Upcoming Lilly Fellows Regional Conference
Lilly Network Regional Conference at Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa.
The Prodigal Love of God: Re-encountering Dordt at 400 and Beyond
April 4-6, 2019
On April 4-6, 2019, Dordt College and the Andreas Center for Reformed Scholarship and Service, in partnership with the Lilly Fellows Program, will host a conference titled “The Prodigal Love of God: Reencountering Dordt at 400 and Beyond.” Confirmed speakers include Marilynne Robinson, Richard Mouw, James K.A. Smith, Jemar Tisby, Paul Lim, Tish Harrison Warren, Timothy George, and Suzanne McDonald.
This year and next marks the 400th anniversary of the Synod of Dort, the namesake of Dordt College. Many churches and communities have celebrated the quincentenary of the Reformation, but the Synod of Dort does not loom so large in the popular imagination. For some, even members of the Protestant tradition, Dort seems to leave us with a complicated historical legacy of arid doctrinalism..
However, the story of the Synod of Dort—its legacy and its place in the Christian tradition—is much broader and more generous than this. Dort should be remembered for its rigorous doctrinal disputes, but within those debates there are also profound theological truths that continue to inspire many ecumenical conversations across Christian traditions. In the Canons of Dordt, we encounter the prodigal love of God, who offers the blessing of the gospel “to all persons promiscuously and without distinction.” This theological message is something that has shaped and reformed Protestant communities for four hundred years. Through invited plenaries and panel discussions, our conference will feature conversations about the historical legacy and the future of Protestantism as well as the opportunities facing the global church in the decades ahead.
For More Information and Registration, Click on the Conference Website Here.
Description and Guidelines for Regional Collaboration and Conferences
Regional Collaboration and Conferences Grants represent a flexible category of programs that encourage examination of topics of special significance to faculty, administrators, and students at a particular institution or group of institutions, or matters of special intellectual concern to faculty and others in Christian higher education. The focus, character, and constituency of the conference, collaboration, or workshop may vary to suit the needs of the applicant, within the general guidelines listed above. Previous successful conferences, collaborations, and workshops have focused on issues facing schools in a particular region, topics of current debate among faculty at a particular school, student life issues, graduate student matters, various theological or denominational traditions in higher education, an array of topics in liberal and professional education, and issues of civic and public concern to the Christian intellectual community.
Funding is available for up to two Regional Collaborations or Conferences taking place in the 2016-2017 academic year at $12,500 each. It is expected that in many cases the host institution or group of institutions may also contribute to funding the conference. Institutions that have already received a grant in this category will not be eligible in the same category again for three years after the original grant was awarded. Although Regional Conferences or Workshops represent a flexible category of programs, priority is given to applications for programs that connect representatives from campuses within a particular geographical region.
Application to host a Regional Collaboration or Conference
Current Regional Conferences and Collaborations
Matter and Spirit: A Seminar on Contemporary Chinese Art and Society
June 15- July 1, 2018
The Nagel Institute, in partnership with the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities and the Lilly Network of Church-Related Colleges and Universities, is planning a seminar and studio project in China for June 15- July 1, 2018, followed by an international traveling exhibition of the resulting works of art.
This project will convene 10 North American and 10 Chinese artists in a two-week seminar and studio event to take place in Beijing, Nanjing, and Shanghai. Participants will engage the realities of contemporary urban China, the Chinese visual arts scene, and each other. They will see how some prominent Chinese contemporary artists have created art in response to these conditions, how Chinese Christians see both “matter and spirit” interacting, and how the struggle for integrity in China might inspire and reshape their own life work.
This seminar, “Matter and Spirit,” is the third in a series of international art projects, preceded by a seminar in Indonesia in 2008 that resulted in the “Charis” traveling exhibit, and a seminar in South Africa in 2013 followed by a traveling exhibit, “Between the Shadow and the Light.” “Matter and Spirit,” like the two preceding exhibits, will open at the annual Lilly Network conference on the arts and humanities in 2020.
Seminar Dates: June 15-July 1, 2018
Seminar Location: Beijing, Shanghai and Nanjing, China
The Application Deadline has now Passed
Reason and Faith on the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation
Central College, Pella Iowa, October 13-14, 2017
On the occasion of the Reformation’s 500th anniversary, Central College welcomed approximately 30 attendees and presenters to their campus in Pella, IA, on October 13-14, 2017, for a Lilly Fellows Program Regional Conference. Seven Network schools were represented at the conference. In addition to speaking to the conference attendees, the keynote speakers visited English, philosophy, and religion courses and presented to students. The invited speakers were John Baxter, from Dalhousie University; Christina Bieber Lake, from Wheaton College; Jennifer Hockenberry Dragseth, from Mount Mary University; Douglas Kries, from Gonzaga University; and Albert Wolters, from Redeemer University College. Three plenary sessions and a panel discussion accompanied the keynote addresses.
With a focus on various perspectives of the relation between faith and reason and how this impacts scientific practices, the speakers addressed a wide range of thinkers, including Luther, Calvin, Bacon, More, Bonhoeffer, Shakespeare, Kuyper, and Maimonides. One speaker (Wolters) importantly related these different perspectives to different understandings of the “nature-grace relationship.” The conference also achieved a second aim, of enabling reflection on the relation between Christian faith, the disciplines, and teaching, with the disciplines of literary studies, education, and the sciences receiving special attention. The final panel discussion considered the practical implementation of the insights gained from the conference presentations.
To Download a Conference Poster/Flyer, Click Here.
Learn more about past Regional Collaborations and Conferences here.
