The Templeton Foundation has awarded a $3.67m grant to fund “The Character Project”, under the direction of Christian Miller at Wake Forest University. The project includes several funding and conference opportunities that will be of interest to Christian philosophers working in ethics and virtue theory.

For more information, and to sign up for notices regarding future requests for proposals, visit http://www.thecharacterproject.com or contact professor Miller at millerc@wfu.edu

A quick update on the 2010 ITIA conference “Theology, Aesthetics, and Culture: Conversations with the Work of David Brown,” to be held September 6th-8th at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland.

As the conference website — http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/divinity/rt/itia/conf2010/ — indicates, the speakers will be:

• Margaret Miles (Graduate Theological Union)
• William Abraham (Southern Methodist University)
• Richard Bauckham (University of St. Andrews)
• Tina Beattie (Roehampton University)
• Gordon Graham (Princeton Theological Seminary)
• Charles Taliaferro (St. Olaf College)
• Jeremy Begbie (Duke University)
• Graham Ward (University of Manchester)
• Gavin Hopps (University of St. Andrews)
• Clive Marsh (University of Leicester)
• Ben Quash (King’s College London)
• Trevor Hart (University of St. Andrews) with a response by David Brown (University of St. Andrews)

There will also be an interesting range of session chairs who will also be part of the conversation (see website for more details). The deadline of the call for papers has been extended from June 28 to July 20.  The short papers do not have to be directly on Professor Brown’s work, but simply on related themes, and in addition to the original six we have added three more tracks to better reflect the breadth of the volumes under consideration:

• Revelation in Art and Image
• Doctrine and Development
• Literature and/or Music
• Space and Place
• Pop Music / Pop Culture
• God and the Body
• Liturgy and Ritual
• Natural Religion and Religious Experience
• Sacramentality and Re-enchantment

Postmodernism, Culture and Religion 4
“The Future of Continental Philosophy of Religion”
Syracuse University
April 7-9, 2011

Plenary Speakers:
JOHN D. CAPUTO
Watson Professor of Religion and Philosophy
Syracuse University (http://religion.syr.edu/Caputo.html)

PHILIP GOODCHILD
Professor of Theology and Religious Studies
University of Nottingham (UK) (http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/Theology/People/philip.goodchild)

CATHERINE MALABOU
Professor of Philosophy
University of Paris-X, Nanterre (http://www.u-paris10.fr/10980645/0/fiche_EE8__pagelibre/)

Call For Papers
Paper submissions are invited on the topic “The Future of Continental Philosophy of Religion,” its past and present, its history and its prospects, in the widest possible terms, addressing the whole range of its implications—politics, feminism, constructive theology, philosophy, history, literature, interfaith dialogue, and the hermeneutics of sacred texts.

In the past, these conferences, which have provided a forum for the most influential philosophers, theologians, and cultural theorists to interact, have consisted solely of several keynote speakers.  This conference will be different.  It will feature three plenary speakers and offer multiple concurrent sessions devoted to papers submitted on a diversity of issues relating to the primary theme.  This call for papers is deliberately open, befitting the conference’s animating concern with the future. Papers are invited that address questions like (but not limited to) the following.  What now, or what comes next—specifically, after the death, if not of God, at least of the generation consisting of Derrida, Deleuze, Foucault, Levinas, etc.?  This question concerns not only the future after those significant theorists, but also the future after-life of these eminent minds who have left such a deep impact on Continental philosophy of religion.  What is the future of Kant and German Idealism, of Kierkegaard and Nietzsche in Continental philosophy of religion?  What remains for the future of phenomenology?  Of the “theological turn” in the phenomenology of Jean-Luc Marion and others?  Of Gadamer, Ricoeur and philosophical hermeneutics?  Of apophatic or mystical theology?  What is the future of feminism and Continental philosophy of religion?  What are the status and future of the new trinity of Agamben, Badiou and Zizek? What relevance do the political interpretations of Antonio Negri, Michael Hardt, and the more recent Continental philosophers such as François Laruelle and Catherine Malabou have to philosophy of religion and political theology? What about the future of sovereignty, of money and capitalism, as in the work of Philip Goodchild?  What is the future of the movements of Radical Orthodoxy and of radical death of God theology, whether in their original or contemporary manifestations?  What about the new sciences of information and complexity in thinkers like Mark C. Taylor and Michel Serres?  What about Continental philosophy of religion and our “companion species” in Donna Haraway?  What about “Post-Humanism”?  What is the future of Continental Philosophy of religion and Judaism?  And Islam?  Or world religions generally?  What is the relationship between postmodernism, religion and postcolonialism?  What role can Continental philosophy play in the future of religion?  In the professional study of religion? How does Continental philosophical theology relate to the ethnological and empirical-scientific study of religion?  How does Continental philosophy of religion differ from traditional philosophy of religion?  Or from analytic philosophy of religion?  What is continental philosophy of religion anyway?

