2017 Barth Graduate Student Colloquium
The Center for Barth Studies at Princeton Theological Seminary is pleased to announce the second Karl Barth Graduate Student Colloquium on August 9-11, 2017. Over the course of three days, participants will have the opportunity to engage in an intensive student-led seminar on a portion of Barth’s Church Dogmatics, while getting to know other up-and-coming Barth scholars. During the day, each participant will take turns presenting a paper and leading a discussion on an assigned text. A senior scholar will supplement the student-led day sessions with an evening lecture and opportunity for conversation.
Plenary Speakers
GEORGE HUNSINGER
George Hunsinger is Princeton Theological Seminary’s Hazel Thompson McCord Professor of Systematic Theology. He earned his B.D. from Harvard University Divinity School and his M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. from Yale University. He served as director of the Seminary’s Center for Barth Studies from 1997 to 2001. He has broad interests in the history and theology of the Reformed tradition and in “generous orthodoxy” as a way beyond the modern liberal/conservative impasse in theology and church. An ordained Presbyterian minister, he was a major contributor to the new Presbyterian catechism. He teaches courses on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit in the Reformed tradition, the theology of the Lord’s Supper, the theology of John Calvin, and classical and recent Reformed theology. He is the founder of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture and a delegate to the official Reformed/Roman Catholic International Dialogue (2011-2017). His most recent scholarly contributions include The Eucharist and Ecumenism: Let Us Keep the Feast (Cambridge, 2008), Conversational Theology: Essays on Ecumenical, Postliberal, and Political Themes with Special Reference to Karl Barth (Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2015), and Reading Barth with Charity: A Hermeneutical Proposal (Baker Academic, 2015).
WILLIE JAMES JENNINGS
Willie James Jennings is Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale Divinity School. His book The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race (Yale 2010) won the American Academy of Religion Award of Excellence in the Study of Religion in the Constructive-Reflective category the year after it appeared and, in 2015, the Grawemeyer Award in Religion, the largest prize for a theological work in North America. Englewood Review of Books called the work a “theological masterpiece.” Jennings is also the author of Acts: A Theological Commentary on the Bible. He is currently working on a major monograph provisionally entitled Unfolding the World: Recasting a Christian Doctrine of Creation.
Writing in the areas of liberation theologies, cultural identities, and anthropology, Jennings has authored more than 40 scholarly essays and nearly two-dozen reviews, as well as essays on academic administration and blog posts for Religion Dispatches. Jennings is an ordained Baptist minister and has served as interim pastor for several North Carolina churches. He is in high demand as a speaker and is widely recognized as a major figure in theological education across North America. A Calvin College graduate, Jennings received his M.Div. from Fuller Theological Seminary and his Ph.D. in religion and ethics from Duke.
Schedule
In many respects, the format of the colloquium will resemble an intensive classroom seminar. Over three days, ten to twelve doctoral students working on dissertation projects related to Karl Barth’s theology will gather at the Center for Barth Studies. Each participant will have been assigned a relatively brief text from a single part-volume of the Church Dogmatics. They will take turns presenting thirty-minute papers in which they raise interpretive issues and push critical questions about their assigned texts. Each paper will lead into a thirty-minute discussion of the content of the paper, the questions posed, and any other issues the text brings forward. All participants are required to have read all of the primary texts under discussion in preparation for the colloquium.
While the seminar-style discussions will form the heart of the colloquium, a senior scholar will also be invited to lecture on a matter of their choosing that is related to the general topic of the colloquium. This lecture will take place on Thursday evening. While there is opportunity to engage with the senior scholar after their evening lecture, the senior scholar will not participate in the seminar portion of the colloquium.
The following schedule is tentative. It may change based on the number of participants and other factors.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 9
8:00 – 8:45 AM Breakfast (Mackay cafeteria)
8:45 – 9:30 AM Opening Remarks and Introductions
9:30 – 10:30 AM Presentation 1
10:30 – 11:00 AM Break with coffee and refreshments in Alumni Room (2nd Floor of Library)
11:00 – 12:00 PM Presentation 2
12:00 – 1:00 PM Lunch (Mackay cafeteria)
1:30 – 2:30 PM Presentation 3
2:30 – 3:00 PM Break with coffee and refreshments in Alumni Room (2nd Floor of Library)
3:00 – 4:00 PM Presentation 4
4:00 – 6:30 PM BREAK
6:30 – 8:00 PM Dinner (Downtown Princeton)
THURSDAY, AUGUST 10
8:00 – 9:00 AM Breakfast (Mackay cafeteria)
9:15 – 10:15 AM Presentation 5
10:15 – 10:45 AM Break with coffee and refreshments in Alumni Room (2nd Floor of Library)
10:45 – 11:45 AM Presentation 6
12:00 – 1:00 PM Lunch (Mackay cafeteria)
1:30 – 2:30 PM Presentation 7
2:30 – 3:00 PM Break with coffee and refreshments in Alumni Room (2nd Floor of Library)
3:00 – 4:00 PM Presentation 8
4:00 – 5:00 PM BREAK
5:00 – 6:30 PM Dinner (Downtown Princeton)
7:00 – 9:00 PM Evening Lecture with Willie Jennings
FRIDAY, AUGUST 11
8:00 – 9:00 AM Breakfast (Mackay cafeteria)
9:15 – 10:15 AM Presentation 9
10:15 – 10:45 AM Break with coffee and refreshments in Alumni Room (2nd Floor of Library)
11:00 – 12:00 PM Presentation 10
12:00 – 1:00 PM Lunch (Mackay Cafeteria)
1:00 – 2:00 PM Presentation 11
2:00 – 2:15 PM Brief break with coffee and refreshments in Alumni Room (2nd Floor of Library)
2:15 – 3:30 PM Presentation 12 and closing remarks
Call for Applications
The text for the 2017 colloquium will be Church Dogmatics III/3. While often not receiving as much attention as other loci in his theology, Barth’s doctrine of providence contains some of his most important insights on the relationship between the Creator and creatures and is fully integrated into the rest of his theology. What he says here helps shed light on his understanding of, among other things, Christology, creation, covenant, ethics, and creaturely activity. Through close, critical readings of the text, the 2017 colloquium seeks to explore these topics and others in order not only to comprehend Barth’s theology better, but to discern what Barth’s doctrine of providence offers for the academy and the church in the present and future. For 2017, Professor Willie Jennings (Yale) will be the senior scholar presenting an evening paper.
