Emory University will host an international conference on the topic of Pietism and Community in Europe and North America in November 2006. Part of a larger initiative on "Cultural History of Pietism and Revivalism" sponsored by the Huizinga Institute, Amsterdam, Netherlands, the Emory event follows two previous conferences on Confessionalism and Pietism c.1550-c.1750 in Dordrecht, Netherlands (2004), and Pietism, Revivalism and Modernity, 1650–1850 in Umeå, Sweden (2005).
Conference Theme: Papers are sought that would explore aspects of Pietism and community from 1650-1850 from a range of disciplinary perspectives that seek to integrate analysis of religious communities and networks with larger questions of developments of church and society and religious communication. Papers might focus on Pietist practices of religious community, the engagement of Pietists in the public sphere, the formation of specific Pietist settlements such as Herrnhut or Ephrata in larger perspective of new settlements in Europe and North America, the migration of Pietist communities within Europe and to North America, the nature of conventicles, analysis of epistolary networks/communities, and the relation Pietist communities to state formation. How did Pietists understand their communities? How did Pietist communities function with regard to the larger society around them? Where did they thrive and what were the reasons for their growth and decline? In what ways did they foster the authority of the state? How did they define insider/outsiders and notions of tolerance and tolerance?
The conference organizers wish to encourage comparative, interconfessional, international and interdisciplinary approaches from all parts of Protestant and Catholic Europe and America. Historiographical debates on the nature and scope of Pietism continue, but the conference will use an inclusive approach that would comprise a range of Protestant renewal movements from the Dutch nadere Reformatie, Scandinavian and German Pietism, Moravianism to cognate movements throughout Europe such as Methodism in England and Jansenism and Quietism in Catholic Europe. Papers that integrate comparative, theoretical, and methodological questions are especially welcome, but the organizers are also open to specific studies that address the conference theme of Pietism and Community.
Abstract and Paper Deadlines
An abstract of the proposed paper should be sent to Professor Jonathan Strom, Emory University, preferably by email, by March 20, 2006 (jstrom@emory.edu). Abstracts should be written in English and not exceed more than one page (approx. 500 words). Notification of acceptance will be mailed by April 20, 2006. In addition to quality and creative scholarship, the conference organizers will select papers that further thematic, confessional and geographical variety.
Accepted abstracts will be available on the conference web site beginning in September 2006. Deadline for delivery via email of draft papers in English is October 1, 2006. Papers will be circulated to conference participants on the web after that date. Revised papers should be submitted for publication by March 1, 2007.
Conference Practicalities
The lead organizer for this conference is Dr. Jonathan Strom, Associate Professor of Church History at Emory University. The conference will take place on the campus of Emory University. The organizers will cover accommodations, meals, and registration costs for invited presenters. In general, no travel expenses can be reimbursed, and participants will be required to pay their own travel costs to and from Atlanta. For current doctoral students and recent Ph.D.s a number of small travel subsidies are available.
Atlanta is the largest metropolitan area in the southeastern United States and has excellent travel connections through Hartsfield Jackson International Airport, which is served by most major carriers. The campus of Emory University is located about 15 miles from the airport in Northeast Atlanta.
For further information please contact Jonathan Strom:
Prof. Jonathan Strom
Candler School of Theology
Emory University
Atlanta, Georgia 30322
USA
404 727 4168
404 727 2494 (fax)
jstrom@emory.edu
Conference co-coveners:
Professor Fred van Lieburg
Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam
ReLiC Centre for Dutch Religious History
Professor Daniel Lindmark
Department of Historical Studies
Umeå University, Sweden