. Scholars will be notified of the status of their proposals by mid-January.