Friday, November 1:
Pre-Conference Session One: 2:00 – 3:00 PM, Sørina Higgins, PhD
- Room 904-08 “The Inklings and King Arthur”
Description: C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and Charles Williams participated regularly in a group of writers known as The Inklings. Up to nineteen men met nearly weekly for seventeen years to read, listen to, and critique each other’s writing. An interesting feature of some works of literature that were encouraged by this group was a keen interest in the King Arthur cycle of stories. We will explore why the stories of King Arthur often serve as a source of inspiration for Lewis, Tolkien, Williams, and others among the Inklings. We will also ask, why do we find the stories of King Arthur so captivating even in our day?
Pre-Conference Session Two: 3:30 – 4:30 PM, Sørina Higgins, PhD
- Room 904-08 “Lewis, the Inklings, and the Longing for Beauty”
Description: This session is a great introduction to the underlying theme and direction of the Conference. For Lewis and the Inklings, Beauty was a central theme of their journeys. Dr. Higgins will introduce Lewis and the Inklings and then, begin to explore how their lives and writings were inspired by a longing for beauty. This session is designed to be a way to encourage us to begin to allow our imagination and our reason to enter into a dialogue with life changing implications.
Saturday, November 2
Breakout Sessions: 1:00 – 2:00
- Room 165: “The Inklings and King Arthur” led by Sørina Higgins, PhD
- Description: C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and Charles Williams participated regularly in a group of writers known as The Inklings. Up to nineteen men met nearly weekly for seventeen years to read, listen to, and critique each other’s writing. An interesting feature of some works of literature that were encouraged by this group was a keen interest in the King Arthur cycle of stories. We will explore why the stories of King Arthur often serve as a source of inspiration for Lewis, Tolkien, Williams, and others among the Inklings. We will also ask, why do we find the stories of King Arthur so captivating even in our day?
- Room 162: “A Gathering of Five-College Faculty, Administrators, and Adjuncts” led by Dr. Scott B. Key and Dr. Jim Hartley
- Description: As a person immersed in the complex world of the Five Colleges, have you ever longed for quiet time to ponder questions about meaning and purpose? Have you ever ached for deeper friendships among colleagues? Do you ever wonder what it would be like to have friendships with other like-minded people outside of your discipline, or area of responsibility? The nurturing of these deep concerns and relationships can often begin with a simple conversation. This session aims to provide a welcoming place, a place of “intellectual hospitality.” Come and meet colleagues and new friends. Be open to the surprise of a gracious conversation. We invite you to imagine a different possibility of cross-disciplinary collaboration and support.
- Room 168: “What is the Significance of Ministry on a College Campus?” led by Dr. Paul Sorrentino
- Description: This session is for both seasoned campus ministers and those curious about how they might become involved in campus ministry. Working with students in this capacity is both a challenging and rewarding process, but it is not always easy. Have you ever wondered what campus ministry is like? Or what is happening on the campuses in this area? How can various ministries find ways to collaborate? Is there a place for me here? If you have asked any of these questions, then come and learn about the vital importance of Campus Ministry in the Five College area. This session could open a door into something new and exciting!
- Room 163: “Filming Past the Watchful Dragons: Christian Films or Films by Christians?” led by Ralph Linhardt and Kirk Manton
- Description: “The Forge of Friendship” is an exciting new documentary that tracks the friendship between C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. We’ll view a portion of the six-part series and discuss with the cinematographer the process of building a historically accurate and visually captivating documentary. The Guild Fellowship is a nationwide collaborative group of tech arts folks interested in growing in Christian Character, Community, and Craft. If you participate in any form of tech arts, Kirk Manton would like to welcome you into this purposeful, creative community.
Break: 2:00 – 2:15
Breakout Sessions: 2:15 – 3:15
- Room 165: “C. S. Lewis and the Longing for ‘Joy’” led by Sørina Higgins
- Description: Throughout his life, Lewis often felt flashes of a mysterious feeling that he found hard to describe and identify. When he studied the Romantic poets, he tried using their German word Sehnsucht, which might translate “longing” or “yearning.” After his conversion, he gave it religious terms, like “the heraldry of heaven” and “signposts to God.” Finally, he sort of settled on the word “Joy,” but made clear it was not your ordinary everyday kind of joyful happiness, pleasure, or gladness. No, it is “an unsatisfied desire which is itself more desirable than any other satisfaction,” as he writes in Surprised by Joy, which is all about his experience of this feeling. In this discussion, we will talk about what this feeling is, whether we have ever had it, why Lewis thought it was a signpost to God, how other writers have described it, and why it is of central importance to Lewis’s writings overall.
- Room 162 “Didache: A Gathering of Day and Prep School Teachers” led by Brad Davis
- Description: This breakout session will consider beauty, private school education, and how to reaffirm and/or effect the beautiful in our schools. An outcome of the session will be the launch of a new strategy for encouraging connection and fellowship among believers employed in the private school world. This strategy – called The Simeon Society – will have the C. S. Lewis Study Center in Northfield as its home base where future discussion, planning, and events will occur.
- Room 168C: “An Introduction to the Study Center Movement” led by Dr. Mary Pomroy Key and Dr. Karl Johnson
- Description: Exciting things are happening all across America within the Christian Study Center Movement. What is a Study Center? How do Study Centers come alongside existing campus ministries, faculty, and administrators? How do Study Centers address the long-term needs of the whole campus community? Why is this a new expression of how to learn to think “Christianly” about everything? This session will introduce you to the Study Center Movement, the Consortium of Christian Study Centers and the C.S. Lewis Study Center located in Northfield, MA.