The Theology & Religious Ethics Workshop invites paper proposals for the 2016-2017 academic year.

We invite conference papers, dissertation chapters, papers prepared for publications, and other works-in-progress, concerning both research and teaching in theology and religious ethics. Students from all degree programs are encouraged to participate.

The Theology and Religious Ethics Workshop is an intellectual forum that hosts vibrant conversations on topics related to theology and religious ethics. Acknowledging that theology and religious ethics are two distinct areas of study, an important aim of the Workshop is to bring the relationship between the two disciplines into focus. We encourage presenters to make the nature of this relationship part of their concerns while participating in the Workshop, though it need not be addressed explicitly. All methodological approaches, historical periods, and geographical contexts are welcome for discussion.

Theme for this year’s Workshop: Religion and Violence

What constitutes a violent act? What must violence symbolize if it is to be considered religious violence? What kinds of moral questions arise when we inflict violence on ourselves, on our own bodies? Can acts of violence be interpreted as acts of love? Is there a redemptive value in violent death as some religious traditions argue? How are we to make sense of the way in which violence in contemporary times goes ‘viral’? What does it mean to bear witness to violence from the comfort and safety of our own homes? Does violence ever bring people together—can it be a form of intimacy?—or must it always tear and separate? How is divine violence depicted in literature, scripture, and the arts?

The Theology and Religious Ethics Workshop offers five different “styles” or formats for our biweekly meetings. We hope that by offering these different formats students will engage and experiment with different forms of intellectual inquiry. Last year was the first time we tried them and they worked very well for both the presenters and audience. We encourage you to experiment with one or more of them and join us in this effort to diversify the ways in which we keep the conversation going.

If you are interested in presenting, please write to us with the following information:

• A tentative title for your presentation
• Your program and departmental affiliation
• The format you are choosing
• Your preferred term (winter or spring)
• A brief abstract of your project (200-300 words)

The Theology and Religious Ethics Workshop will meet Wednesdays, 4:30-5:50, during the 2016-2017 academic year. Meetings will take place every other week.