Reformational Philosophy

Reformational Philosophy Conference 2021

International conference

 

Philosophy in the Reformed Tradition 2021

Celebrating the Heritage, Facing the Challenges, and Embracing the Future

 

Online: 8-11 December 2021 (passed event)

 

An overview of reading groups arising from this conference can be found here.

 

A program for this conference can be found here.

 

Donate to support the International Conference

 


Organised by:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Supported by:

 

Organizing Committee:

 

Christine Boshuijzen-van Burken (chair) (Australia)

Romel Regalado Bagares (Philippines)

Lay Hendra Wijaya (Indonesia)

Gerrit Glas (The Netherlands)

 

Academic Committee:

Rik Peels (The Netherlands)

Rob Joustra (Canada)

John Choi (Korea)

Gerrit Glas (The Netherlands)

Renée van Riessen (The Netherlands)

Andrew Basden (United Kingdom)

Jim Skillen (USA)

Roelien Goede (South Africa)

Henk Geertsema (The Netherlands)

Roy Clouser (USA)

Adolfo García de la Sienra (Mexico)

 

 

Philosophy in the Reformed Tradition 2021

Celebrating the Heritage, Facing the Challenges, and Embracing the Future

 

This conference is organized against the backdrop of tectonic shifts in world-wide Christianity. Churches and related institutions in the global South are thriving and seeing unprecedented growth while in the Western world numbers of active church members are in decline and Christian organizations see themselves confronted with the eroding effects of secularization. These shifts have impacted on strands of Christian thought that are known as reformational philosophy or philosophy in the reformed tradition, with Herman Dooyeweerd and Dirk H.Th. Vollenhoven as important initiators. Some of the traditional strongholds of this philosophical tradition have lost their position in academia. At the same time, new, sometimes private initiatives were taken in the past decades, for instance in the UK (Faraday Institute, Cambridge; Ian Ramsey Center for Science and Religion; SCIO – Scholarship and Christianity in Oxford), the Netherlands (Abraham Kuyper Center, VU; the Neo-Calvinism Research Institute, Kampen; Forum-C, Amersfoort) and the USA (Center for Public Justice, Washington DC; Center for Theology, Science, and Human Flourishing, University of Notre Dame), offering platforms for discussion and opportunities for funding, trainee- and scholarship. Many of these initiatives were successful in terms of academic standing and public outreach. In the meantime, even more students and young scholars in the global South are standing up and long for a fresh and deeper understanding of the reformed tradition and its meaning for philosophy and theology. This is the moment to answer the need of these students and young scholars by rethinking the mission of the Reformational philosophical tradition and by mapping the challenges and tasks that lie ahead.

 

The Association for Reformational Philosophy, the All of Life Redeemed (AoLR) platform, and the Abraham Kuyper Center organize, therefore, an international conference which has the aim to make the rich resources of the Reformational movement more widely available, especially for the new audiences in the global South. We also aim at creating a context for dialogue between Reformational philosophers and representatives of other streams of thought within the broader Christian tradition.

 

More specifically, we want to

(1) exhibit what a century of philosophical thinking in the Reformed tradition has delivered, especially with respect to the challenges of our age (sustainability; ethics of technology; food production and consumption; professionalism and vocation; international relations, to mention a few)

(2) identify and explore new ways to address the unresolved issues

(3) encourage young students, scholars and professionals to engage with philosophical thinking in the Reformed tradition

(4) offer a platform for students, young scholars and professionals (especially in the South) to present their initial steps in the field.

 

The event will celebrate the 16th anniversary of the All of Life Redeemed (AoLR) platform. It will also be the 10th in the series of 5-yearly international conferences of the Association for Reformational Philosophy.

As for so many scholars, the global COVID-19 pandemic has become an occasion to explore new ways of connecting, communicating, and learning. The conference will, therefore, be largely online with several hybrid hubs in different countries.

The program involves a combination of state-of-the-art keynote lectures, panels on focused themes, and workshops in which junior scholars can present their work and be mentored by senior scholars in their field. We will also create ample digital space for informal gatherings.

 

Call for Papers: We invite junior and senior scholars to submit papers on all topics and fields that are currently pursued within or in relation to the reformational/reformed tradition, including but not limited to the (philosophy of the) physical and social sciences, the applied sciences (engineering, medicine, technology), the humanities, ethics, law, and theology.

 

The All of Life Redeemed (AoLR) Junior Scholars Workshop

This conference also offers a venue for junior scholars to sharpen faithful academic craft through a dedicated workshop, in which senior scholars will dedicate time on the formers’ draft papers or works-in-progress to bring their academic work to a better (or publishable) shape.

Junior scholars are post-graduate students, PhD students, holders of a doctoral degree until five years after graduation, early career researchers or independents scholars, non-tenured academics, and young professionals.

The workshop celebrates the All of Life Redeemed website established by Dr. Steve Bishop, which now marks its 16th year. The website has come to serve as the most comprehensive online and open-source repository of the works of scholars, thinkers, and practitioners of reformational philosophy from various parts of the world.

Junior scholars (as defined above) who wish to be considered for the AOLR junior scholars workshop should clearly indicate in their abstract submission subject heading thus: “Abstract submission for the AOLR Junior Scholars Workshop.”

 

Important dates: 

1 November 2021: abstract submission (extended deadline!). We now accept abstracts on a rolling basis and notify authors within 2 weeks after submission, so long as it is done before 1 November 2021.

9 November 2021: final date for notification of acceptance

24 November 2021: full paper submission for AOLR Junior scholars workshop

11 December 2021: (extended) deadline for registration

8-11 December 2021: conference dates

 

Fee: There is no registration fee. We welcome donations to cover the costs of organizing the online conference. Please follow this link if you want to support us financially and mention “RPC2021” when donating.

 

Registration: https://www.eventbrite.nl/e/philosophy-in-the-reformed-tradition-2021-international-conference-tickets-204332793887. Registrations are open until 11 December 2021.

Proceedings: There will be no proceedings, but promising papers will be invited for publication in Philosophia Reformata or Findings, the new online journal established by the AoLR international Seminars Series. Abstracts will be made available. All full papers presented during the conference will be  made available for registered participants (with permission of the authors).

 

Program: a tentative program can be found here.

 

Contact: rpc2021@reformationalphilosophy.org

 

Website: www.reformationalphilosophy.org/rpc2021

 

It is with great pleasure and enthusiasm that we as organizing committee invite you to participate in this meeting.

 

The organizing committee