The Limits of Understanding: Encountering Mystery
Midwest Regional Conference on Christianity and Literature Program
Conference Dates: September 22-24, 2011
Location: University of Saint Francis, Fort Wayne, Indiana
Guest Speaker: Dr. John Alvis (University of Dallas)
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Adam Deville (University of Saint Francis)
“And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus,” writes St. Paul in his letter to the Philippians (4:7). This conference explores literature’s engagement with that “which passes all understanding.” How have humans found rest and peace in the embracing of mystery? How have they wrestled with that which cannot be grasped? How have they rebelled? Surrendered? Resigned themselves? From the mysticism of Saint Francis to the rebellious inquisitiveness of Faust, all human responses to the mystery at the heart of life are of interest.
Thursday, September 22
| 2:15 - 3:45pm |
Mystery as Essential to Human IdentityDoermer 166
Teaching Mysteries: Embracing "Metaphysical Wonderment" in the Liberal Learning Classroom In Pursuit of the Divine Moment The Mystery of Connection and Disconnection: "Bartleby the Scrivener," Social Networking, and Personal Reductionism |
|---|---|
Mystery in Contemporary American FictionDoermer, Room 191
“Make of it what you will”: Miracles, Providence, and Justice in Leif Enger’s Peace Like a River
The Combine and the Cowboy: Teaching the Message of Salvation in One Flew Over the Constant “Bliss in Every Atom”: The Spiritual Vision of David Wallace Foster’s The Pale King |
|
| 4:00 - 5:15pm |
Keynote AddressNorth Campus Auditorium Guarding the Mystery under the Guise of Madness: East Meets West in Evelyn Waugh's Iurodivy |
Friday, September 23
| 8:30 - 9:15am |
Coffee and DoughnutsSecond-Floor Foyer of Pope John Paul II Center |
|---|---|
| 9:15 - 10:30am |
Mystery in PoetryPope John Paul II Center, Room 115 Presence and Distance as Signs of Peace in Denise Levertov and Richard Wilbur Tennyson's In Memoriam: A Faith that Passes Understanding The Assurance of Things Hoped For: Faith in the Prelude to Tennyson's In Memoriam |
Interrelation of the Ordinary and the MysteriousPope John Paul II Center, Room 213 Mystery and the Quotidian Writing the Soul: "Wholeness" in the Novels of Gail Goodwin Adapting Mystery: Representing the Divine in Twentieth-Century Mexican Literature |
|
| 11:20 - 12:35pm |
Creative SessionPope John Paul II Center, Room 307 Mystery through Poetry The Saw Year Prophecy (Poetry) The Dragon Tamer (Fiction) |
Mystery in Renaissance LiteraturePope John Paul II Center, Room 308 Falstaff's Conscience and the Mystery of Grace in Shakespeare's Henry IV "All Their Minds Transfigur'd So Together": The Issue of Certitude in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream Metaphysical Realism in the Poetics of Lucy Hutchinson |
|
| 12:35 - 2pm |
LunchLunch bags provided in second-floor foyer of Pope John Paul II Center |
| 2 - 3:15pm |
Mystery in the Works of DostoevskyPope John Paul II Center, Room 307 Returning God the Ticket: The Legitimacy of Theodicy in The Brothters Karamazov The Brothers Karamazov and the Existential Problem of Evil: Posing Ivan's Question to the Suffering Child The Mystery of Salvation and the Loss of the Intellect in Dostoevsky's The Idiot |
| 3:30 - 4:45pm |
The Canticle ExperienceSchouweiler Planetarium, Achatz Hall Imagine: the "Canticle of the Creatures" under the stars! USF's Edwin Clark Schouweiler Planetarium is the venue for this prayerful immersion in St. Francis' "Canticle" which combines the vastness of outer space with visual and musical images. A historical/theological prelude will prepare participants for this meditative experience of the Canticle. |
| 5 - 7pm |
BanquetNorth Campus Gymnasium |
| 7:30 - 8:30pm |
Guest LectureNorth Campus Auditorium Shakespeare's Teaching in Hamlet: Christian or Macchiavellian? |
Saturday, September 24
| 8:30 - 9:15am |
Coffee and DoughnutsSecond-Floor Foyer of Pope John Paul II Center |
|---|---|
| 9:15 - 10:45pm |
Theoretical/Philosophical Approaches to "Mystery" in LiteraturePope John Paul II Center, Room 308 The Enigmatic as Christian Poetic Aesthetic The God of Universals, Particulars, and Literature Rowan Williams and the "Gratuitous Mystery" of Theology's Object |
Mystery and Ethical IssuesPope John Paul II Center, Room 318
The Mysterious Dignity of Human Beings and Its Implications in More's Utopia The Consequences of Choosing Subjective over Objective Reality as Argued in C.S. Lewis's The
Abolition of Man and Played Out in Huxley's Brave New World
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|
| 11 - 12:30pm |
Mystery in Late Victorian British LiteraturePope John Paul II Center, Room 318 George Gissing and Mystery Marlow's "Extraordinary Find" |
Mystery and EvilPope John Paul II Center, Room 308 To Endure the Mystery: Flannery O'Connor and the Problem of Evil Exploring the Sense of Mystery in Georges Bernanos's Detective Novel Un crime Heaney's Penitential Journey in "Station Island" |
Fort Wayne Attractions
Restaurants:
Naked Tchopstix: This scandalously named sushi restaurant is located right near the Hilton Garden Inn, our official conference hotel.