Application Information:
This colloquium is open to any doctoral student whose dissertation project interacts significantly with some aspect of Karl Barth’s theology. A focus on the doctrine of providence is not required. ABD is preferred. Recent graduates may apply. Applicants are required to submit a CV and a statement of interest no longer than 750 words explaining how participating in this colloquium would contribute to their research plans. Applications should be sent to barth.colloquium@ptsem.edu no later than March 31, 2017. Notification of acceptance will be made by the end of April. Upon acceptance, participants will be assigned a text from CD III/3 based on their preferences; for the colloquium, participants will then present a 20-25 minute paper and lead the discussion that follows.
Please do not submit a proposal for a specific paper topic. Paper topics will be determined by the texts which are assigned after the selection process. Additional guidelines will also be provided at that point.
Cost:
The colloquium begins Wednesday morning and concludes on Friday afternoon. All food and lodging at the colloquium will be provided. Travel stipends may become available.
Maps & Directions
By Air
From Newark Liberty International Airport
The Olympic Airporter shuttle service takes you to the Nassau Inn in Princeton; call for schedule and reservations: 800.822.9797 (within the United States) or 732.938.6666 (outside the United States), or visit www.olympicairporter.com
The AirTrain takes you from all airport terminals to the Newark Liberty International Airport Train Station. Take New Jersey Transit southbound (Northeast Corridor Line) trains to Princeton Junction. From Princeton Junction take the train to Princeton Station.
From Philadelphia International Airport
Take the R1 High Speed Rail Line (entrance on pedestrian bridges and commercial roadway), limousine service (The Olympic Airporter; call for reservations: 800.822.9797 within the United States or 732.938.6666 outside the United States, or visitwww.olympicairporter.com), or local taxi service to 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, where you can purchase a SEPTA/New Jersey Transit ticket to take a SEPTA train to Trenton and a New Jersey Transit train to Princeton Junction. From Princeton Junction take the train to Princeton Station.
From Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City (41st Street and 8th Avenue)
By Bus
Purchase a Suburban Transit bus ticket to Princeton at windows 16 through 19 on the first floor. Board the bus on the third floor (fourth level) at gates 420 through 422. The bus leaves every half hour between 6:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. on weekdays and between 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. on weekends, and every half hour on the hour until 1:00 a.m. The trip is one and one-half hours. Ask the driver to let you off at the end of Nassau Street where it meets Mercer Street and Route 206 in Princeton, and walk to the Seminary.By
From New York City (and north) and Philadelphia (and south)
By Train
New Jersey Transit services Princeton from the north (New York City, Newark), with connecting service from the south (Trenton, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington DC). Amtrak trains stop in Trenton, and some at Princeton Junction.
From the North/New York City
By Car
Take the New Jersey Turnpike South to Exit 9 (New Brunswick). After the tollbooths, bear right onto the ramp for Route 18 North. Shortly after getting onto Route 18 North the road will fork; stay to the left of the fork, in the right lane. Bear right onto this exit for Route 1 South/Trenton. Follow Route 1 South to Alexander Road (Princeton). Turn right onto Alexander Road and continue to the entrance of Princeton Seminary, which is the first left turn after College Road (Alexander Road will be Alexander Street at this point).
From the West
Take I-78 East into New Jersey. Exit onto I-287 South toward Somerville. Follow signs for Routes 202/206 South. Travel south on 202 for a short distance and then follow signs for Route 206 South. You will go around a traffic circle. Continue south on Route 206 for about eighteen miles to Nassau Street (Route 27) in the center of Princeton. Turn left onto Nassau Street and the first right onto Mercer Street and continue to the main entrance of Princeton Seminary, which will be on your left.
From the South
From southern New Jersey take I-295 North (becomes I-95 South) to the “Princeton Pike North” exit and continue on Princeton Pike for approximately five miles. Immediately after passing Library Place (on the left), the main entrance to the campus will be on your right.
From the East
Take I-95 West toward Trenton to the exit for I-295 North (becomes I-95 South) to the “Princeton Pike North” exit and continue on Princeton Pike for approximately five miles. Immediately after passing Library Place (on the left), the main entrance to the campus will be on your right.
From Philadelphia
Take I-95 North into New Jersey and exit at “Princeton Pike North” and continue on Princeton Pike for approximately five miles. Immediately after passing Library Place (on the left), the main entrance to the campus will be on your right.
Map of Princeton Theological Seminary
Contact
For questions or to submit an application, please email barth.colloquium@ptsem.edu.
