Note: this option is for academics and scholars who wish to present a paper at the event as their afternoon session option. It is not required for general attendees of the Summer Institute.
Call for Papers
Returning Home: C.S. Lewis, Roots, and Transformation
In Gene Wolfe’s The Book of the New Sun, the protagonist Severian observes that, “Of all the good things in the world, the only ones humanity can claim for itself are stories and music; the rest, mercy, beauty, sleep, clean water and hot food…are all the work of [God]. Thus, stories are small things indeed in the scheme of the universe, but it is hard not to love best what is our own—hard for me, at least.”
Individually and societally, we are defined by the stories we tell ourselves—about our identities, the events and struggles of our lives, or the social structures that guide, shape, and ease those lives. C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien understood the power and need for storytelling—to communicate ideas, to stimulate the imagination, and to imitate the creative act of God. We tell stories because it is in our nature.
One of the most central, archetypal stories that we tell is the story of the Journey. In it, a protagonist ventures out into the unknown, faces hardships and growth, finds companions along the way, and returns with a boon to society. The questions posed by Journey narratives are among the most important for us to consider. What is the Good Life? How do we deal with pain and suffering? How does someone grow in wisdom and strength? What does good friendship look like? What is our purpose? What should be our goals in life? Which version(s) of the story are real, true, meaningful? Are objective truth and narrative meaning mutually supportive or exclusive?
The 2025 C.S. Lewis Summer Institute will address these questions while examining the concept of the Journey as a whole, along with its constitutive elements.
Our contemporary world is full of competing versions about what the Journey of life should look like. Media, science, industry, faith, and politics all offer their own narratives. Politicians win or lose based on what stories their followers tell themselves. Tribalistic groups form around and thrive by retelling their stories. Religions and philosophies give meaning and purpose by shaping their adherents’ individual life experiences into a powerful form of story called the testimony. And our technologies advance such stories and counter-stories at dizzying speeds. With the advent of AI, some of our stories may even be generated by machines without direct human composition.
The CSL Summer Institute Academic Roundtable will explore these topics from a variety of academic disciplines. Scholars from all disciplines are invited to submit papers that will explore the idea of the Journey as an active and potent narrative in which we can find shared meaning, purpose, and unity in an increasingly fractured world.
The Academic Roundtable and the Summer Institute
Academics are invited to apply for participation in the Academic Roundtable, a program element of the 2025 C.S. Lewis “Belfast” Summer Institute.
The Institute will take place in the city of Belfast, Ireland, from 24 July – 30 July, 2025. The theme of the conference is “Returning Home: C.S. Lewis, Roots, & Transformation”
The Institute will feature two plenary speakers each morning, followed by afternoon seminars, workshops, and the Academic Roundtable. Each evening will be devoted to a rich menu of artistic events: theatre, a modern dance program, choral and orchestral music. Finally, Christian worship is a prominent feature of the Summer Institute.
The Academic Roundtable, part of the 2025 CSL Summer Institute, will be a community of scholarly engagement which will occur during three afternoons of the conference as one of the afternoon seminar options. Faculty from diverse disciplines will share their papers with each other, offering insights and critical comments from their respective vantage points.
Note: the Academic Roundtable will be the only breakout session for the roundtable participants.
Details
All paper proposals submitted for selection must engage the theme the conference, but may do so from any disciplinary or interdisciplinary perspective. Papers coming from the domain of C.S. Lewis or “Inklings” studies also are welcome. Papers reflective of the tradition of Christian engagement of the culture or the academy will be especially welcome.
Paper presentations must not exceed 20 minutes. Please submit by email, as attached Microsoft Word documents or PDFs the following: [a] a 300 word abstract detailing the paper, clearly describing the paper’s relationship to the Summer Institute theme, and [b] a 2-page CV, including complete contact information. Acknowledgement will be made by email.
Deadline for proposal submission: February 15, 2025
Faculty whose paper proposals are accepted will be expected to attend the entirety of the Summer Institute and participate in all scheduled sessions of the Academic Roundtable.
For more information, please visit the conference website at www.cslewis.org/programs/si.
Contact: Chris Howell, Ph.D., Academic Director, C.S. Lewis Foundation
selmore@cslewis.org | www.cslewis.org/roundtable
Note: some scholarship funding is available to participants of the Academic Roundtable. Please visit our registration page for more information.
Chris 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 CS 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.
