2021 Barth Graduate Student Colloquium
2021 Colloquium Cancelled
The fifth Karl Barth Graduate Student Colloquium rescheduled for August 18-20, 2021 has been cancelled in response to the pandemic. We regret this cancellation, but we are looking forward to reconvening the colloquium in 2022.
The Center for Barth Studies at Princeton Theological Seminary is pleased to announce the fifth Karl Barth Graduate Student Colloquium to be held on August 18-20, 2021. This year’s theme is Barth and politics—broadly conceived as a constructive and critical engagement with Barth’s own politics, political theory, and political theology in conversation with contemporary conversations on the same. Over the course of three days, participants will have the opportunity to engage in an intensive student-led seminar and to get to know other up-and-coming Barth scholars. During the day, participants will take turns presenting papers and leading group discussion on an assigned portion of the text. Two senior scholars will supplement the student-led day sessions by providing evening lectures and opportunities to further the conversation.
We especially encourage women, people of color, international students, new voices, and other under-represented voices in the Barth discussion to submit proposals for this year’s colloquium.
Registration
Speakers
Eric Gregory
Eric Gregory is Professor of Religion at Princeton University. He is the author of Politics and the Order of Love: An Augustinian Ethic of Democratic Citizenship (University of Chicago Press, 2008), and articles in a variety of edited volumes and journals, including the Journal of Religious Ethics, Studies in Christian Ethics, and Augustinian Studies. His interests include religious and philosophical ethics, theology, political theory, law and religion, and the role of religion in public life. In 2007, he was awarded Princeton’s President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching. A graduate of Harvard College, he earned an M.Phil. and Diploma in Theology from the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, and his doctorate in Religious Studies from Yale University. He has received fellowships from the Erasmus Institute, University of Notre Dame, the Safra Foundation Center for Ethics, Harvard University, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and The Tikvah Center for Law & Jewish Civilization at New York University School of Law. Among his current projects is a book tentatively titled, The In-Gathering of Strangers: Global Justice and Political Theology, which examines secular and religious perspectives on global justice. At Princeton at large, he is chair of the Council of the Humanities. He is also director of the Program in Humanistic Studies and Stewart Seminars in Religion, and sits with the executive committee of the University Center for Human Values. He also serves on the the editorial board of the Journal of Religious Ethics.
Michelle Sanchez
Michelle Sanchez is Associate Professor of Theology at Harvard Divinity School. Sanchez received her doctorate in the study of religion in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Harvard. Her first book, Calvin and the Resignification of the World: Creation, Incarnation, and the Problem of Political Theology (Cambridge University Press, 2019) closely reads Calvin’s 1559 Institutes with attention to how its genre and pedagogical strategies shape its doctrinal arguments in a material context and with an eye to embodied activity. It also places the text in conversation with contemporary theorists of religion, ritual, secularization, and political theology.
Her next book project examines how Christianity became pedagogically reconfigured as a “worldview” in the twentieth century, with special attention to the role of nineteenth century Calvinist theologians. Her research interests include the Christian movements of reform and complicated legacies of Protestantism, and the complex interrelationships between theology, politics, and rapid social change that marked sixteenth-century Europe. She also studies ways of reading theology that are attentive not only to the traditions themselves, but also to how theological writing responds to concrete historical conditions and general human concerns. In 2017, she co-hosted a conference at HDS on “Christianity, Race, and Mass Incarceration.” In 2019, she will be co-hosting another conference as part of a larger academic project on “Historicizing Secular Studies Across the Disciplines.” In 2012, Sanchez was recognized by the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning for excellence in undergraduate teaching. She also received a Denie S. Weil Teaching Fellowship in Religious Ethics at Harvard. She has been active with regional and national scholarly groups, including the American Academy of Religion, focusing on theology in historical and contemporary contexts.
Schedule
This is a provisional schedule and subject to change
All presentations to be delivered in the Center for Barth Studies Reading Room (#3173 – 3rd floor of Library’s North Wing) unless otherwise stated.
