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First Annual Conference on Spirituality and the Arts and Sciences
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Concordia University
Ann Arbor, MI
Concordia University’s Annual Conference on Spirituality and the Arts and Sciences, supported by the Department of English and the Kreft Program for the Arts, is open to all students, alumni, faculty and staff of Concordia University—Ann Arbor. Functioning as the culmination of the Kreft Program’s annual season of events and activities, the conference offers a forum for discussion and dialogue, and seeks to showcase some of the finest talent and intellectual products which our campus has produced throughout the year.
This year’s Kreft Arts Program has incorporated a thematic approach to its scheduling of events as a way to provide unity and coherence to the series. The 2008-2009 theme has been “Reconciliation.” Reconciliation signifies a connection—or re-connection—between people: friends, families, communities, nations. How can divisions be healed or lost connections restored? The arts address this issue thematically in many and profound ways—in stories, poems, and plays; in memoirs and speeches and reminiscences; in musical compositions and performances; in drawing, painting, and sculpture. Reconciliation also has the sense of bringing together disparate elements into a harmonious whole, if only temporarily, through an exploration of the nature of craft, the understanding of how things work, the relation of God’s perfection to our own fallen nature, His creation to ours. And finally, reconciliation may denote resolution, a momentary sense of completion or fulfillment. This issue forces us to consider goals and directions. What is the nature and purpose of art itself? What place does it have in our lives as Christians living in the 21st century?
Conference Program
| 12:15 – 12:40 Welcome and Plenary Address (Black Box) |
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Neal Migan, Assistant Professor of English:
“Oh, Nuts: Making Amends in Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov” |
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| 12:45 – 1:45 Panel A (Krieger Hall, Room 106): |
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Of Love: Human and Divine
Carl Rockrohr, Assistant Professor of Religion and Dean, School of Religious Studies and Social Sciences
Elizabeth Falconer: “J.S. Bach: Reconciling the Suffering and Joy of Christ through Music”
A. Trevor Sutton: “The Reconciliation of ερωs and αγαπη in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet” |
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| 12:45 – 1:45 Panel B (Chapel of the Holy Trinity): |
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Lending a Hand: Christian Icons and Iconography
Chris Niemiec, Assistant Professor of Art
Charles Schulz: “The Hand of God Comes to Mount Sinai”
Lynn Henderson: “Finding Reconciliation in the Incarnation” |
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| 1:50 – 2:50 Panel C (Krieger Hall, Room 106): |
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Religious Language: Dramatic and Musical
Brian Altevogt, Assistant Professor of Music/Director of Choirs
David Marshall: “Friar Laurence: Pointing to God in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet”
Jennifer Neuendorf: “Bach’s Cantata BMV46: Schauet doch und sehet” |
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| 1:50 – 2:50 Panel D (Krieger Hall, Room 101): |
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Public and Private Spaces: Multicultural and Personal Dreams
Michael Kalmes, Associate Professor of Political Science
Robert MacKenzie: “Reconciliation and American Society”
Jennifer Freudenburg: “I Grew Up In a Cemetery”
Kyle Barlow: “An American ‘Dream’ of Reconciliation” |
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| 2:55 – 3:55 Panel E (Krieger Hall, Room 106): |
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Imaginative Energy and the Threat to Unity
Robert Campbell, Assistant Professor of English
Christina Strauchman: “The Esemplastic Power: Reuniting of Mind and Soul”
Ruth Boeder: “Dear Friend and Dear Lover: Reconciling Relationships in The Merchant of Venice” |
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| 2:55 – 3:55 Panel F (Krieger Hall, Room 101): |
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Paradox and Hope: God and Man Within Shakespeare and Without
Philip Penhallegon, Assistant Professor of Religion
Kayla Paulsen: “Undeserved Reconciliation in Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale”
Dale Kleimola: “Why Do Christians Have Such A Hard Time Seeking Reconciliation?” |
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| 4:00 – 4:30 Reception (Kreft Art Gallery) |
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| 4:30 – 5:30 Keynote Address (Black Box): |
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Ralph Williams, Professor of English, The University of Michigan: “The Rarer Act: Vengeance and Reconciliation in Shakespeare” |
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Concordia University Ann Arbor is a private, Christian liberal arts institution of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Concordia offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in an environment focused on the individual student. Concordia is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA) and by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). Concordia’s Family Life Program is approved by the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR). The athletics program has helped Concordia receive the recognition of a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Champions of Character institution. Concordia is located at 4090 Geddes Road in Ann Arbor, MI. For more information, visit: www.cuaa.edu
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