ASEC: Call for Papers

I have previously drawn attention to the conferences of the Association for the Study of Eastern Christian History and Culture (ASEC) and the publication of some of its proceedings. The last two conferences at Ohio State were fantastic affairs--warmly collegial in the exchanges, helpfully critical in advancing research and scholarship, and deeply fascinating sessions interspersed with good food and conversation among some lovely people.

The next conference will be held in March 2013 at Georgetown in Washington, DC., and the organizers have recently released a call for papers. I strongly encourage all who are interested at least to attend, if not to consider presenting a paper:

The Association for the Study of Eastern Christian History and Culture (ASEC, Inc.). ASEC announces its fifth biennial conference to take place at Georgetown University, in Washington, DC on March 8-9, 2013. We are pleased to invite papers for a multi-disciplinary conference devoted to the cultures that have been influenced by forms of Christianity originating from the Eastern/Byzantine tradition.

The theme for this year is “Antecedents and Subsequents of Iosif Volotsky: Exploring Eastern Christian Concerns” and is conceptualized to embrace topics from any period, and all regions related to Eastern Christian groups.

ASEC’s mission is to encourage scholarship in all areas of Eastern Christian culture from any time period or region. Therefore, while Iosif Volotsky (d. 1515) represents a branch of the Russian tradition, ASEC nevertheless encourages papers and panels on topics outside that experience. The topic is broadly conceived to address the interests and concerns of Iosif, a monastic reformer, whose life and work influenced the religious culture of Muscovy as well as modern scholarship of his period. Iosif’s interests encompassed the multi-faceted issues of religious and spiritual life and ranged from monastic reform to patristics, liturgics, education, administration, spirituality, heresy, and secular Christian life, among others.

The conference will include two days of panels plus a keynote address. Panel proposals of three to four presenters plus chair/discussant are preferred but individual papers are also encouraged. Please send panel and paper proposals with abstracts of 100-200 words for each paper, and a brief one- to two-page curriculum vitae for each participant to Valeria Nollan (NOLLAN@rhodes.edu).

Proposals must be received by August 15, 2012.

Registration is $50 ($25 for graduate students) and participants must be members of ASEC by the time of the conference. Fees are waived for students and faculty of Georgetown University with current university identification.

To become a member of ASEC, please contact the ASEC treasurer, Lucien Frary, Rider University, 2083 Lawrence Road, Lawrenceville NJ 08648 (lfrary@rider.edu).

The conference is co-sponsored by: ASEC, Inc.; Georgetown University’s Medieval Studies Program, Department of History, Department of Theology, and the Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies; The Ohio State University’s Resource Center for Medieval Slavic Studies, and the Hilandar Research Library; Eastern Kentucky University’s Department of History.

For more information contact Jennifer Spock jennifer.spock@eku.edu