Date

Aug 10 2016 - Aug 12 2016
Expired!

Time

8:00 am - 6:00 pm

2016 Barth Graduate Student Colloquium

The Center for Barth Studies at Princeton Theological Seminary is pleased to announce the first ever Karl Barth Graduate Student Colloquium to be held from August 10-12, 2016. 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. In the evenings, a senior scholar will supplement the student-led day sessions with an evening lecture and opportunity for conversation.

Motivation and Goals:

Believing that Karl Barth continues to provide vital resources for those who seek to witness to Jesus Christ through theological study, the conveners of the Karl Barth Graduate Student Colloquium aim to bring together doctoral students whose research draws upon these resources in order to engage in scholarship and conversation that looks towards the future of theology. We are committed to the idea that the continuing value of Barth’s approach to theology lies with its alluring and expansive vision of God’s grace. Through the conversation and study present in this colloquium we seek to build a community of theologians marked by courage, humility, charity, and hope. We also recognize that faithfulness to the task of theology, not to mention faithfulness to Barth’s own understanding of his work, requires that the next generation of Barth scholarship does not aim merely to “get Barth right” or to repeat Barth. Rather it must also expose Barth’s shortcomings and errors, go beyond and correct him as needed, and above all continue to wrestle with the subject matter of theology itself. As such, we are especially invested in expanding the conversation to include a broad range of perspectives including but not limited to liberation theologies, feminist and womanist theologies, critical race theories, and inter-religious conversations.

Concretely, this colloquium has two goals. First, it will provide time and space for a new generation of Barth scholars to build community with each other. Second, it will provide opportunities for new conversations about Barth’s theology to arise. By focusing on relatively short sections of text and at least initially standing at a distance from the ever-increasing secondary literature that has accumulated over the past several decades, we are confident that new avenues for the study of Barth’s theology, and for the study of theology more broadly, will present themselves.

Plenary Speakers

Paul Dafydd Jones

Paul Dafydd Jones is Associate Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia and co-director, with Charles Mathewes, of The Luce Project on Religion and its Publics. He is author of The Humanity of Christ: Christology in Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics (T&T Clark) and over two dozen articles, chapters, and essays. He is completing two major projects at present: The Oxford Handbook of Karl Barth (Oxford University Press, forthcoming in 2018), coedited with Paul Nimmo (University of Aberdeen), and a constructive work entitled Patience: A Theological Exploration.

 

Schedule

In many respects, the format of the colloquium will resemble an intensive classroom seminar. Over three days, ten to fifteen 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 fifteen-page 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, two senior scholars will also be invited to lecture on a matter of their choosing that is related to the general topic of the colloquium. These lectures will take place on consecutive evenings. While there is opportunity to engage with the senior scholars after their evening lectures, these senior scholars 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 10

8:00 – 9:00 AM Breakfast (Mackay cafeteria)

9:15 – 10:15 AM Presentation 1

10:15 – 10:45 AM Break with coffee

10:45 – 11:45 AM Presentation 2

12:00 – 1:00 PM Lunch (Mackay cafeteria)

1:30 – 2:30 PM Presentation 3

2:30 – 3:00 PM Break with refreshments

3:00 – 4:00 PM Presentation 4

4:00 – 5:00 PM BREAK

5:00 – 6:30 PM Evening Lecture and Discussion (George Hunsinger)

6:30 – 8:30 PM Dinner (Downtown Princeton)

 

THURSDAY, AUGUST 11

8:00 – 9:00 AM Breakfast (Mackay cafeteria)

9:15 – 10:15 AM Presentation 5

10:15 – 10:45 AM Break with coffee

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 refreshments

3:00 – 4:00 PM Presentation 8

4:00 – 5:00 PM BREAK

5:00 – 6:30 PM Evening Lecture and Discussion (Paul Jones)

6:30 – 8:30 PM Dinner (Downtown Princeton)

 

FRIDAY, AUGUST 12

8:00 – 9:00 AM Breakfast (Mackay cafeteria)

9:15 – 10:15 AM Presentation 9

10:15 – 10:45 AM Break with coffee

11:00 – 12:00 PM Presentation 10

12:00 – 1:00 PM Lunch (Mackay Cafeteria)

1:00 – 2:00 PM Presentation 11

2:00 – 2:30 PM Closing break with refreshments

Call for Applications

The text for this year’s colloquium will be Church Dogmatics III/2. While often not receiving as much attention as other loci in his theology, Barth’s theological anthropology contains some of his most creative theological insights 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, gender, the soul, and death. Through close, critical readings of the text this year’s colloquium seeks to explore these topics and others in order not only to comprehend Barth’s theology better, but to discern what Barth’s anthropology offers for the academy and the church in the present and future. The senior scholars providing evening lectures for 2016 are Professors Paul Dafydd Jones (University of Virginia) and George Hunsinger (Princeton Theological Seminary).

Applications:

This colloquium is open to all doctoral students whose dissertation project interacts significantly with some aspect of Karl Barth’s theology. A focus on theological anthropology is not required. ABD strongly preferred. Recent graduates may apply. Applicants are required to submit an updated CV and a statement of research interest no longer than 750 words explaining how participating in this colloquium will contribute to their research plans. Applications should be sent to barth.colloquium@ptsem.edu and are due March 15, 2016.

Cost:

The colloquium begins Wednesday, August 10 and concludes before Friday evening on August 12. All food and lodging at the colloquium will be provided free of charge. 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.