260.436.2211 - www.tchopstix.com - 8607 U.S. Highway 24 W., Fort Wayne, IN 46804
Paula’s Seafood Restaurant and Market: Offering the best seafood in Fort Wayne, this restaurant is housed in a historic building in the Nebraska neighborhood just west of downtown, with aesthetically beautiful historical factories looming in the background. From campus, take Leesburg south to Main, turn left/east, pass under bridge, and you are almost there.
260.424.2300 - 1732 W. Main Street, Fort Wayne, IN 46808
J.K. O’Donnell’s: A popular Irish pub and restaurant in downtown.
260.420.5563 - www.jkodonnells.com - 121 W. Wayne Street, Fort Wayne, IN 46802
Cindy’s Diner: This 1950s diner has not been altered since the fifties. It offers great breakfast food all day. It is located in the heart of downtown on what used to be the Lincoln Highway that ran from New York’s Times Square to San Francisco and is a remnant of Lincoln Highway’s glory days.
260.422.1957 - 830 South Harrison Street, Fort Wayne, IN 46802.
Toscani Pizzeria:
260.423.6706 - 120 W. Wayne Street, Fort Wayne, IN 46802
The Peace Frog Coffee House:
260.755.5527 - 1522 West Main Street, Fort Wayne, IN 46808
Eddie Merlot’s: A fancy steakhouse.
260.459.2222 - www.eddiemerlots.com - 1502 Illinois Road S., Fort Wayne, IN 46804
Sara’s Family Restaurant: Local family restaurant known for great breakfast food. Located in general vicinity of our conference hotel.
260.436.4185 - www.sarasfamilyrestaurant.com - 5792 Coventry Lane, Fort Wayne, IN 46804
Coney Island Wiener Stand: A historic hole-in-the-wall popular with locals, on the quiet west end of downtown. The hot dogs with chili sauce are quite extraordinary.
260.424.2997 - 131 West Main Street, Fort Wayne, IN 46802
Jefferson Pointe Mall: Starbucks, Biaggi’s, McAllister’s Deli, Panera Bread, an outlet of our local chocolate company, DeBrand’s—all these and more can be found at Jefferson Pointe Outdoor Mall, located just south of the University of St. Francis campus, at 4110 W. Jefferson Boulevard D-5, Fort Wayne, IN 46804. The web address is www.jeffersonshopping.com.
Directions: go east on Spring Street, turn left (south) on Lindenwood, pass by Lindenwood Cemetery, beneath railroad bridge, and then turn right (west) on Jefferson Boulevard. Follow Jefferson until you have passed Illinois Road; right after passing Illinois, you will espy the gleaming turrets of Jefferson Pointe.
Places of Interest
Johnny Appleseed’s Gravesite: Johnny Appleseed lies buried at Johnny Appleseed Park in the northeast part of Fort Wayne, on the banks of the St. Joseph River. The park is located at 1500 East Coliseum Boulevard, Fort Wayne, IN 46805, just behind the World War II Memorial Coliseum.
Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo: Fort Wayne’s zoo, in Franke Park, is one of the most highly ranked zoos in the nation—surprising, I know… It is located at 3411 Sherman Boulevard, Fort Wayne, IN 46808. The web address is kidszoo.org. Phone: 260.427.6800.
Downtown Attractions: Though unfortunately much of historic downtown architecture has been lost to the ravages of the 1960s and ‘70s, some of it remains, and a stroll through downtown is worth it. Note the beautiful mid-nineteenth-century Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, constructed of yellow Indiana limestone, which is across the street from the Botanical Conservatory (1100 S. Calhoun Street, Fort Wayne, IN 46802; www.botanicalconservatory.org). You may also note several beautiful neo-Gothic red-brick Lutheran churches, the most splendid of which is St. Paul Lutheran Church, one of the founding congregations of the Missouri Synod. Old engine houses, the brand-new but architecturally neo-historical Parkview Baseball Field, the Art Deco-style Embassy Theater, the Beaux Arts-style Allen County Courthouse with its beautiful cupola, the Art Deco-style Lincoln Bank Tower (once the tallest building in Indiana) and Allen County’s superb public library also are numbered among downtown’s attractions.
Southwood Park: For a stroll through a picturesque 1920s gingerbread-style neighborhood, take Spring Street east, Wells Street south/right (it turns into Fairfield), and Rudisill Boulevard west (right). Once on Rudisill, look for a side street on your left called Indiana Avenue. Park your car somewhere on Indiana and enjoy a beautiful walk through what well may be Fort Wayne’s loveliest neighborhood. These directions are from the University of St. Francis campus.
If you continue down Rudisill, you will end up at Foster Park. Here, a trail allows you to walk along the banks for the St. Mary’s River (and, yes, we do have both a St. Mary’s and a St. Joseph River).
Amish Country: Immediately north of Fort Wayne, the Amish countryside begins. For a picturesque country drive past Amish farms, take Route 37 from Fort Wayne to Hicksville, Ohio. Once you have reached the nearby Ohio state line, you will have passed out of Amish country. Hicksville is a relatively ordinary little country town but worth a stroll, nonetheless.