Instructions: Submit electronic copies of completed papers (up to 3000 words).  Abstracts cannot be considered.  Papers will be subject to a double blind review by a selection committee.  Include your name, paper title and contact information on a separate page.  Include the paper title but not your name on a header or footer on each numbered page of the paper itself.  The papers must be previously unpublished in any format.  The Conference reserves the right of first refusal of the submitted paper for inclusion in a projected volume to be based upon the conference.  Paper submissions are due by December 15, 2010 and acceptances will be made by February 15, 2011.  Send your papers to: pcrconf@syr.edu

Coordinator: John D. Caputo, Watson Professor of Religion, Syracuse University

For further information contact pcrconf@syr.edu or visit http://pcr.syr.edu. Messages to the list are archived at http://listserv.liv.ac.uk/archives/philos-l.html. Prolonged discussions should be moved to chora: enrol via http://listserv.liv.ac.uk/archives/chora.html. Other philosophical resources on the Web can be found at http://www.liv.ac.uk/pal.

The John Templeton Foundation, the Society of Christian Philosophers, Oxford University and the University of Oklahoma are pleased to announce the Templeton Research Fellows Program for 2011-2012. This is the final year of a program designed to promote extended international exchange at Oxford University with philosophers of religion and scientists. We are seeking highly-qualified Fellows with an established record of successful publication, and whose proposed research will open up new avenues for interdisciplinary growth in the philosophy of religion. Applicants must have a Ph.D. prior to application and be affiliated with an accredited institution.

Two of the fellowships will be given to applicants proposing research at the interface of philosophy of religion and philosophy of physics, cosmology, mathematics, logic, or the natural sciences. One of the fellowships will be given to an applicant proposing research in any area of the philosophy of religion.

We invite recent Ph.D.’s and more advanced scholars to apply for a year-long fellowship in residence at Oxford University for the opportunity to engage in sustained interaction with some of the world’s foremost philosophers, scientists, theologians, and other specialists in religion. Three scholars will be chosen as research Fellows for the 2011-2012 year of the program (two junior and one senior). A Junior Fellow will receive a stipend of $50,000. A Senior Fellow will receive a stipend of $70,000. In addition, there will be funds for relocation, travel, research, etc.

For further details, please visit our website at: www.oxfordtempletonfellows.com

The Society of Christian Philosophers Midwestern Conference

February 24th-26th, 2011
Hope College
Holland, Michigan
Topic: Values and Virtues

Plenary speakers:

• Robert C. Roberts (Baylor University)
• Address: “Emotions in the Sense of Duty”
• Eric Wielenberg (DePauw University)
• Address: “Divine Deception”

Papers are especially encouraged on matters of virtue ethics, the relation between religion and ethics, applied ethical topics (especially as they might relate to the Christian tradition), or value theory more generally.  Papers on any topic of philosophical interest will be considered.  We welcome the submissions of both Christians and non-Christians as presenters, commentators, and participants.  Submissions should be 3,000 words or less, prepared for blind review, and saved in an accessible format (hard copy submissions will not be accepted).  Please indicate whether you would be willing to serve as a commentator, should your paper be accepted.

Deadline for submission: December 10, 2010.

