CFPs for Sponsored Sessions of the American Cusanus Society at the 51st International Congress on Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo, MI, May 12-15, 2016

The American Cusanus Society will sponsor two sessions at Western Michigan University’s 51st International Congress on Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo, May 12-15, 2016.  We welcome proposals for the sessions below.  Please send the title of your proposed paper and a brief abstract to Donald Duclow (donduclow@earthlink.net) no later than Saturday, August  15, 2015.

1. Apocalypticism in the Age of Cusanus: In Memory of Louis B. Pascoe, S.J.

The fifteenth century was an era of rampant apocalyptic speculation in medieval Europe: from papal schism to Muslim invasion to efforts at ecumenical reconciliation, many events were taken as signs of the End Times, and many earlier apocalyptic schemes revised to fit current situations.  Nicholas of Cusa found time amidst philosophy, humanism, comparative religion, and church reform to pen a brief tract, Conjecture about the Last Days, in which he strove to read contemporary history through the narrative of Christ’s life on earth. This session is open to explorations of Cusanus’ eschatology and its relationship to his better-known intellectual endeavors, but we also welcome new perspectives on other apocalyptic thinkers of the fifteenth century. This panel is dedicated to Louis B. Pascoe, S.J., our friend and colleague who died April 27, 2015.

2. Nicholas of Cusa’s Theology of the Word

Cusanus's idea of verbum has elements that draw from Neoplatonism, Aristotelianism, Rhineland mysticism (including Eckhart), and from the new philology of Renaissance humanism. It is at once a philosophy of language and a theological conception of the Verbum creans. Besides attempting his own synthesis of these varied strands, Cusanus sought to grasp the meaning of the proclaimed Word both in his philosophical speculations as well as in several of the sermons that deal explicitly with the exegetical and theological problem of communicating a divine word to a mixed human audience. This session will focus on the multi-facetted concept of verbum in Cusanus, a topic that has a particularly lively history of reception in European, U.S., and Latin American philosophy and theology from the middle of the twentieth century to the present.   

CFP for American Cusanus Society sessions at Renaissance Soceity of America Conference in Boston, March 31st-April 2nd, 2016

The American Cusanus Society (ACS) will sponsor several panels at the 2016 annual meeting of the RSA in Boston (March 31st-April 2nd, 2016). We welcome interested scholars to propose papers on any theme relevant to Cusanus studies. To propose a paper, please submit a paper title, paper abstract (150 words), and brief CV to David Albertson (dalberts@usc.edu) by Monday, May 18th.

Papers will be limited to 20 minutes in length and should be delivered in English. Members of the ACS Executive Committee will organize two or more panels based on the submitted proposals, but may not be able to accommodate every submission. Note that in order to present a paper at RSA one must pay for an RSA membership for the conference year in question. Contributors to ACS panels at the RSA are also asked to  become members of the American Cusanus Society for the year in question (see http://www.americancusanussociety.org/membership/).

Please circulate this CFP widely to other individuals and groups that might be interested.

2015 American Cusanus Society Banquet at Martell's Restaurant, Kalamazoo, MI, Thursday, May 14, 7 PM

Dear Friends,

We cordially invite you to attend the annual banquet of the American Cusanus Society at Martell’s Restaurant in Kalamazoo on Thursday, May 14, at 7:00 p.m. (the address is 3501 Greenleaf Blvd; Kalamazoo, MI 49008 -- see map below).

As in years past, we expect to enjoy good food and lively conversation. We look forward to seeing you. After the feast, our friend and President David Albertson will speak on a topic well suited to the occasion:  “Venatio sapientiae: Cusanus and Recent French Philosophy.”

$30.00

Please purchase banquet tickets using the link to the right before April 17 (note: if you will be purchasing more than one ticket you should to add them to your shopping cart one at a time so that you can select the entrée for each dinner). Dinner includes coffee/tea and dessert.  Like last year, we shall have a cash bar.

Sincerely,

Don Duclow, ACS Vice President

(Click here for a description of ACS events at the 50th International Medieval Congress.)

 

Flyer for American Cusanus Society Events at 50th International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, MI, May 14-17

Events include:

• Sponsored lecture by Professor Jean-Luc Marion on "The Meaning of the Icon in Nicholas of Cusa"
• Panel of papers on the theme of "Cusanus and the Hussites"
• Panel of papers on the theme of "Selfhood in Nicholas of Cusa’s De visione dei"
• Business meeting of the American Cusanus Society

See flyer for details - click here for downloadable PDF.

Click here for information about the annual ACS Banquet in Kalamazoo.

CFP for SMRP session(s) at the 2015 American Catholic Philosophical Association Meeting

The Program Committee of the Society for Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy invites proposals for papers, sessions and roundtables sponsored by SMRP at the 2015 annual meeting of the American Catholic Philosophical Association October 8-10, 2015 in Boston, MA. The theme of this year’s meeting is “Analyzing Catholic Philosophy.” More about the theme can be found at http://www.acpaweb.org/meetings/42/2015. The Program Committee welcomes submissions that relate to the conference theme, as well as submissions on any area of medieval or Renaissance philosophy. If proposing a paper, please submit the following information: (1) author name and affiliation; (2) paper title; (3) an abstract of no more than 500 words. If proposing a session please include the aforementioned information for all presenters as well as a title for the session and the name and affiliation of the proposed session chair.

Please send all submissions electronically to Gloria Frost at gfrost@stthomas.edu. The deadline for submissions is May 1.

CFP for Society for Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy Founder's Prize

The Society for Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy (SMRP) awards an annual prize of $500 for the best paper on Medieval or Renaissance philosophy by a younger scholar. Graduate students and recent PhDs (within the last five years) should submit paper to the Chair of the SMRP Program Committee.

The award recipient will be invited to present his or her research at an SMRP session at the APA Eastern Division Conference in December of the year of the competition and may apply for up to $500 to assist with travel expenses.

The prize will be officially conferred at the annual business meeting of the SMRP at the APA Eastern Division meeting.

Submissions may include:
- The actual text of a lecture delivered or to be delivered within the last year (though short, informal talks are not suitable)
- Unpublished Essays
- Articles or chapters submitted for publication or forthcoming but not yet in print.

Entries should be submitted to the program chair no later than than April 1.

Program Chair:

Bonnie Kent, Professor
Department of Philosopshy
85 Humanities Instructional Building
University of California, Irvine
Irvine, CA 92697-4555
bkent@uci.edu

The 2013 award winner was Thomas Ward, Loyola Marymount University, for his paper "Animals, Animal Parts, and Hylomorphism: John Duns Scotus's Pluralism about Substantial Form". No prize was awarded in 2014.