Below, you will find our current list of speakers, artists, and session leaders. We will be adding names as they are confirmed, so check back regularly!
Speakers
Bruce Herman
Bruce Herman is a painter, writer, and speaker.
Herman’s art has been shown in more than 150 exhibitions — nationally in many US cities, including New York, Boston, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Houston — and internationally in England, Japan, Hong Kong, Italy, Canada, and Israel. His artwork is featured in many public and private art collections including the Vatican Museum of Modern Religious Art in Rome; The Cincinnati Museum of Fine Arts print collection; The Grunewald Print Collection of the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; DeCordova Museum in Boston; the Cape Ann Museum; and in many colleges and universities throughout the United States and Canada.
Herman taught at Gordon College for nearly four decades, and is the founding chair of the Art Department there. He held the Lothlórien Distinguished Chair in Fine Arts for more than fifteen years, and continues to curate exhibitions and manage the College art collection there.
Herman completed both BFA and MFA degrees at Boston University College of Fine Arts under American artists Philip Guston, James Weeks, David Aronson, Reed Kay, and Arthur Polonsky. He was named Boston University College of Fine Arts Distinguished Alumnus of the Year 2006.
Herman’s art may be found in dozens of journals, popular magazines, newspapers, and online art features. He and co-author Walter Hansen wrote the book Through Your Eyes: The Art of Bruce Herman, 2013, Grand Rapids, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, a thirty-year retrospective of Herman’s art as seen through the eyes of his most dedicated collector. Other publications include Ordinary Saints, a collaborative project with J.A.C. Redford and Malcolm Guite, and QU4RTETS, a collaboration with Jeremy Begbie, Makoto Fujimura, and Christopher Theofanidis.
You can read more about Herman’s plenary address to the 2024 C.S. Lewis Conference & Faculty Forum here.
Margaret I. Hughes
A native of Connecticut, Dr. Hughes is a graduate of the University of Chicago. She earned her master’s and doctoral degrees in philosophy at Fordham University, where she taught undergraduate philosophy, and then served for six years at the College of Mount Saint Vincent in New York. She is now a Tutor (professor) at Thomas Aquinas College – New England.
Her interests run both broad and deep, as might be observed in the titles of some of her publications and presentations:
- “Josef Pieper and the Beautiful Uselessness of Church Buildings.” Journal of Sacred Architecture, Winter 2016 (30).
- “Humor, Hope, and the Human Being.” Thomas Aquinas: Teacher of Humanity. ed. John P. Hittinger. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. 2015.
- “Teaching the Antepenultimate Cantos of the Divine Comedy: The Dilemma of Not Moving.” Pedagogy. October 2017 (17:3).
- “There Will Be Dancing at the Wedding: Music, Dance – but not Art? – at the Heavenly Banquet.” Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture Fall Conference, South Bend, IN. November 2016.
- “The Love of Beauty and the Pursuit of Excellence: What Plato’s Phaedrus Teaches about Teaching.” The Quest for Excellence: Liberal Arts, Sciences, and Core Texts. ed. Dustin Gish, Chris Constas, and J. Scott Lee. Lanham, MD: Hamilton Books. 2016.
https://www.thomasaquinas.edu/directory/margaret-hughes
James Hartley
James Hartley is Professor of Economics at Mount Holyoke College, where he teaches Macroeconomic Theory, Money and Banking, and Principles of Economics among other economics courses. Outside of the Economics Department, he has also taught multiple courses using the Great Books, including “Western Civilization: An Introduction Through the Great Books,” “Leadership and the Liberal Arts,” “Is Business Moral?” (developed with a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities), “Reflections on War,” “C.S. Lewis,” and numerous tutorials and reading groups on the Western Canon.
A California native, he earned his B.A., M.A, and Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California at Davis. In 2001, he spent six months as a Fulbright Fellow in Kolkata, India, and returned to India a second time for six months in 2006 as a visiting professor at IISWBM (India’s oldest business school) and giving talks throughout in Northeastern India in events organized by the US Consulate.
He has served as the Interim Executive Director of Mount Holyoke’s Professional and Graduate Education division, the Director of First Year Seminars, a member of the Advisory Committee on Appointments, Reappointments, and Promotion, and the Chair of the Economics Department. He received the Mount Holyoke College faculty Award for Teaching and his publications include The Representative Agent in Macroeconomics, Real Business Cycles: A Reader (co-edited with Kevin Hoover and Kevin Salyer), and Mary Lyon: Documents and Writings.
https://jamesehartley.com/about/
Jim Salladin
Jim Salladin has served as rector of Emmanuel Anglican Church, NYC, since the fall of 2016. Originally from California, he worked at St. John’s Vancouver Anglican Church and St. James Muswell Hill in London. He received his Master of Divinity degree at Regent College, where he later served as a Visiting Professor. Jim completed his PhD through the University of St. Andrews with the focus of his research on grace and divine participation in Jonathan Edwards’ thought.
