June 30, 2015
In This Issue
Save the Date for The C.S. Lewis Retreat
Call for Papers!
 
Make a gift to support the C.S. Lewis Foundation 


In his nonfiction Christian works, his imaginative fiction, and his scholarly writing and lectures, C.S. Lewis imbued his work with intellect, creativity, and faith.

At the Foundation, with C.S. Lewis as a key source of inspiration, we strive to infuse everything we do with these elements - faith, intellect, and imagination - so that others can learn to do so in their own lives and callings.

In this way, we help equip the faithful. In turn, they go back to their respective worlds as change agents, impacting their worlds to the glory of God.

This is where you come in. We cannot accomplish this without your help.

Please join us by making a gift to the Foundation today.

Your gift will make a real difference in equipping and encouraging Christians to integrate their faith within the world of ideas and the arts.

 
Happy Independence Day to all those in the United States!

Summer is finally here, which means a lot of planning and preparing here at the Foundation. 

 

  • We are continuing our refurbishment and fundraising plans for our newest C.S. Lewis Study Center in Northfield, MA.
  • We are getting ready to open registration for our Fall C.S. Lewis Retreat in Texas (see below for details)
  • We are planning a 2016 summer event and our 2017 Oxbridge Summer Institute

 

In this newsletter, we invite you to save the date for our C.S. Lewis Retreat at Camp Allen in Navasota, Texas (October 30 - November 1, 2015) and to spread word of our Call for Papers for the same event.

If you are a faculty member or know one who might be interested in participating in our Fall Retreat Academic Roundtable, please pass it on!

With warmest regards,

Steven Elmore
Vice President, Events & Communications 
Fall Retreat Website Launched

 

Save the date for our 2015 C.S. Lewis Retreat!


Location: Camp Allen, Navasota, Texas (just outside Houston)

 

Dates: October 30 - November 1, 2015.

 

Theme: 'Of This and Other Worlds': C.S. Lewis and the Call of Deep Heaven

 

We've just launched the Retreat website, with  

  • Speakers & artists
  • More information on the topic
  • Sponsorship opportunities
  • The Academic Roundtable / Call for Papers
  • A photo gallery of past events

We plan on opening registration in July. We hope to see you in Texas in October! 
Call for Papers - C.S. Lewis Retreat

The C.S. Lewis Retreat Academic Roundtable  

C.S. Lewis Foundation


'Of This and Other Worlds': C.S. Lewis and the Call of Deep Heaven

 

Dates: October 30 - November 1, 2015

 

The Academic Roundtable of the C.S. Lewis Retreat at Camp Allen, Navasota, Texas, October 30 - November 1, 2015, will be a community of interdisciplinary scholarly engagement and discussion within the broader context of the Retreat theme, Of This and Other Worlds: C.S. Lewis and the Call of Deep Heaven.

 

The Roundtable will consist of scholars from various fields who will meet together in breakout sessions during the Retreat. Each participant will read his or her paper to the Roundtable for discussion and feedback during the sessions of the Roundtable.  

 

All papers, limited to a 20-minute presentation time, shall be scholarly in nature, with the author's unique thesis clearly set within the context of existing scholarship on the subject matter.

 

After each presentation there will be a brief time of discussion prompted by the other members of the Roundtable. Each member of the Roundtable is expected to participate in each session of the Roundtable group and to fully engage the discussion.  

 

Depending upon the number of participants in the Academic Roundtable more than one group will be formed to meet during the session times. Each particular Roundtable group will be limited to twelve scholars.

 

The Retreat will explore the rich and challenging ideas and perspectives woven into the powerful stories of Lewis' Space Trilogy: Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength.  

 

Written and published between 1937 and 1945, a highly fruitful period of Lewis' productive life, these novels not only count as important contributions to the intersection of fantasy and science fiction, they embody many of the ideas and concerns that are to be found in Lewis' nonfiction writing in that fertile period.

 

As the Retreat title suggests, perhaps the greatest theme of the trilogy as a whole is Lewis' belief that the ordinary world in which we live our lives is actually pervaded with spiritual reality-"deep heaven"-which has a claim on our lives.  

 

Deep heaven is ultimately the spiritual realm of God and, in these works, Lewis teaches that we are called to live our lives in light of the reality and priority of God's life.  

 

In addition to this primary theme, these novels are replete with numerous other subordinate themes and ideas from Lewis' full menu of concerns, views, and theories, including his breathtakingly prescient vision of the intellectual collapse of the post-Christian university in That Hideous Strength.

 

Papers that explore the novels themselves, or any of the ideas or themes addressed in the novels, will be most welcome. More generally, papers will be considered that explore the intersection of Christian faith and the world of ideas and the arts.  

 

Academics from every discipline are invited to participate.

 

Each participant must submit a 300 word abstract of their proposal by August 1, 2015. After a peer review of the abstracts, acceptance notices will be given no later than September 1, 2015.  

 

Arrangements necessary for attendance at the Conference can be made by visiting the Retreat website: www.cslewis.org/programs/retreat.