2015 Colloquium
CALL FOR PAPERS
“ . . . AND ALL FLESH SHALL SEE THE SALVATION OF GOD.” (LUKE 3:6)
ACHTUS COLLOQUIUM
AMBASSADOR HOTEL
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN
JUNE 7-10, 2015
Salvation has been an emergent theme in several past ACHTUS colloquia, yet it has not been the singular orienting focus of a colloquium. The 2015 colloquium theme, “. . . and all flesh shall see the salvation of God,” taken from the gospel of Luke, suggests: that salvation is longed for, indeed, needed by all beings; that the promise of salvation extends beyond the human community to include creation and the cosmos; that to “see the salvation of God” underscores early liberation theology’s claim that history is one; and, this year’s theme may also suggest to us, that our experience of salvation in this world is always fragile. After all, evil and sin mark the experience of every generation. So it is that we find ourselves wondering, how are we to give an account of our hope, an account of our faith in the possibility of salvation, surrounded as we are with unrelenting evidence of brokenness, betrayals and failures. Our experience of salvation is not only always fragile, but also always contextually conditioned, and particular. As such, our need for salvation as well as our experience of salvation can be addressed from a wide range of perspectives.
In keeping with the theme of this year’s colloquium, this call for papers invites proposals on a wide range of topics including but not limited to papers that call attention to the disfigurement and distortion of the divine imprint on the human condition and/or on creation, as well as papers that interrogate all that inspires social and personal human flourishing toward God. The reflections below illustrate some of the possibilities this theme offers for an enriching colloquium.
Naming Our Need – Latinas/os in the U.S. and beyond often suffer disproportionately many of the ills that plague society (e.g., violence, sex trafficking, feminicide, abuse of undocumented immigrants, addictions, racial profiling, high incarceration rates, gang violence, hate crimes targeting LGBTQQ persons, poverty, sexism, disregard for the earth, creation and the cosmos, among many other examples). Our communities confront the reality of social sin as well as personal sin; the experience of alienation and fragmentation; the damaging impact of dehumanizing circumstances; and other circumstances that cry out for the more of life that our Christian faith promises. What enables us to recognize our need and to name it? What hinders our ability to experience and recognize our need? How might we name our longing for salvation latinamente? How does Latina/o pastoral experience shed light on this longing? How do Bible narratives and the narratives of our people illuminate our need?
Seeing the Salvation of God — Over the past few decades Latina/o theologies have examined the grace and hope alive within our communities. These gifts of grace and hope have found expression in practices of social justice, aesthetics, ethics, popular religion, the sacraments/worship, imagination, and more. They have likewise found expression in our still emerging work in theological anthropology, Christology, God, creation, ecclesiology, Mariology, eschatology, tradition, scripture, epistemology, etc. How might some aspect of this work further a Latina/o account of salvation? How does the salvific work of Jesus find expression within Latina/o communities of faith? What scriptural themes best illuminate a Latino/a understanding of salvation? How does Latina/o pastoral experience shed light on the ways that salvation breaks into our present?
This colloquium seeks to build on the theme of last year’s colloquium. Last year we turned our attention to Latina/o sexualities. Is there a relationship between our experience of sexual desire and our desire for salvation? How do the dynamic and intersecting facets of our identities shape our desire for salvation? What does our desire for salvation entail? How does desire help us to see the salvation of God?
Submitting Your Proposal: Submissions should be 250-500 words in length and include: your current institutional affiliation and position; a proposed title; and (in addition to the word limit) a 100-word précis of your paper’s content to be shared with the ACHTUS membership. Both individual and conjunto panel proposals will be considered. Proposals need to be submitted by December 20, 2014 to President-Elect, Nancy Pineda-Madrid <<pinedama@bc.edu>>, with notification to be sent by December 31, 2014. Please include “ACHTUS 2015 Proposal” in the subject line. ACHTUS members who are invited to present need to be current, dues-paying members in order to accept the invitation. Please do not submit more than one proposal for consideration. Along with your proposal, please indicate if you need any audiovisual equipment.