Artists
Brad Davis
Poet Brad Davis was born in San Diego, California. He is the author of seven collections, including Trespassing on the Mount of Olives (2021), Song of the Drunkards (2007), Opening King David (2011), and Still Working it Out (2014). He has two chapbooks: Short List of Wonders (2005), winner of the Sunken Garden Poetry Prize, and Self Portrait w/ Disposable Camera (2012). Davis’s poems have appeared in Poetry magazine, Paris Review, Michigan Quarterly, Puerto del Sol, Brilliant Corners, Image, LETTERS, Presence, and many other journals. In 2012, he edited the anthology Sunken Garden Poetry: 1992-2011 for Hill-Stead Museum, home of the Sunken Garden Poetry Festival.
Davis served as an Episcopal priest for 25 years and a boarding school chaplain/teacher for 33 years. He was also the first director of educational programming (and poet-in-residence) for Sylvester Manor Educational Farm on Shelter Island, NY. He has taught creative writing at two universities (College of Holy Cross, Eastern Connecticut State University) and two boarding schools (Pomfret School, Stony Brook School). He earned an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts. He now lives in Putnam, Connecticut, with his spouse, Deb.
Craig Sandford
Craig Sandford is a composer, songwriter, and music educator from New England. After studying cello and piano, he pursued composition and voice at the Hartt School, singing extensively in the choral ensembles and falling in love with choral composition. Building on a traditional harmonic backdrop, his use of dissonance places his music clearly in the 21st century, resulting in vibrant yet accessible choral works that masterfully paint text with music. With utmost attention given to the meaning, rhythm, and emphasis within the text, Craig crafts musical stories that capture the essence of the words with gracious musical lines and shimmering harmonies.
Craig holds a degree in composition, and has completed summer programs in choral conducting, choral pedagogy, and choral composition at Westminster Choir College and Oxford University. His concert works have been performed in the United States and Europe by high school, college, and adult choirs. A former church choir director, he has also composed and arranged anthems for worship. In addition to his degree in composition, he holds a three-year certificate in Biblical studies. His love for sacred music is born from a deep personal faith and study of biblical texts.
Currently living in the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts, Sandford is on the music faculty at the Northfield Mount Hermon School, where he teaches musicianship and arts appreciation, and accompanies for the choral, instrumental, and theater programs. Although he loves gardening, photography, kayaking, and world travel, his chief joy is spending time with his wife, Kate, and three children.
Frank Mihelich
Frank is the Artistic Director of New Threads Theatre Company. Frank has worked extensively as a director, actor, producer and writer in New York City, Southern California and regionally. Frank has served as a Producing Director for The Courtyard Shakespeare Festival and is a board member for (CITA) Christians in the Theatre Arts. Frank holds an MFA in Acting from Columbia University and formerly served as the performance professor in the theatre program at California Baptist University.
https://www.newthreadstheatreco.org/about
Amber Salladin – Worship Leader
Amber Salladin serves as the Arts and Ministry Director for the C.S. Lewis Foundation. She has over twenty years of experience as a conductor, church musician, worship leader, and educator in the US, Canada, and the UK. She serves as Music Director for Emmanuel Anglican Church in New York City, and and is Co-Artistic Director for Inspire: A Choir for Unity. She is also a music teacher at The Geneva School of Manhattan.
Amber holds a Bachelor of Music Education (B.M.E.) from Wheaton College and a Masters of Music in Conducting (M.M.) from the University of Southern California.
Milena Martínez
Milena Martínez is a Spanish pianist, currently based in New York City. She is the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship. In addition to providing career support, the scholarship advances Milena’s research into developing and implementing new concepts for presenting classical music to broad and diverse audiences. This project builds on her previous research concerning how priorities in the arts evolve over time and profoundly affect the way musicians interpret and disseminate music amid shifting social expectations.
She made her debut in 2022 at Madrid’s National Music Auditorium organized by the Scherzo Foundation. She has performed extensively through Europe, both as a soloist and with orchestras including the Symphonic Orchestra of Castile and Leon and the Sweelinck Baroque Orchestra. She has performed in music festivals such as the Taubman Festival, Mozarteum Summer Academy, Academy of Laussane, International Music Holland Sessions, Pres Jovem, among others.
Milena has recently obtained a postgraduate degree at the Manhattan School of Music under the tutelage of Dr. Wael Farouk. She previously studied at the Reina Sofía School of Music in Madrid (Spain), the Musik-Akademie Basel (Switzerland) and the Conservatory van Amsterdam (The Netherlands), where she has studied with Ana Guijarro, Galina Eguiazarova and David Kuyken. During this time, she received masterclasses from Ferenc Rados, Robert Levin, Claudio Martínez Mehner, Lang Lang, Boris Berman, Gordan Nikolic, Stephan Kovacevich, Dmitri Alexeev and Julian Martin, among others.
