THE CONFERENCE ON CHRISTIANITY AND LITERATURE is an interdisciplinary society dedicated to exploring the relationships between Christianity and literature. Organized formally in 1956, CCL is dedicated to both scholarly excellence and collegial exchange and includes hundreds of members from a variety of academic institutions and religious traditions from the United States, Canada, and more than a dozen other countries.
NEWS
CCL at MLA 2019 | Chicago
Does literature have transformative potential? Does it increase one’s capacity to pay attention or empathize? Does it form reader’s subjective emotional states? Please join us for the following session at the Modern Language Association annual convention in Chicago, January 3-6, 2019.
Literature and Empathy
Time and Place TBD
Program arranged by the Conference on Christianity & Literature
Presiding: Mark Andrew Eaton, Azusa Pacific U
Speakers:
- “Empathetic Witnessing in Shakespeare’s King Lear,” Penelope H. Geng, Macalester C
- “Auden and Moore’s Empathic Humor,” Rachel V. Trousdale, Framingham State U
- “Difficulty, Empathy, and The Lives of Animals,” Benjamin Mangrum, U of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Respondent: Suzanne Parker Keen, Hamilton C
CCL at MLA 2018 | New York
Saturday, January 6, 2018, 1:45pm-3:00pm: CCL Panel organized by Mark Eaton and Caleb Spencer
592. The Literary and the Secular
1:45pm-3:00pm, Sutton Center, Hilton
Program arranged by the Conference on Christianity & Literature
Speakers: Randy Boyagoda, U of Toronto; Sean Dempsey, U of Arkansas, Fayetteville; Christopher Douglas, U of Victoria; Kathryn Ludwig, Ball State U; Kevin Seidel, Eastern Mennonite U; Michael Tomko, Villanova U
This session examines recent framings of the secular and the postsecular while considering the best methods for advancing this ongoing critical discussion. Panelists ask whether there is something that can rightly be thought of as religious about the flourishing of (semi-) sacred experiences in literature. Has the religious turn come of age?
CCL at MLA 2017 | Philadelphia
On January 6, 2017 at the MLA annual convention in Philadelphia , CCL organized the following session, which was selected by MLA President Anthony Appiah for inclusion in a select list of featured sessions addressing this year's convention theme "Boundary Conditions":
292. "Here I Stand": Five Hundred Years after Luther
12:00 noon–1:15 p.m., 411–412, Philadelphia Marriott
Program arranged by the Conference on Christianity and Literature
Presiding: Clare Costley King'oo, Univ. of Connecticut, Storrs
1. "Martin Luther and the History of Rhetoric," Carl Springer, Univ. of Tennessee, Chattanooga
2. "Martin Luther in Arab and Islamic Writings: The Early Modern Period," Nabil I. Matar, Univ. of Minnesota, Twin Cities
3. "Requisitioning Luther in the German Catholic Literary Inner Emigration, 1933–45," Helena Tomko, Villanova Univ.
4. "'The Dark Forces of the Germanic Peoples': Stefan Zweig's and Stefan Heym's Critique of Martin Luther," Gregor A. Thuswaldner, Gordon Coll., MA
For abstracts, write to Darryl.Tippens@acu.edu.
We will accommodate the following audiovisual request(s) for your session: Projection equipment for a computer
Keywords: Reformation, religion, rhetoric, Islam, Christianity
CCL at MLA 2016 | Austin
CCL at MLA 2015 | Vancouver
CCL at MLA 2014 | Chicago
NEWLY ELECTED BOARD MEMBERS
The Conference on Christianity and Literature (CCL) is pleased to announce our newly elected Board members for the following positions:
• President (two-year term); Darryl Tippens
• Treasurer (two-year term): Laura Veltman
• Southwest Representative (three-year term): Brent Newsom
• Midwest Representative (three-year term): Edward Upton
• West Representative (three-year term): Patricia Andujo
• At-Large Representative (three year term): Cynthia Wallace
Congratulations to all our newly elected Board members, and thank you to all our returning Board Members.
For the 2018 election, we will be seeking representatives from the Southwest, the Midwest, and the Western regions, plus an At-large member.
MARGARET HANNAY SERVICE AWARD
We are please to announce that Charles A. Huttar, Professor Emeritus at Hope College, is the inaugural recipient of the Margaret Patterson Hannay Service Award. The award was presented at the CCL Luncheon at Brasserie Ruhlmann in Rockefeller Center during the MLA Annual Convention in New York. It was a touching affair to present this award to Professor Huttar, especially given that David Hannay, the husband of the late Margaret Hannay, was on hand for the occasion, as were two of Charles Huttar's daughters and a son-in-law. CCL Vice President Susan Felch wrote the following tribute in honor of Charles A. Huttar:
The Conference on Christianity and Literature Honors
Charles A. Huttar
AS THE FIRST RECIPIENT OF
The Margaret Patterson Hannay Service Award
We do so with deep appreciation for his faithful and continuous service to the society since its initial meeting in 1956. We acknowledge with gratitude his many efforts to advance the work of the Conference as president, board member, historian, presenter at regional meetings, and editor of the society’s newsletter. We celebrate his instrumental role in securing the site for the society's archives at Hope College and in creating the Literature and Religion section of the Modern Language Association. We honor his devotion to creating an exceptional community of scholars and teachers. For his exemplary life of research and service, which has advanced the ideals of CCL throughout the academy, we express our deepest gratitude.
CCL BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2017
The Conference on Christianity and Literature is pleased to announce that the 2017 CCL Book-of-the-Year Award has been given to David Marno for his book Death Be Not Proud: The Art of Holy Attention (University of Chicago Press, 2016). Paul Contino, a member of the selection committee, writes about the book: "Death Be Not Proud is an elegant, challenging, and even transformative work of interdisciplinary scholarship. It presents patient and close readings of Donne’s work, ever-attentive to its seventeenth-century religious context, but also offers a profound meditation on the ways in which 'holy attention' – in the forms of prayer, thanksgiving, intellection, sacrifice, and devotion – can enliven holy living."
UPCOMING CCL REGIONAL CONFERENCES
For announcements about upcoming CCL Regional Conferences, please click here.
CCL LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Any member of CCL may submit the name of a person to be considered for the award. All nominations are to be made in writing and submitted to the President no later than November 1. Each nomination should be accompanied by a brief letter of recommendation along with either a copy of the nominee’s cv or an equivalent biographical sketch; the latter documents may be supplied in electronic form or as links to web sites containing the information. The CCL Board of Directors will consider the nominations and conclude the selection process at its annual meeting in early January. For a list of the long line of distinguished recipients of the CCL Lifetime Achievement Award, please click here.
CCL FELLOWSHIPS AND GRANTS
For information about CCL Fellowships and Grants, please click here.
IMAGO DEI
Imago Dei: Poems from Christianity & Literature brings together a collection of poems reflecting on faith and art. The editor of the volume, Jill Baumgaertner, a poet herself, was President of CCL from 1999-2003. For more information, please click here
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