Tuesday, August 17
12:00 PM Check-in begins at the Erdman Center
6:30 PM – 8:30 PM Welcome reception
Wednesday, August 18
8:00 AM – 9:00 AM Breakfast (Mackay Campus Center)
9:00 AM – 9:45 AM Introductions
9:45 AM – 10:00 AM Break with coffee (Alumni Room – Library 2nd floor)
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM Presentation 1
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM Presentation 2
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM Lunch (Mackay Campus Center)
1:15 PM – 2:15PM Presentation 3
2:15 PM – 2:45 PM Break with refreshments (Alumni Room – Library 2nd floor)
2:45 PM – 3:45 PM Presentation 4
3:45 PM – 5:30 PM BREAK
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM Evening Lecture and Discussion (Library – Theron Room)
7:00 PM – 9:00 PM Dinner
Thursday, August 19
8:00 AM – 8:45 AM Breakfast (Mackay Campus Center)
8:45 AM – 9:45 AM Presentation 5
9:45 AM – 10:00 AM Break with coffee – (Alumni Room – Library 2nd floor)
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM Presentation 6
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM Presentation 7
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM Lunch (Mackay Campus Center)
1:15 PM – 2:15 PM Presentation 8
2:15 PM – 2:45 PM Break with refreshments – (Alumni Room – Library 2nd floor)
2:45 PM – 3:30 PM Barth Collection Overview
3:30 PM – 5:30 PM BREAK
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM Evening Lecture and Discussion
7:00PM – 9:00PM Dinner
Friday, August 20
8:00 AM – 9:00 AM Breakfast (Mackay Campus Center)
9:00 AM – 10:00 AM Presentation 9
10:00 AM – 10:30 AM Break with coffee – (Alumni Room – Library 2nd floor)
10:30 AM – 11:30 AM Presentation 10
11:30 AM – 12:00 PM Closing Remarks
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM Lunch (Mackay Campus Center)
—-
Possibility that the schedule will extend into the afternoon.
Call for Applications
The Center for Barth Studies at Princeton Theological Seminary is pleased to announce the fifth Karl Barth Graduate Student Colloquium to be held on August 18-20, 2021. This year’s theme is Barth and politics—broadly conceived as constructive and critical engagement with Barth’s own politics, political theory, and political theology in conversation with contemporary conversations on the same.
The text for the 2021 colloquium will be the essays found in Community, State, and Church. We are inviting doctoral students and recent graduates in the disciplines of theology, ethics, religion, and political philosophy. While we expect that all applicants will closely read Community, State, and Church in advance of the colloquium, papers may take up the political themes from anywhere in Barth’s corpus. Papers, therefore, are encouraged to be primarily constructive and thesis-driven, not exegetical. We hope that this set-up will foster fruitful and constructive conversations about the merits, utility, and limits of Barth’s own political thought in conversation with similar contemporary conversations.
Application Information: This colloquium is open to any doctoral student whose interests intersect with some aspect of Karl Barth’s theology. A focus on Barth’s theology in your dissertation 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 proposing a constructive paper on the colloquium’s theme.
Applications should be sent to barth.center@ptsem.edu no later than Friday, April 2, 2021. Notification of acceptance will be made by Friday, April 16, 2021. Successful applicants will present a 20-25 minute paper and lead the discussion that follows. We especially encourage women, people of color, international students, new voices, and other under-represented voices in the Barth discussion to submit proposals for this year’s colloquium.
Cost: The colloquium begins Wednesday morning and concludes on Friday afternoon. All food and lodging during the colloquium will be provided. Lodging will begin on Tuesday evening, August 18. Modest travel stipends are also included.
Questions?: For more information see the Barth Center website or email barth.center@ptsem.edu.
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 visit www.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.By Bus
From Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City (41st Street and 8th Avenue) 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 Train
From New York City (and north) and Philadelphia (and south) 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.By Car
From the North/New York City 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.Contact
If you have any questions or concerns, email us at barth.center@ptsem.edu or call us at 609-524-1981.
Please allow at least three business days for an email response.
