Imagination, Transcendence, and The Secular Age
A CBU Architecture Symposia
October 21-22, 2022
Call for Papers or Presentations
Over the course of 400 – 500 years, Western civilization has moved from a culture where it was virtually impossible to not believe in God, to a culture where many find the idea of believing in God difficult to fully embrace. As Charles Taylor describes in his work, A Secular Age, the decline in religious participation by larger numbers of non-believers is not the defining marker of our 'secular' age. Rather, Taylor argues that our current age is defined by a fundamental shift in the plausibility structures and social imaginaries that support belief. Whereas sixteenth-century imaginaries understood the world as both immanent and transcendent with a porous boundary, the contemporary world operates from a closed immanent frame leaving individuals with un-situated lingering notions of the transcendent. The fundamental result is that individuals are now simultaneously pressured by belief and unbelief. Those who are disconnected from religious faith are 'haunted' by the transcendent, fearing something may have been lost, and those who have faith often believe while doubting.
The 2022 CBU Architecture symposia explores the role of architecture in responding to our 'secular age' as described by Taylor. Papers or presentations may include, but are not limited to, architectural, urbanistic, interior, theological, missiological, liturgical, sociological, and community development considerations of:
The Role of Beauty in a Secular Age
Architectural Witness and Faith
Transcendence in the Ordinary
Architecture and Imagination
Transcendence in Sacred Architecture
Architecture' Role in Social Imaginaries
Emerging Trajectories in Church Architecture
Architecture Within an Immanent Frame
Proposals are welcomed from scholars, working professionals, and students.
Student engagement is encouraged from undergraduate, graduate, or doctoral levels from all relevant disciplines.
Symposium URL
https://cavad.calbaptist.edu/programs/architecture-symposium/
Submission Information
Interested individuals are invited to submit abstracts of a maximum of 500 words with a title, following the Chicago Manual of Style. Multiple abstracts may be submitted by an author or authorial team. Professional presentation proposals are included in the abstract review.
Abstracts will follow a blind peer-review process with at least two scholars considering each submission. The individual recommendations will be sent and studied by the conference conveners who will make the final determination regarding accepting or rejecting a proposal. Symposium abstracts will be electronically published prior to the meeting.
Format and Place of Submission
Abstracts should define focus and summarize its positioned approach or argument. All proposals should demonstrate engagement with the symposium's theme, though related subjects will be considered.
Proposals should include the following:
- Name, Title, and Organization of individual(s) submitting
- Title of paper or presentation
- Identification of Proposed Paper or Presentation Session Topic
- 500 word abstract
- Any necessary footnote / bibliographic information
- Five keywords
Please submit proposals at: https://calbaptist.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_08Qcb12te0oO2Kq
Please direct questions to Professor Jacob Slagill (jslagill@calbaptist.edu).
Timeline
Submission Deadline: September 23, 2022
Notification of Acceptance: No later than September 30, 2022
Post-Conference Paper Submission: November 22, 2022
Steering Committee
Professor Keelan Kaiser, FAIA
Rev. Dr. Matthew Niermann, AIA
Dr. Karim Youssef
Professor Jacob Slagill, AIA
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Jacob Slagill AIA
California Baptist University
Riverside CA
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