Since 1986, the American Cusanus Society, in cooperation with the International Seminar on Pre-Reformation Theology of the United Lutheran Seminary (formerly the Gettysburg Lutheran Seminary), has hosted regular (generally biennial) conferences on Nicholas of Cusa and his milieu.


THE Nineteenth BIENNIAL CONFERENCE OF THE AMERICAN CUSANUS SOCIETY AND THE INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR ON PRE-REFORMATION THEOLOGY (2023)

For a downloadable, searchable schedule of our 2023 Gettysburg conference, please click here.

29 September to 1 October, 2023

[In-person with hybrid options]

*Fortieth Anniversary of the American Cusanus Society*

 War and Peace in the Late Middle Ages


Pre-Conference Lecture:

Jill Ogline Titus, Civil War Institute

Presented by the Seminary Ridge Museum & Education Center
and the American Cusanus Society



Plenary Lectures:

Anne Marie Wolf, University of Maine-Farmington

Phillip Stump, Lynchburg University




Banquet Program:

Cormorants Fancy, Irish-Scottish Band




Conference Theme

The American Cusanus Society, continuing its longstanding partnership with United Lutheran Seminary, will hold its nineteenth biennial conference in Gettysburg PA on Friday, 29 September to Sunday, 1 October 2023. Our focus will be on war, peace, and religious violence during the long late Middle Ages in Europe and the Middle East. While we will look closely at the life and works of Nicholas of Cusa (1401-1464), we will also consider major events before, during, and after his career. Our goal is to reevaluate options and actions for war and peace during this crucible moment in history with an eye, as always, toward historical lessons for the contemporary world.




Thursday, September 28 (for early arrivals) 




4:30 p.m. Social Hour                                                                 Singmaster Center




5:00 p.m. Dinner (on our own)                                                   Appalachian Brewing Company




6:00 p.m. Museum Open House (no fee)




7:30 p.m. Pre-Conference Presentation                                      Valentine Auditorium

Chair: Peter Miele, Executive Director, Seminary Ridge Museum and Education Center

Greeting: Teresa Smallwood, United Lutheran Seminary

“A New Birth of Freedom?: Civil Rights and Black History in 20th Century Gettysburg”                                                                                        
Jill Ogline Titus, Civil War Institute, Gettysburg College

Co-Sponsored by the American Cusanus Society                                                                                    
and the Seminary Ridge Museum and Education Center




Friday, September 29




8:30 a.m. Continental Breakfast                                             Singmaster Center/Hotel




10:30 a.m. Optional: Battlefield Tour                                     Valentine Hall Commons

Seminary Ridge Museum (fee)           




12:15 p.m. Lunch                                                                    Refectory




1:00 p.m. Registration and Refreshments                              Valentine Commons




3:00 p.m. Plenary. The Kyomi Koizumi Watanabe Lecture   Valentine Auditorium

Greeting: Maria Erling, United Lutheran Seminary

Introduction to the Conference Theme

Christopher Bellitto, Kean University

“Learning about Peace from the Middle Ages: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Insights”

Anne Marie Wolf, University of Maine-Farmington




5:00 p.m. Social Hour                                                                         Pioneer Room, Library

Hosted by Cody Swisher and Victoria Jesswine, Keepers of the Collection

Featuring New Additions to the Bond-Watanabe Collection




6:00 p.m. Dinner                                                                                 Refectory




7:45 p.m. Plenary: Morimichi Watanabe Lecture                              Valentine Auditorium

“The Intersection of Peace and Unity at the Council of Constance and Beyond”

Phillip Stump, Lynchburg University




9:00 p.m. Social Hour                                                                         Singmaster Center




Saturday, September 30




7:30 a.m. Breakfast                                                                             Singmaster Center/Hotel




9:00 a.m. Paper Panel I                                                                       Library Lecture Room 

Chair: Andrew LaZella, University of Scranton

 “Nicholas of Cusa: Just War Ideas in His Later Years”

        Marco Brösch, Institut für Cusanus-Forschung

“Nicholas of Cusa’s Theological and Philosophical Syncretism. On the Origins of the Modern Idea of Peace.” (virtual)

Valentina Zaffino, Pontifical Lateran University

“Cusanus as Peacekeeper and Warlord in Rome and The Papal States, 1459-1460”

         Thomas Woelki, Humboldt-Universität




10:30 a.m. Coffee Break                                                                                         Rotunda




10:45 a.m. Workshop on Texts I                                                       Library Lecture Room

Chair: Samuel J. Dubbelman, Lutheran Theological Seminary, Hong Kong

Readings:

Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri, Reliance of the Traveller: A Classic Manual of Sacred Islamic Law, trans. Nuh Ha Mim Keller (Beltsville MD: Amana Publications, 1997), 599-609.

