American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting
Denver, CO
November 17-20, 2018

The Orthodox Christian Studies Center would like to call your attention to the two sessions for the Eastern Orthodox Studies Unit at the 2018 American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting. The Eastern Orthodox Studies Unit focuses on the critical study of the theology, culture, history, and practices of the Eastern Christian churches, including their mutual interaction and engagement with Western Christian and non-Christian groups.

To submit a proposal, visit here.  View call details on the AAR website here.

Proposals are due Thursday, March 1 by 5:00 pm EST.

Proposals should be limited to the following two areas:

The Icon

As theological witness, devotional object, political symbol, and art commodity, the icon has been revered as sacred, valued as masterpiece, and appropriated for civic and political purposes. We welcome proposals that consider any of the icon’s diverse meanings and functions from late antiquity to the present day, including but not limited to: the theology of the icon; icon and Orthodox spirituality; the iconographic vocation; aesthetics; ritual and liturgical practices; delineation of sacred space; history and memory; semiotics; political and national identities; controversial images and forms of iconoclasm; iconicity and authenticity; and the icon and the modern world of art.

Eastern Christian Approaches to Inter-Religious Dialogue and Comparative Theology: The Road Not Taken? (Co-sponsored session with Comparative Theology Unit)

Contemporary developments in comparative theology and interreligious dialogue have been characterized by an almost exclusive emphasis on dialogue between Western forms of Christianity—both Roman Catholic and Protestant—with non-Christian religious traditions. Relatively fewer voices have been engaged in these disciplines from the traditions of Eastern Christianity (a broad term that includes Eastern Orthodox Christians, non-Chalcedonian Christians and Eastern Christian churches in communion with Rome). We welcome proposals from scholars of any religious tradition or none considering any aspect of interreligious conversation (Inter-Religious Dialogue and Comparative Theology) between Eastern Christian theologies/spiritualities/practices and non-Christian religious traditions.

Posted in collaboration with the Orthodox Christian Studies Center at Fordham University.