OTSA Announcements

Announcements as of June 20, 2010

Congratulations to the 2010 OTSA officers:

President: Dn. A. Gregg Roeber
Vice-President: Fr. Radu Bordeianu
Secretary: Maria McDowell
Treasurer: Will Cohen

Announcements as of March 29 2010

Register for the 2010 Meeting (PDF or Doc)

Registration for the 2010 Meetings is now available. You may download the form (pdf or doc) and mail it to the treasurer. All paper presenters must register for the conference no later than April 23, 2009 (postmarked) to have their fees waived. All conference attendees must register for the conference no later than April 30, 2009 (postmarked). Registrations postmarked after April 30, 2009 will be required to pay the Door Registration Fee upon arrival. A draft Program is also available (pdf or doc).

Annual Florovsky Lecture: Fr. John Erickson

The Orthodox Theological Society in America will hold its 2010 Annual Meeting June 3-5, 2010 at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary on the theme, "Exploring the Icon of The Servant Church". The Society is very pleased to announce that Fr. John Erickson will deliver the Florovsky lecture on June 3rd, "Slavophile Thought and Conceptions of Mission in the Russian North American Archdiocese, Late 19th-Early 20th Century." As many of you know, Father Andrew Louth was slotted to speak. However, due to his difficulties in obtaining a visa to enter the United States, the Society regrets that Father Andrew will be unable to deliver the Florovsky Lecture as planned. We are very grateful to the former dean of St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, Fr. John Erickson, for his willingness to serve as the Florovsky Lecturer this year on very short notice.

Announcements as of November 24 2009

OTSA 2010 Meeting and Call for Papers (PDF or Doc)

The Orthodox Theological Society in America will hold its 2010 Annual Meeting June 3-5, 2010 at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary on the theme, "Exploring the Icon of The Servant Church". The Society is very pleased to announce that Andrew Louth will deliver the Annual Georges Florovsky Lecture on Thursday, June 3rd.

The Sophia Institute
Friday, Dec 4th 2009

The 2nd Annual Sophia Institute Conference, on the theme, "Lord When Did We See You Hungry? Philanthropy and Social Compassion in Eastern Christian Tradition." Download the schedule.

Templeton Foundation Grant
Orthodoxy and Science (PDF)

The John Templeton Foundation has awarded a grant to the University of South Carolina to pursue the relationship between science and Orthodox religion in North America. This planning grant seeks to establish a North American Network of interested academics and clergy approaching science and religion from an Orthodox Christian perspective. The focus of the planning grant is to identify interested individuals, establish links with the Eastern Orthodox Church in North America, catalyze scholarship and publications, and begin to establish a not-for-profit institute with a website and mailing list.

The Principal Investigator of the project is Daniel Buxhoeveden and the Co-Principal Investigator is Dennis Poole, both at the University of South Carolina. Gayle Woloschak of Northwestern University is a collaborator in the project as well.

Dowload the PDF for more information. You may contact Daniel Buxhoeveden (buxhoeve@mailbox.sc.edu) if you are interested in participating in the project.

Archbishop Iakovos Graduate Student Conference in Patristic Studies
The Stephen and Catherine Pappas Patristic Institute of the Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology is pleased to announce its sixth annual Archbishop Iakovos Graduate Student Conference in Patristic Studies on March 11 - 13, 2010. The purpose of the conference is to bring graduate students together from the fields of Patristic Studies, Historical Theology, and the History of Christianity in Late Antiquity in a collaborative and theological setting to hear and discuss peer research.

Announcements as of June 23, 2009

Upcoming Calls

Faculty Vocation Grants (PDF) - Office of Vocation & Ministry, HCHC (Due July 1)

Orthodox Christian faculty with a terminal degree in their chosen field (PhD, ThD) are eligible for up to $4000 in grant funding if full-time and up to $2000 if part-time or adjunct. All proposals should contribute to or demonstrate direct impact on one or both of the following areas: a) Make scholarly contribution to the Orthodox Christian theological exploration of vocation and ministry and/or the nascent topic of Orthodoxy and higher education; b) Demonstrate a direct impact on students through the campus Orthodox Christian Fellowship chapter, the mentoring of students regarding faith and vocation, and/or coursework (where appropriate). Interested faculty should first send a one-page letter of intent in which they describe their project and how it meets the grant objectives by July 1, 2009. The OVM Director and staff will review the letters of intent within one week and notify those individuals whose project description appears to meet the goals and Guiding Principles of the OVM Faculty Vocation Grant (see the RFP). Full proposals must be submitted to the OVM by August 15, 2009. Please see the attached Request for Proposals for the full grant description and guidelines, visit www.osi.hchc.edu for more related information, and direct any questions to Dr. Ann Bezzerides, abezzerides@hchc.edu.

Recent Meetings

International Association of Orthodox Dogmatic Theologians (IAODT) 2009 Meeting:

Members Peter Bouteneff, Aristotle Papanikolaou and Despina Prassas recently returned from the second meeting of the IAODT. From June 11-13, 2009, twenty-two professors of Orthodox dogmatic theology from eight countries (Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Russia, Lebanon, France, Germany, and the USA) took part in a meeting organized by the International Association of Orthodox Dogmatic Theologians (IAODT). The meeting took place at the Faculty of Theology at the University of Arad, Romania, with the blessing and in the presence of the local bishop, His Grace Tomotei (Seviciu), himself a theologian with international and ecumenical experience.

