Collaboration and Conference Grants

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 websiteClick 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.

 

Noteworthy News

February LFP Update

The Current LFP Update for February 2023 is now available. Click here.


Call for nominations for the 2023 LFP Book Award

The Lilly Fellows Program invites nominations for the tenth biennial Lilly Fellows Program Book Award for 2023. The deadline for nominations is March 1, 2023. Click here for more information and to nominate a book.


Announcing the winner of the 2022 Arlin G. Meyer Prize

We are pleased to announce Gordon Johnston, Professor of Creative Writing at Mercer University, as the winner of the 2022 Arlin G. Meyer Prize in Imaginative Writing for his book of poetry, Scaring the Bears. For more information and to see the finalist for this prize, click here.


Grove City College Conference March 30-April 1, 2023

Grove City College's conference entitled "Christianity and Core Texts at Global/Cultural Crossroads" will take place March 30-April 1, 2023. For more information, click here.


Lilly Network of Church- Related Colleges and Universities

If you are interested in learning more about membership in the Lilly Network of Church-Related Colleges and Universities, please contact us here.


New edition of Leading Lives that Matter released

In their second edition of Leading Lives That Matter, editors Mark Schwehn and Dorothy Bass compile a wide range of texts—from ancient and contemporary literature, social commentary, and philosophy—related to questions of vital interest for those who are trying to decide what to do with their lives and what kind of human beings they hope to become. Leading Lives that Matter has been an important text in many of our fellowship and grant programs, and it contains excellent resources. Click here for more information and an excerpt.