CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS:

JIS SYMPOSIUM 2025: C.S. LEWIS & J.R.R. TOLKIEN:
THE PROMISE OF CHRISTIAN FAIRYTALES

PASADENA, CALIFORNIA, USA
18 OCTOBER 2025 (Online: Zoom)

Hosted by Omega Graduate School

Suggested Themes:

It is not an exaggeration to state that, in the long shadows of the twentieth century, a remarkable fellowship of British Medievalists known as the Inklings Christianized the Western literary canon.  In their award-winning book, The Fellowship: The Literary Lives of the Inklings: J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Owen Barfield, Charles Williams (2015), Philip and Carol Zaleski conclude that a small group of romantics and fantasists sought to revitalize literature and faith in the twentieth century’s darkest years.  Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia narratives and Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings offered Christian fairytales as a conduit for re-enchanting the modern world.  Arguably, the Inklings revitalized the ancient genre of the Quest for the Holy Grail that fascinates readers across centuries with its great themes of voyages, challenges, conquest, self-conquest, and the ultimate triumph of good over evil.  The question arises whether Christian fairytales may redeem the postmodern temper steeped in a cultural morass of relativism, subjectivism, and nihilism, where many are seduced by a secular marketplace offering high-tech substitutes for self-realization.  Can Lewis’ and Tolkien’s moral imagination inspire a renewed optimism in the human capacities of reason, faith, love, and compassion?  In sum, can Christian fairytales restore a fractured postmodern self by envisioning a more felicitous human nature in pursuit of the classical virtues of beauty, truth, and goodness, nurturing families and communities, and aspiring to transcendence?

C.S. LEWIS & J.R.R. TOLKIEN  2025  SYMPOSIUM  GUIDELINES:

C.S. LEWIS & J.R.R. TOLKIEN JIS Symposium 2025 endeavors to bring together scholars from a wide range of disciplines and denominations for an exciting international conference that takes both scholarship and faith seriously.  Conference Venue: JIS Symposium 2025 is co-sponsored by IIR-ICSA-JIS in the City of the Roses–the world-famous Tournament of Roses–in sunny Southern California, with many cultural/sightseeing opportunities (online via Zoom).  Send Abstracts (250 words) to: Dr. O. Gruenwald, JIS Editor, 1065 Pine Bluff Dr., Pasadena, CA 91107, USA, per e-mail (no attachments) by: April 15, 2025 to: JIS Symposium 2025 (info at jis3.org).  Include: Paper Title, First & Last Name, faculty or student, mailing address, phone & e-mail.  Publication: Fully-developed papers will be considered for publication in the Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies XXXVIII 2026. Symposium Web:  https://www.jis3.org/symposium2025.  Registration: All participants must pre-register (tax-deductible).  For those wishing to visit Pasadena, contact: www.visitpasadena.com.

CONFERENCE STRUCTURE:

Main Conference Program via Zoom:  Saturday, 18 October 2025.
Format:  Multidisciplinary panels and papers.  Suggest PowerPoint presentations.
Keynote: TBA.
Leitmotif:  In search of virtues (the Tao) in Christian fairytales.
Sponsors:  Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, Institute for Interdisciplinary Research, International Christian Studies Association.
Hosted By:  Omega Graduate School. Dr. David C. Ward, Zoom Coordinator.
Registration:  Donation (tax-deductible).  Online Option via PayPal: Use PayPal Donate Button on JIS Symposium 2025 web: https://www.jis3.org/symposium2025.

C.S. LEWIS & J.R.R. TOLKIEN  2025  REGISTRATION  FORM:

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Print: JIS Symposium 2025 Call for Papers/Registration and send Money Order/Travelers Check in U.S. funds drawn on a U.S. bank, payable to: ICSA.  Mail Form & Payment to: Dr. O. Gruenwald, Institute for Interdisciplinary Research, 1065 Pine Bluff Dr., Pasadena, CA 91107, USA.  For Credit Card: Use PayPal Donate Button.