The Art and Practice of Teaching Theology

2026 Call for Papers

Julia Brumbaugh, Regis University (CO)

jbrumbau@regis.edu

Alessandro Rovati, Belmont Abbey College (NC)

alessandrorovati@bac.edu

Paul Schutz,Santa Clara University (CA)

pjschutz@scu.edu

The Art and Practice of Teaching Theology section of the CTS invites paper and panel proposals that address any and all pedagogical issues related to the teaching of theology, with particular interest in those that address the conference theme: “Reclaiming Faith Amidst Christian Nationalism.”

 

Christian nationalism uses Christian symbols and language to advance a political agenda. It operates through what has been called the "unholy trinity" of power, boundaries, and order, and targets key institutions like education to shape public knowledge and values. Christian nationalism poses significant challenges for academia, particularly for theological educators. How can we, as educators, reckon with Christian nationalism in our classrooms? How can theological education interrupt the narratives that undergird Christian nationalism, especially given its close connections to white supremacy and gender-based oppression? How does its presence impact theological education, curriculum development, and our institutions' commitments to the totality of the Gospel message of love and justice and its implications? How do we include and help students who have fundamental political and cultural disagreements evaluate their presumptions in light of the Christian proposal and treat each other with charity?

 

Another feature of our time that fundamentally impacts theological education is the ever-growing power and rise of large language models and generative AI. These tools demand that we ask existential questions about the goals and means of theological education. Moreover, given that AI constructs answers by “reading” the internet, many commentators have pointed out the ways that the racist and sexist history of Western thought leads AI to perpetuate misinformation and harmful biases according to the same logics that undergird Christian nationalism. What pedagogies best meet the challenges posed by the AI revolution? How can our students still encounter the Word of God and one another in a world in which all contacts become more and more mediated by technology? What are the implications of these new technologies for human agency, creativity, love, justice, and relationships in the classroom? How might emerging understandings of the environmental impacts of AI use (e.g., water and energy consumption) inform our teaching? How do we respond as teachers and educators to issues related to labor as they relate to the possibilities of AI displacing human work (the labor of teaching, but also all sorts of other work currently done by human beings)?

 

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:

●      The presenters’ current institutional affiliation and position as appropriate (unaffiliated scholars are welcome).

●      A working title

●      A brief description of the topic and methodology

●      A selected bibliography

●      Anticipated AV needs 

 

Proposals should be emailed to all three conveners of the “Art and Practice of Teaching Theology” by December 15, 2025. Scholars will be notified of the status of their proposals by mid-January.