Conference website is under construction.  An update will follow

Please send any queries, submissions, or requests to comment to Jack Mulder at mulderj@hope.edu.

James K.A. Smith, PhD
Associate Professor of Philosophy
Executive Director, Society of Christian Philosophers
Calvin College
Grand Rapids, MI 49546
616.526.6419

http://www.calvin.edu/~jks4

The Islamic Sciences and Culture Academy and Islamic Philosophy and Theology Research Center present: The International Conference of Religious Doctrines and the Mind-Body Problem, March 9th-10th, 2011. Just click here to download a PDF version of the Call for Papers.

Email for your questions: icrm@seminars.ir
Website: www.seminars.ir/icrm

You are cordially invited to attend “Truth Matters”, an interdisciplinary conference with a philosophical focus to be held in Toronto on August 18-20 at Victoria University in the University of Toronto. For more information please click here to download the conference flier as a PDF file. If anyone has any questions, feel free to contact me any time. For additional information and to register for the conference, please visit our website at www.icscanada.edu/truthmatters.

Sincerely,

Ronnie Shuker
Communications Coordinator
Truth Matters
truthmatters@icscanada.edu

Announcing Wuhan University’s newly inaugurated Kretzmann Instittute for Morality and Belief!

Society of Christian Philosophers Lecture Grants

In order to foster philosophical discussion and encourage fellowship in smaller departments and institutions, the Society of Christian Philosophers has established a new small grant program.  The program provides up to $1500 for departments to host a well-known Christian philosopher for a lecture and discussion.  (These funds can be supplemented or matched by the host institution.)  Two  such grants will be made available each academic year (ideally, one in the fall semester and one in the spring semester).

REQUIREMENTS AND CONDITIONS

• “Smaller” departments are defined as departments with 3 or fewer full-time philosophers on the faculty.
• Both the applicant (i.e., inviter) and lecturer (invitee) must be members of the Society of Christian Philosophers.  For information on membership in SCP, visit http://www.societyofchristianphilosophers.com/about/membership/.
• The host department/institution is responsible for all logistics related to inviting and hosting the lecturer.  Applicants are encouraged to query the potential lecturer before applying for the grant.
• Grant recipients need not provide receipts; grant funds will be disbursed upon approval of a proposed budget.  The grant can be supplemented or leveraged with other institutional funds, but this is neither a requirement nor a factor in evaluating applications.
• After the event, grant recipients are required to submit a brief report (and photos, if possible) to the Executive Director of SCP in a format that can be shared with the membership in the SCP newsletter and via the SCP website.
• Unsuccessful applicants are encouraged to re-apply.

HOW TO APPLY
Applications to the lecture grant program must:

1. briefly describe your department and confirm that it is a “small” department as defined above;
2. identify the philosopher to be invited, with a brief description of the topic(s) to be addressed and when the event would be held (i.e., semester; specific date not required);
3. indicate the format of the visit (e.g., lecture + lunch with undergraduate philosophy majors); and
4. provide a proposed budget of expenses, indicating how the grant will be used (and, where applicable, how other institutional funds will be used to supplement the grant).

The application should be submitted to James K.A. Smith, Executive Director of the Society of Christian Philosophers at jkasmith@calvin.edu.  Any questions should be directed to the same.      

DEADLINES
Applications will be considered semiannually on June 1 and December 1.  Grant announcements will be made on June 30 and December 30.

Please feel free to forward this to colleagues who might benefit from this program.  If they are not currently members of SCP, we hope this might encourage them to consider membership.

The Alvin Plantinga Retirement Ceelebration

May 20-22, 2010
McKenna Hall
University of Notre Dame

Alvin Plantinga is one of the most important and influential philosophers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. His publications range over a wide variety of fields, but his most enduring contributions have been in metaphysics, epistemology, and, especially the philosophy of religion. In 1980, Time Magazine, reporting on the remarkable resurgence of religious philosophy, identified Plantinga as the world’s “leading philosopher of God”.

Registration deadline: May 14

For program and registration information, go to http://www.nd.edu/~cprelig/events/PlantingaRetirement.shtml