Annual Convention 2027

June 3-6 | Saint Vincent College (Pennsylvania)

In the past 15 years, there has been a reemergence of Marian theology and study of popular religious devotion to Mary in unexpected places. As the North American theological academy is rightly becoming more diverse and international, students and scholars are exploring Mary from a rich variety of perspectives. Theologians are examining Mary as refuge for those experiencing human trafficking, physical and sexual abuse, and other forms of violence. Systematicians and ethicists are employing new lenses – political theology, queer theology, ecological theology, and trauma theory – to reveal new dimensions in Mariology and how devotion to Mary shapes the life of marginalized communities. Historical theologians are unearthing Marian devotional practices that have been buried by colonial and patriarchal powers, including practices that often challenge such destructive powers. In biblical studies, scholars are contributing new works on Mary, placing her in dialogue with traditions that ordain women.  Mary has also inspired a flourishing of art and material culture. At the same time, Mary serves as a rallying figure for traditional Catholic piety and theology. The Mother of God is many things to many people.  

The 2027 Annual Meeting of the College Theology Society will focus on Mary in the 21^st century, and the attending Annual Volume will provide a space for new voices and established approaches. The goal of the convention theme and plenary speakers is to bring together lay and religious, ecumenical and interfaith, multicultural and popular traditions around the figure of Mary, Seat of Wisdom, the patroness of the College Theology Society. The Society invites contributions from a wide range of disciplines and methods in theology and related fields, including the social sciences and the arts. Work that investigates Mary from the more traditional vantage points of Mariology as well as work examining Mary from newer perspectives – social, political, ecological – are all welcome.  

Plenaries

Neomi De Anda

Neomi De Anda, serves as the Executive Director as the International Marian Research Institute and is a tenured Professor in the University of Dayton Department of Religious Studies. She teaches courses in religion, languages and cultures, Latinx and Latin American studies, race and ethnic studies and women and gender studies. Dr. De Anda has scholarly presentations, publications and exhibitions on her research interests of Latinx Christology; theology and breast milk; chisme; the intersection of race and migrations in conjunction with the Marianist Social Justice Collaborative Immigrant Justice Team; and a border theology at the intersections of the environment, migrations, labor and women. 

Amey Victoria Adkins-Jones

A constructive theologian and scholar of Black religion, Amey Victoria Adkins-Jones specializes in Mariology, Black feminist and womanist thought, and theological anthropology. She is an Assistant Professor of Theology and Africana Studies at Candler School of Theology. Her first monograph, Immaculate Misconceptions: A Black Mariology (Oxford University Press, June 2025), offers a theological account of the global sex trade, centering the Black Madonna to examine how Christian theologies of purity and rape intersect with Black flesh. She is also the recipient of a Louisville Institute Sabbatical Grant for Researchers to support her monograph project See No Evil: Technology, Violence, and the Future of Black Being, which explores how visual technologies impact public perception of violence and Black death, developing a theological framework for Black protest.

Timothy O’ Malley

Timothy P. O’Malley, Professor of the Practice, is the Director of Education at the McGrath Institute for Church Life and Academic Director of the Notre Dame Center for Liturgy. He holds a concurrent appointment in the Department of Theology at the University of Notre Dame. 

He researches and teaches at Notre Dame in the areas of liturgical-sacramental theology, marriage and family, Catholic higher education, catechesis, preaching, and spirituality. His teaching and research adapts Romano Guardini’s approach to liturgical-sacramental formation in late modernity. He is the author of nine books on topics related to the liturgy, RCIA, the Eucharist, sacramental theology, marriage and family, and liturgical formation.

In his recent book, A Fierce and Tender Love (2025) O’Malley invites us to contemplate Mary, as a model of tenderness, hope, and renewal, and as the Church’s first and preeminent disciple. The book is structured in terms of 7 meditations on realities in Mary’s life. 

Guidelines for Preparing and Submitting Proposals:

Proposals should be 250-500 words in length and must include one’s:

• name
• email address
  
• current institutional affiliation and position
  
• CTS membership status
  

Proposals should be submitted to the appropriate conveners no later than December 15, 2026.  Scholars will be notified of the status of their proposals by January 15, 2027.

The Seventy-Third Annual Convention of the College Theology Society will be held June 3-6, 2027, at Saint Vincent College.  The conference theme is "Mary, Seat of Wisdom: Refuge and Rabble-Rouser. Click below for information on specific calls. 

Scholars who are invited to present their work at a national convention of the College Theology Society must be current members of the CTS no later than April 1, 2027 in order to appear in the program.  No person may submit more than one proposal for consideration and nor will submissions to multiple sections be considered.  Failure to observe these policies may result in the scholar's disqualification to present a paper at the Annual Convention.

The first draft of the Convention Program will be available on or about March 15, 2027, and online registration will also open at that time.

Further questions about our 2027 Annual Convention at can be directed to Daniel Rober, roberd@sacredheart.edu, Executive Director of National Conventions. 

Please Follow the Link to Section Specific Calls:

American Catholic Life and Thought
Anthropology, Psychology and Religion
The Art and Practice of Teaching Theology
The Arts, Media, Literature, and Religion
Comparative Theology
Ecclesiology
Ethics
Feminisms, Gender and Theology

History of Christian Life and Thought
Justice and Peace

Mysticism and Politics
Philosophy of Religion
Scripture

Sexuality, Relationships, Marriage and Family Life

Spirituality
Symbol, Ritual, and Sacrament
Systematic Theology
Theology, Ecology, and Natural Science
NABPR Region at Large