College Theology SocietyServing Church and Academy Since 1954

Theology, Ecology, and Natural Science

2024 Call for Papers


Benjamin Hohman, Boston College (MA)

hohmanb@bc.edu

James Robinson, Iona University (NY)

jxrobinson@iona.edu


In light of the larger theme of CTS 2024, the Theology, Ecology, Natural Science section aims to cultivate three panel conversations that grapple with “vulnerability and flourishing.” Proposal submissions should specify for which of the three panels they would like to be considered.

 

1. How have intersectional understandings of human vulnerability and flourishing emerged and evolved in dialogue with deeper understandings of interspecies relationality? What are the fruitful applications of or future possibilities for this emerging and evolving dialogue? We invite proposals that consider these questions in dialogue with a range of conversations and sources, including but not limited to:

 

  1. Christopher Carter’s The Spirit of Soul Food: Race, Faith, and Food Justice (2021).
  2. Ecofeminist and/or ecowomanist visions of relationality, vulnerability, and mutual flourishing. Potential conversation partners include: ecofeminist theologians such as Rosemary Radford Ruether, ecowomanist theologians such as Melanie Harris, ecofeminist philosophers such as Val Plumwood, and intersectional environmentalists such as Leah Thomas.
  3. The environmental justice movement, from its historical origins through its present manifestations.
  4. Visions of vulnerability and eco-social flourishing articulated by disability theologies, such as Sharon Betcher.
  5. Visions of vulnerability and eco-social flourishing articulated by queer theologians, such as Jacob Erickson.

 

2. In his plenary at last year’s conference, Robert Orsi offered sharp criticism of the idea that an institutional church ensnared in toxic power dynamics could promote eco-social flourishing. He simultaneously highlighted the capacity for communities “in the ruins” and on the margins of mainstream institutions to incarnate transformative praxis. Are there parts of the church, perhaps “in the ruins” or “on the margins,” that are particularly capable of responding to the gravity of the eco-social crisis? Are there elements of the institutional church which must be radically transformed in order to promote eco-social flourishing? We invite proposals that consider these questions in dialogue with a range of conversations and sources, including but not limited to:

 

  1. Elizabeth O’Donnell Gandalfo’s recent book, Ecomartyrdom in the Americas: Living and Dying for Our Common Home (2022).
  2. The historical roots, the evolving possibilities, and the critical limitations of Laudato si’. Papers might respond to particular projects such as Luke Briola’s The Eucharistic Vision of Laudato Si’: Praise, Conversion, and Integral Ecology (2023).
  3. The links between clericalism, concentrations of power, physical and emotional abuse, and environmental degradation.
  4. The generative Catholic and Christian initiatives, communities, or constructive programs that are actively attempting to respond to the eco-social crisis, including communities of women religious highlighted in Sarah McFarland Taylor’s Green Sisters: A Spiritual Ecology (2009), as well as initiatives such as Catholic Worker farms, Agape Community, Benincasa Community, Freedom Farm Community, etc.
  5. Interreligious initiatives, communities, or constructive programs that are actively attempting to respond to the eco-social crisis, including initiatives such as Hazon, Soul Fire Farm, indigenous pipeline resistance movements, etc.

 

3) How do emerging technologies reflect our conceptions of and concerns about vulnerability and flourishing? How has technology enabled deeper solidarity with the vulnerable, and fostered eco-social flourishing? How has technology been used to promote social or ecological degradation? We invite proposals that consider a range of conversations and sources, including but not limited to:

 

  1. The work of theologians and theorists such as Ilia Delio and Donna Haraway.
  2. Theological, philosophical, ethical, or literary reflections on artificial intelligence.
  3. Pope Francis’s critique of the “technocratic paradigm.”
  4. Reflections on social media, including its impact on mental health, its use by radicalized hate groups, and its potentially generative uses.
  5. Reflections on the fruitful use of technology in the classroom, or on the negative impacts of technology on the classroom environment.
  6. Reflections on technological surveillance on the border, including Leo Guardado’s talk at CTSA in 2023.
 

The College Theology Society is a registered, non-profit professional society and a Related Scholarly Organization of the American Academy of Religion.

Email: secretary@collegetheology.org

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