The theme of the meetings was Tradition and Dogma: What kind of dogmatic theology do we propose for today? The papers tended to revolve around a constellation of relevant topics, such as the interrelation between theology and worship, theology and culture, as well as theology and exegesis in the contemporary world. The discussion sessions, lively and constructive, sometimes revealed differences in perception of Orthodox identity vis-à-vis the Christian West, and often concerned the relationship between reason and mysticism. As a result, the next meeting, which is slated to take place in June 2011, will address the theme, The function and the limits of reason in dogmatic theology.

• US Press Release
• Participant and Paper list

Announcements as of April 18 2009

Christ is Risen!

OTSA Annual Meeting

The 2009 OTSA Annual meeting Abstract, and Schedule is now available online. The registration form is available as well. Registration forms are due by April 30th. We are looking forward to the conference, as well as the Annual Florovsky Lecture delivered by Fr Robert Taft.

Congratulations!

Fr. Michael Plekon's new book, Hidden Holiness is published! In it, he challenges us to examine the concept of holiness. He argues that both Orthodox and Catholic churches understand saints to be individuals whose lives and deeds are unusual, extraordinary, or miraculous. Such a requirement for sainthood undermines, in his view, one of the basic messages of Christianity: that all people are called to holiness. The book available through Notre Dame Press.

Announcements as of December 10, 2008

OTSA Annual Meeting

The 2009 OTSA Annual meeting call for papers is now available. Please note that the email PDF sent out on 10-December has an error. The due date for paper proposals is February 15, 2009.

Memory Eternal!

Ihumen Gregory (Woolfenden), member of OTSA, reposed in Christ on 20 November, 2008. Short Bio.

Congratulations!

OTSA member and treasurer Demetrios Katos is a Henry Luce III Fellow in Theology, and is on Academic and Administrative leave this year while he completes his upcoming book.

Call for Papers:

PRACTICAL MATTERS

Practical Matters, a new online peer-reviewed journal designed to ask
and provoke questions about religious practice and practical theology,
is now accepting submissions on the theme of Youth for our Spring 2009
issue. We are a multimedia, transdisciplinary journal out of the
Emory University Graduate Division of Religion, funded by Lilly
Endowment Inc.

The submission deadline is March 1, 2009. For further information
about the topic, more specific instructions on possible forms of
submissions, more information on our peer review process, or more
details about the issue theme, please visit our web site at
http://www.practicalmattersjournal.org/.

Announcements as of April 28, 2008

OTSA Annual Meeting

The OTSA Annual meeting schedule is now available.

Call for Submissions: Practical Matters

Practical Matters, a new online peer-reviewed journal designed to ask and provoke questions about religious practice and practical theology, is now accepting submissions on the theme of Imagination. We are a multimedia, transdisciplinary journal out of the Emory University Graduate Division of Religion, funded by the Lilly Endowment Inc.

Submissions should help us see interesting and/or novel connections between imagination and religious practice, past and present, in any context or tradition. That could take many possible forms – e.g. showing the relationship of imagination to ritual or religious community, exploring types of imagination (religious, theological, moral, pastoral, political), helping to clarify the connections between religion and artistic process, revealing dangers or perversions of imagination, etc.

Submissions from diverse disciplinary perspectives are encouraged. This includes, but is not limited to, work originating in religious studies, theology, history, ethics, anthropology, literature, cultural studies, sociology, psychology, political science, philosophy, media studies, the arts, journalism, or the sciences. We also encourage work about and from diverse religious traditions.

We welcome submissions of traditional academic papers and critical essays, but also are encouraging the submission of multimedia scholarship. This might include film, video, soundscape, new media, photography, art or performance, among other possible media. Do note that although exploring the possibilities of multimedia scholarship is part of our mission, we also are committed to working with scholars of varying levels of technical proficiency.

The submission deadline is May 30, 2008. For further information and submission guidelines, please visit our website.

Announcements as of February 8, 2007

The Fourth Annual Archbishop Iakovos Graduate Students Conference in Patristic Studies

The Stephen and Catherine Pappas Patristic Institute of the Holy Cross
Greek Orthodox School of Theology is pleased to announce its fourth annual Archbishop Iakovos Graduate Student Conference in Patristic Studies on April 17-19, 2008. We are now calling for paper proposals. We strongly encourage all doctoral and masters students with research interests in Patristics, Historical Theology, or the History of Christianity in Late Antiquity to submit a paper abstract of approximately 250 words. Topics relating to eastern Christianity are particularly encouraged. For an example of the range of topics, look at the paper titles from our previous years’ conferences. Each presenter will have up to 20 minutes to present, followed by a prepared response and discussion. Please send abstracts to Dr. Bruce Beck at beck.bruce (at) comcast.net by February 15th. You will be informed about the status of your paper proposal on or before February 25th. The deadline for completed papers for distribution to your respondent is April 6th.

2008 Annual Meeting and Call for Papers

The Call for Papers for next year’s annual meeting is closed. A schedule and abstracts will be posted as soon as they are available.

2007 Dues

Recent Annual Dues Statements are in error with respect to dues payments for 2007. Please ignore it. A revised statement will be sent shortly.

Orthodox Journals

The Greek Orthodox Theological Review and St. Vladimir's Theological Quarterly are offering discounted subscriptions to OTSA members. Members are eligible for one year subscription to one journal at $20 (regular price $40) if membership is paid for current year by January 15.