Christine de Pizan, selections from The Book of Deeds of Arms and of Chivalry, trans Sumner Willard, ed. Charity Cannon Willard (University Park: Penn State University Press, 1990): I.1-5; III.7, 18, 21-24: mostly dealing with non-combatants and ius in bello.

Régine Pernoud and Marie Véronique Clin, Joan of Arc: Her Story, trans. Jeremy duQuesnay Adams (NY: St. Martin’s Press, 1998): especially letters to the English, Philip the Good, and Reims.




12:15 p.m. Lunch




1:15 p.m. Paper Panel II

“The Wars of the Great Western Schism (1378-1417). Peace-Making and the Dinner Table.”                 

Joëlle Rollo-Koster, University of Rhode Island

“Strategies of Social Persuasion against Hussitism. The Case of Peter of Pirchenwart in Vienna.” 

Matteo Esu, Institut de Recherche et d’Histoire des Textes, Paris

“Pius II, Nicholas of Cusa, and the Crusade to Retake Constantinople and Jerusalem” (virtual)

Nathan Ron, Haifa University




3:00 p.m. Free Time

Battlefield Tour

Tour of the Seminary Ridge Museum and Education Center (fee)

“The Future of Cusanus Studies: an Open-Invitation Virtual Roundtable”
Hosted by Sean Hannan, MacEwan University




4:30 p.m. ACS Business Meeting                                                                     Singmaster Center




6:00 p.m. Reception                                                                                                 Lewars House




7:30 p.m. Candlelight Banquet                                                                                        Refectory

               Grace: Rabbi Brooks Susman

               Christopher Bellitto, Remembering John O’Malley

               Toasts: The American Cusanus Society at Forty

               Entertainment: Cormorants Fancy, Irish-Scottish Band




Sunday, October 1




7:00 a.m. Mass




7:30 a.m. Continental Breakfast                                                        Singmaster Center/Hotel




8:00 a.m. Ecumenical Service                                                           Chapel

Sermon by Nicholas of Cusa

Remembrance of Those Who Have Departed Since 2021




9:15 a.m. Paper Panel III                                                                   Library Lecture Room

“Cardinalis, qui Polonos odisset: Nicholas of Cusa’s Learned Ignorance on Poland”

Rafał Wilkołek, Pontifical University of John Paul II, Krakow

“Nicholas of Cusa and the Delegitimation of Religious Violence” (virtual)

Markus Riedenauer, Katholische Universität Eichstätt-Ingolstadt

“From Mysticism to Reformation to Political Theology: Nicholas of Cusa and Martin Luther on Ecclesiastical Purity and Political Peace”

Nathan Pederson, Fordham University




10:30 a.m. Coffee Break                                                                                   Rotunda




10:45 a.m. Workshop on Texts II:

Capstone Conversation: “Whither Just War?”

Facilitators: Christopher Bellitto, Kean University; D. Zachariah Flanagin, Saint Mary’s College of California

Readings:

An Appeal to the Catholic Church to Re-Commit to the Centrality of Gospel Nonviolence: April, 2016.

Mark J. Allman and Tobias Winwright. “Protect Thy Neighbor: Why Just-War Tradition is Still Indispensable.” Commonweal, June 2, 2016: a critique of the Appeal.

Lisa Sowle Cahill, “A Church for Peace?” Commonweal, July 11, 2016: a Critique of the Critique.




12:15 p.m. Close of the Conference




12:30 p.m. Departures Begin

* * * *

Program committee: Christopher Bellitto and Anne Marie Wolf, co-chairs; Thomas Izbicki

Arrangements Committee: Vincent Evener, chair; Gerald Christianson

Registrar: Andrew Taminger, Hannah Tonn 

**Thank you for thirty-seven years of collegial dialogue and productive scholarship.**

* * * ** * * ** * * ** * * ** * * ** * * ** * * ** * * ** * * ** * * ** * * *





THE EIGHTEENTH BIENNIAL CONFERENCE OF THE AMERICAN CUSANUS SOCIETY AND THE INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR ON PRE-REFORMATION THEOLOGY (2021)

For a downloadable, searchable schedule of our 2021 Gettysburg conference, please click here.

Below, you’ll find a series of screenshots & some linked text outlining the conference program itself.

