Emotive Cognition and Sensuous Devotion in Catholicism: Call for Discussants

John Corrigan of Florida State sends along the following announcement:

²    C   O   N  N   E   C   T   I   C   U   T      C   O   L   L   E   G  E   ² 

  C A L L  F O R  D I S C U S S A N T S

E M O T I V E  C O G N I T I O N   &   S E N S U O U S  D E V O T I O N

²    I N  C A T H O L I C I S M    ² 

A CONNECTICUT COLLEGE SEMINAR DIRECTED BY FRANK GRAZIANO

FEATURING PRESENTATIONS BY

S I M O N  C O L E M A N

Chancellor Jackman Professor of Religion & Anthropology

University of Toronto

J O H N  C O R R I G A N

Lucius Moody Bristol Distinguished Professor of Religion

Florida State University

J E F F R E Y  F.  H A M B U R G E R

Kuno Francke Professor of German Art & Culture

Harvard University

D A V I D  M O R G A N

Professor of Religion

Duke University

O C T O B E R   2 6 – 2 7 ,  2 0 1 2

v  Seminar Themes

Sensory stimuli (visual culture, tactile contact, silence and sound) and perception in relation to forms and experiences of devotion and to emotive cognition v ambient emotional cueing, including the ways in which material culture predisposes and informs religious affect and understanding v the influences of specific emotions (love, fear, guilt, joy, gratitude) on devotion, perception, and cognition v the effect of moods evoked by sensuous devotion on cognitive evaluation of beliefs, events, and memories v supernatural presence in statues and paintings, and interactive contemplation of these images v the living attributes (animation, bleeding, expression of emotion) and agency (performing miracles) of certain sacred images v mental imagery v emotive effects of architectural acoustics v sensory intuition of divine presence v empathetic identification with represented suffering v emotive cognition of liturgical discourse v individual and collective imagination (including traditions) as they pertain to emotive cognition and sensuous devotion v any other themes pertinent to the seminar’s field of inquiry.

v  Seminar Format

The seminar is comprised of sixteen participants; four are presenters, upon whose work the seminar is based, and the others are discussants. Five of the discussants are selected through a national call for participants, and the others are selected from the Connecticut College community. The seminar will take place on October 26-27, 2012. It begins informally on Friday evening, meets on Saturday, and concludes with a dinner on Saturday evening.

Rather than reading their papers during the seminar, the presenters submit the papers one month in advance of the meeting date. The papers are circulated to all seminar participants, who agree upon selection to read the papers prior to the seminar and to prepare questions and discussion comments.

Each presenter is allotted seventy-five minutes on the program. The presentations entail a fifteen-minute opening statement (to identify themes, build context, show slides, or introduce discussion topics) followed by questions and by discussion led by the presenter.

v  Discussants

Faculty interested in participating as discussants may apply by sending a brief letter stating the relevance of the seminar to research interests and a one-page biographical note or two-page curriculum vitae. The deadline for receipt of these materials is March 5, 2012. Decisions will be announced by the end of March. Please send your materials to Nancy Lewandowski, nflew@conncoll.edu, using “Discussant Proposal” as the subject line. Discussants are not paid an honorarium or travel expenses but upon arrival are guests of Connecticut College (including hotel accommodations and meals). Please address any questions to Frank Graziano, John D. MacArthur Professor of Hispanic Studies, fgraz@conncoll.edu.

v  Audience

The seminar meetings are open to the public without charge. To register, please send your name and email to Nancy Lewandowski, nflew@conncoll.edu. Please use “Seminar Registration” as the subject line.

v  Location

The seminar will take place on the Connecticut College campus in New London, Connecticut. New London is located on Interstate 95, approximately midway between New York City and Boston (two hours to either by car). At a one-hour distance to the north and south, respectively, are Providence and New Haven. There are Amtrak, bus, and ferry (from Long Island) stations in New London, and the closest airports are Providence (the most convenient airport) and Hartford, both about one hour from campus.

v  Sponsors

This event is sponsored by Connecticut College’s Dean of the Faculty. Additional support was provided by the College’s Information Services and the Departments of Anthropology, Art History & Architectural Studies, and Religious Studies.