She received the first prize at the VI Teresa Llacuna International Competition (2010), the XXX Marisa Montiel International Competition (2011), XVI Pedro Bote (2013), IX Ciudad del Ejido International Competition (2009), and XIX Jacinto Guerrero International Competition (2010), and she received the second prize at the XV Infanta Cristina Loewe-Hazen Competition (2010).
In 2023 she received the Philip Kawin Scholarship, given to an outstanding piano student at the Manhattan School of Music, and joined the piano faculty at the Geneva School of Manhattan in New York City.
Session Leaders
Scott B. Key
Scott B. Key, Ph.D., is the Vice-President for Academic Initiatives for the C. S. Lewis Study Center in Northfield, MA. As an Emeritus Professor of Philosophy from California Baptist University, Scott seeks to assist young people, educators, and professionals to think deeply and carefully about their calling from the perspective of the Christian worldview. The Study Center encourages and equips those who desire to thoughtfully and winsomely address issues of faith and culture within their sphere of influence.
Recently retired as Professor of Philosophy in the School of Christian Ministries at California Baptist University, Scott helped establish and run the CBU Honors Program, and, previously, the 4-year Great Works Bachelor’s Degree Program. In addition, Scott is one of the founding faculty of the seven-year program entitled, Seminar on Faith and the Academic Professions (SOFAP), strategically designed to assist the 35-40 new tenure-track faculty each year to think deeply and carefully about their teaching, research, and service from the perspective of the Christian worldview.
His publications include the following chapter contributions: “Metaphors of Meaning: The Dance of Truth and Imagination in That Hideous Stength” in Contemporary Perspectives on C.S. Lewis’ The Abolition of Man, (Mosteller & Anacker, eds., 2017) and “The Moral Aesthetic of Perelandra” in C.S. Lewis and the Arts: Creativity in the Shadowlands” (Miller, ed., 2013). A three volume set of essays is also available: Tolkien and Power: Laughter as Subversive; The Wisdom of Innocence: On C.S. Lewis’ Perelandra; and Dr. Cornelius and the Call of Virtuous Learning. His current research manuscript in preparation is entitled, “Truth in the Balance: A Literary and Philosophical Analysis of the Gospel of Mark.” His research areas include the history of philosophy, 20th Century Philosophy, Aesthetics, Ethics, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien.
https://greenpasturesstudycenter.org/personnel/board-of-trustees/
Sørina Higgins
Sørina Higgins is an editor, writer, English teacher, and scholar of British modernist literature. Dr. Higgins earned her PhD in 2021 at Baylor University in Waco, TX, where she studied the role of ceremonial magic in modernist theatre. In 2022, she founded the Signum University Press and worked as its first Editor-in-Chief. She has taught courses in literature, creative writing, and academic writing for over two decades in a variety of settings.
Dr. Higgins is currently writing The Oddest Inkling: An Introduction to Charles Williams, due out in 2024 from Apocryphile Press, and From Thaumaturgy to Dramaturgy: Staging Occult Modernism. She previously edited an academic essay collection entitled The Inklings and King Arthur. She is also the author of the blog The Oddest Inkling, devoted to a systematic study of Charles Williams’ works.
As a creative writer, Sørina is currently revising a volume of short stories, Shall these Bones Breathe? She previously published two books of poetry, Caduceus & The Significance of Swans.
Sørina and her Irish husband are the stewards of Avondale Homestead in upstate New York, where they wrangle a brace of cats and a chattering of chickens.
Mary Pomroy Key
Mary Pomroy Key, Ph.D., earned both her Bachelor of Science in Psychology and her Master of Science in Counseling Psychology degrees from California Baptist University. She earned a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology with a specialty in College Student Development through the School of Education at the University of Southern California.
Dr. Key has served California Baptist University as a faculty member teaching in the Psychology, Education and Literature departments and in the Counseling Graduate Program. She has held positions as Counseling Center Director, Director of Women’s Housing, and Career Services Director. She is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, was in private practice for several years, and conducted seminars in organizational consulting.
Mary is co-author, along with Carolyn Curtis, of Women and C.S. Lewis: What His Life and Literature Reveal for Today’s Culture. Mary and Carolyn began their collaboration after meeting at one of the C.S. Lewis Foundation’s Writer’s Retreats at Camp Allen, TX.