Screen Shot 2021-09-15 at 4.48.05 PM.png

Plenary Lectures

Clyde Lee Miller, Stony Brook University (SUNY)

Valery Rees, School of Philosophy & Economic Science, London

Pre-Conference Presentation

Christopher Bellitto, Kean University

Banquet Program

Tribute to Donald Duclow, Gwynedd Mercy University
with Performances of Selections from ‘The American Songbook’

Screen Shot 2021-09-15 at 4.50.54 PM.png

Thursday, Sept. 23

4:00 p.m. Social Hour at the Singmaster Center


5:30 p.m. Dinner at the Appalachian Brewing Co.


7:30 p.m. Public Lecture in the Valentine Auditorium

Session Chair: Vincent Evener, United Lutheran Seminary

Greeting: Guy Erwin, President, United Lutheran Seminary

“Pope Benedict XVI’s Resignation & Post-Papacy: Medieval Lessons for Next Time”
Christopher Bellitto, Kean University


Friday, Sept. 24

8:00 a.m. Continental Breakfast at the Singmaster Center


10:30 a.m. Battlefield Tour or Museum Visit


12:00 p.m. Lunch in the Refectory


1:00 p.m. Registration & Refreshments in the Valentine Commons


3:00 p.m. Plenary Lecture I: the Kiyomi Koizumi Watanabe Lecture

Library Lecture Room

Session Chair: Vincent Evener, United Lutheran Seminary

Welcome: Guy Erwin, President, United Lutheran Seminary

Introduction: Joshua Hollmann, Concordia University, St. Paul

“Pilgrimage and Seeing the Icon in De visione Dei
Clyde Lee Miller, Stony Brook University (SUNY)

4:30 p.m. Social Hour in the Pioneer Room, Library

Host: Evan Boyd, Librarian, United Lutheran Seminary

Presentation of Recent Acquisitions, Bond-Watanabe Collection


6:00 p.m. Dinner in the Refectory

7:45 p.m. Paper Session I: Deleuze in the Wake of Nicholas of Cusa

Library Lecture Room

Session Chair: Jeremiah Hackett, University of South Carolina

“Genealogy of the Fold: Deleuze & Renaissance Platonism”
David Albertson, University of Southern California


9:00 p.m. Social Hour at the Singmaster Center

Saturday, Sept. 25

7:30 a.m. Breakfast at the Singmaster Center


9:00 a.m. Plenary Lecture II: the Morimichi Watanabe Lecture

Valentine Auditorium

Session Chair: Jason Aleksander, San José State University

“Reflected Light: the Pervasive Influence of Dionysius between Florence & Germanic Lands in the Later Fifteenth Century”
Valery Rees, School of Philosophy & Economic Science, London


10:30 a.m. Coffee Break in the Library Rotunda


10:45 a.m. Paper Session II: Cusan Contemporaries

Library Lecture Room

Session Chair: William Collinge, Mount St. Mary’s University

“Jean Gerson’s Annotatio & the Contours of Mystical Theology”
Sam Dubbelman, Boston University

“Vincent of Aggsbach’s Attack on Jean Gerson”
Thomas Izbicki, Rutgers University

“Vincent of Aggsbach as Letter Writer: Themes, Objectives, & Communicative Strategies”
Thomas Woelki, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin


12:15 p.m. Lunch


1:15 p.m. Working Session I: “Desire and Love in Cusanus’ Mystical Theology”

Library Lecture Room

Session Chair: Richard Hunter, Gwynedd Mercy University

Donald Duclow, Gwynedd Mercy University

Bernard McGinn, University of Chicago

Paula Pico Estrada, Universidad del Salvador

Readings: Bernard McGinn, Harvest of Mysticism, 448-456;
Paula Pico Estrada, “From Affectus to Caritas,”
American Cusanus Society Newsletter 33 (2016), 15-21;
Donald Duclow, “
Intellect & Mystical Theology in Nicholas of Cusa,” 321-325.


3:00 p.m. Battlefield Tour with Colonel Izbicki of the Bernkastel Battalion, Museum Visit,
or Virtual Roundtable on the ‘Future of Cusanus Studies’ hosted by
Sean Hannan, MacEwan University


4:30 p.m. ACS Business Meeting in the Singmaster Center


6:00 p.m. Reception hosted by Guy Erwin, President, United Lutheran Seminary, in the Lewars House


7:15 p.m. Candlelight Banquet & Tribute to Donald Duclow in the Refectory

Master of Ceremonies: Gerald Christianson, United Lutheran Seminary

“The American Songbook”
Wayne Hill, baritone
Susan Homiller, soprano
Michael Matsinko, pianist


