Upcoming Lilly National Network Conferences
Christianity and Core Texts at Global/Cultural Crossroads
Grove City College, Grove City, Pennsylvania
The Grove City English Department invites participants and presenters to an in-person Lilly Fellows Program Regional Conference: “Christianity and Core Texts at Global/Cultural Crossroads,” held on campus at Grove City College on March 30-April 1, 2023. The conference will include plenary addresses by graphic novelist and artist Gene Luen Yang and scholar Dr. Susan VanZanten.
Describing the vexed position of the Christian in a postcolonial nation, Ghanaian theologian Mercy Amba Oduyoye writes, “What is specifically Christian is irresistible. But Christianity in Africa began by confusing Christianity with European culture” (Inheriting Our Mothers’ Gardens 39). Christianity has often been mistaken for and sometimes presented as a purely Western phenomenon, but this has never been the case—Christian communities like the Ethiopian Church and the Saint Thomas Christians of India trace their roots back to the time of the apostles. This fact is becoming ever more apparent today as the demographic center of even Western Christianity shifts eastward and southward. If, as St. Paul says, the Gospel is “a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles,” then Christianity presents a challenge to the conventional wisdom of any culture or nation. Christianity is not inherently more compatible with Western culture than it is with any of the cultures of the East or the Global South. How might American scholars and American students, especially those who also find Christianity “irresistible,” understand and learn from Christian thinkers and treatments of Christian communities in these global texts?
Conference information and schedule will be provided at the conference website. Click here to register for the conference by March 1. With questions, email cctconference@gcc.edu.
Description and Guidelines for Lilly Network Collaboration and Conferences
Lilly Network Collaboration and Conference Grants represent a flexible category of programs that brings together faculty and administrators from different institutions in church-related higher education. Collaborations invite a small group to consider a topic of concern or interest in a workshop setting, while conferences bring together a large group of faculty or administrators (possibly along with students or community members) to examine a common concern or topic of special significance to the group. The focus, character, and constituency of the conference or collaboration may vary to suit the needs of the applicant, within the general guidelines listed above. Previous successful conferences and collaborations have focused on issues facing schools in a particular region, student life issues, various theological or denominational traditions in higher education, an array of topics in liberal and professional education, and issues of civic and public concern to the Christian intellectual community.
Funding is available at $12,500 each for any number of Lilly Network Collaborations or Conferences taking place in the academic year following the application. It is expected that in many cases the host institution or group of institutions may also contribute to funding the conference. Institutions that have already received a grant in this category are eligible in the same category three years after the original grant was awarded. Nevertheless, at present, such schools can re-apply for a Lilly Network Collaboration or Conference Grant if the application demonstrates that the proposed project addresses a different audience than the previously funded one. Applications are due September 15 each year.
Application to host a Lilly Network Collaboration or Conference
Learn more about past Lilly Network Collaborations and Conferences here.