Mary has held the position of Executive Director (now President) of the C.S. Lewis Study Center since 2013 through its many transitions. She enjoys searching out mementos and stories related to the history of the home, “Green Pastures,” which houses the Study Center. Northfield is the perfect place for her to pursue her hobbies of photography, antiquing and historical research.
https://greenpasturesstudycenter.org/personnel/board-of-trustees/
Karl Johnson
Prior to becoming Executive Director of the Consortium of Christian Study Centers in 2021, Dr. Johnson served as Founder of Chesterton House at Cornell, which opened its doors in 2001. As Director of Chesterton House, the Christian Study Center at Cornell University, Dr. Johnson and his staff developed a robust ministry to the entire Correll University community. Student leaders were discipled, faculty and staff engaged in serious conversations about faith and culture, and Chesterton House offered unique and compelling programs to engage the University community. Currently, as Executive Director of the Consortium of Christian Study Centers, he is providing leadership and guidance to the growing Study Center Movement. He received his bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD degree from Cornell University.
Paul Sorrentino
Rev. Dr. Paul Sorrentino served as Director of Religious & Spiritual Life at Amherst from 2000-2018 and was the Protestant Chaplain and Multifaith Council Advisor. He previously served as InterVarsity Christian Fellowship staff for many years and was a crisis counselor and family therapist. He holds a B.A. from the University of Rhode Island; an M.A. from the University of Chicago; an M.Div. from Bethel Seminary of the East; and a D.Min. in religious pluralism from Princeton Theological Seminary. He is ordained with the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference (4Cs). He is the author of Religious Pluralism: What Do College Students Think? and A Transforming Vision: Multiethnic Fellowship in college and in the Church. He has been married to his wife Karen for 48 years. They have two adult children and five grandchildren.
Kirk Manton
Kirk Manton is the founder and president of Catalyst C & F Development LLC and the non-profit tech arts ministry, The Guild Fellowship. Catalyst is dedicated to developing collaborative and fundraising opportunities for its seven client organizations: The C.S. Lewis Foundation, The C.S. Lewis Study Centers at Northfield Mass., “The Kilns” in Oxford, The C.S. Lewis College, Eastgate Creative, and The Guild Fellowship.
Kirk Manton’s passion is seeing the gifts that God has given each person creatively nurtured and expressed to the world for His glory and the expansion of His kingdom.
Kirk earned a B.A. in Religious Studies from the Union Institute and advanced degrees in personal spiritual formation and career development from the School of Hard Knocks, on campuses in Southern California, West Texas, and Northeast Ohio. His areas of study and life experiences include Youth Pastor, corporate live event management, small business management, film production lighting design, larger church event production, and film studio operations.
His creativity is mainly expressed in writing poetry. Kirk has published two books, The Grace of Rain, a poetry devotional, and, Listening Like Breathing, a photography/poetry book that won the 2018 Texas Authors Association poetry book of the year.
Kirk lives in Tallmadge, Ohio, is married to Rachelle, and has four children and four grandchildren.
(Image courtesy of Lancia E. Smith)
Academic Roundtable Leaders
Dr. Gayne J. Anacker
Gayne John Anacker is Senior Fellow of the C.S. Lewis Study Center, Northfield, MA. He was the Professor of Philosophy, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and Director of the University Honors Program at California Baptist University (CBU) for 15 years. He continues as a member of the C.S. Lewis Foundation Board of Trustees (29 years, so far), and for 22 years he was its Vice President for Academic Affairs.
Mr. Anacker started his teaching career as Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Orange Coast College, Costa Mesa, CA for 18 years. During those years, on leave of absence, he was Founding President of Community Christian College, Redlands, California.
Mr. Anacker speaks and writes on C.S. Lewis, truth and rationality, virtue ethics, and Christian worldview. With his CBU Philosophy colleague Dr. Timothy Mosteller, he is co-editor of Contemporary Perspectives on C.S. Lewis’ ‘The Abolition of Man’: Essays in History, Philosophy, Education and Science (Bloomsbury Academic).
Mr. Anacker’s Philosophy degrees are the B.A. from Westmont College, the M.A. from Washington State University, and the Ph.D. from the University of California, Irvine. He also holds the Master of Theological Studies in historical and systematic theology from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, South Hamilton, MA.
(Image courtesy of Lancia E. Smith)
Dr. Christopher Howell
Christopher Howell teaches on religion and has taught a course on C.S. Lewis at Duke University for the Religion Department. As a teacher, he has also taught undergraduate classes at Duke as well as English foreign language courses in Prague, Czech Republic.
He has also worked side jobs in video game development and sports radio. He has worked with the C.S. Lewis Foundation since 2010, filling various roles as Communications Associate, conference staffer, registrar, and event planner, and has worked conferences in England, Massachusetts, and California.
He has a Ph.D. American Religion (dissertation on the history of religion and science) from Duke University, a Master’s in Theological Studies from Duke Divinity School and a Bachelor’s in American history from the University of California, Riverside.
Conference Organizers
Steven Elmore
Joshua George
Mary Pomroy Key
Scott B. Key
* Program schedule, program elements, and speaker/artist lineup is subject to change.