9:00 p.m. Social Hour in the Singmaster Center


SUNDAY, SEPT. 26

7:00 a.m. Mass at St. Francis Xavier


7:30 a.m. Breakfast at the Singmaster Center


8:15 a.m. Ecumenical Service in the Chapel


9:15 a.m. Paper Session III: Cusan Themes

Session Chair: Christopher Bellitto, Kean University

“Form, Space, and a Symbolism of Color: Transformations through Cusan Perspectivism”
Nathan Pederson, Loyola University of Chicago

“Incorruptible Time: Cusanus on the Perfection of Time in the Intellect”
Elizabeth Brient, University of Georgia

“Nicholas of Cusa’s Theory of the Peace of Religions Based on His De visione Dei & De pace fidei
Pooya Heybatollahi, Independent Scholar, Iran


10:30 a.m. Coffee Break


10:45 a.m. Working Session II: Selected Primary Sources

Session Chairs: Jason Aleksander, San José State University; Maarten Halff, Independent Scholar

Readings: Eckhart, Sermons 32b & 43; Nicholas of Cusa, Sermon 285; Hadewijch, Vision VII;
Marguerite Porete, Mirror of Simple Souls, Ch. 58-80; Hildegard of Bingen, Selections from Scivias.


12:15 p.m. Closure of Conference


The Program Committee for the 2021 Gettysburg Conference:
Joshua Hollmann, chair, Sean Hannan, Jason Aleksander, Michael Moore, Christopher Bellitto.
Arrangements Committee: Vincent Evener, Chair, Gerald Christianson. Registrars: Andrew Taminger, Charles Frekot.

** Thank you for 35 years of collegial dialogue and productive scholarship. **

* * * * * * *



PAST CONFERENCES:

The Seventeenth Gettysburg Conference

Sept. 29-30, 2018

The Watanabe Lecture and Symposium on Cusanus, the Qur’an, and the Cribratio Alkorani

Download the Conference Brochure

The Sixteenth Gettysburg Conference

Sept. 23-24, 2017

The Watanabe Lecture and Celebration of Kiyomi Koizumi Watanabe

Download the Conference Schedule and Report on the Conference

 

The Fifteenth Biennial Gettysburg Conference

Sept. 30-Oct. 2, 2016

Lutherans and Catholics, Then and Now: 500 Years (and More) of Religious Reform

Download the Conference Brochure

 

The Fourteenth Biennial Gettysburg Conference

October 10-12, 2014

Nicholas of Cusa's Legacy in the Renaissance and Reformation

Download the Conference Brochure

 

The Thirteenth Biennial Gettysburg Conference (25th Anniversary Year)

October 12-14, 2012
Christian-Muslim Dialogue in the Late Middle Ages
Download the Conference Brochure


The Twelfth Biennial Gettysburg Conference

October 8-10, 2010
The Bible at the End of the Middle Ages: The Exegesis of Reform (Dedicated to the Memory of H. Lawrence Bond)
Download the Conference Brochure


The Eleventh Biennial Gettysburg Conference

October 10-12, 2008
Reassessing Reform: Medieval Models of Change. Celebrating Gerhart Ladner’s The Idea of Reform After Fifty Years
Download the Conference Brochure


The Tenth Biennial Gettysburg Conference

October 13-15, 2006
Conforming to Christ in Learned Ignorance: Doing Penance and Knowing God at the Dawn of the Reformation
Download the Conference Brochure


The Ninth Biennial Gettysburg Conference

October 8-10, 2004
Reform and Obedience: The Authority of Church, Council, and pope from the Great Schism to the Council of Trent
Download the Conference Brochure


The Eighth Biennial American Cusanus Society Conference*

October 4-7, 2001
Celebrating the Sixth Centenary of the Birth of Nicholas of Cusa
* This Symposium was held at The Catholic University of America


The Seventh Biennial Gettysburg Conference

October 28-November 1, 1998
Spirituality in the Late Middle Ages and Reformation: Nicholas of Cusa and Martin Luther


The Sixth Biennial Gettysburg Conference

October 18-20, 1996
The Sermons: An Introduction


The Fifth Biennial Gettysburg Conference

October 21-23, 1994
Nicholas of Cusa’s De coniecturis


The Fourth Biennial Gettysburg Conference

October 16-18, 1992
Nicholas of Cusa on Church and Society: the De concordantia catholica


The Third Biennial Gettysburg Conference

October 19-21, 1990
Nicholas of Cusa’s De vision Dei


The Second Biennial Gettysburg Conference

October 21-23, 1988
Nicholas of Cusa’s De ludo globi


The First Biennial Gettysburg Conference

October 24-26, 1986
Nicholas of Cusa’s De pace fidei