JIS Symposium 2025: “C.S. Lewis & J.R.R. Tolkien: The Promise of Christian Fairytales”

Date : 1st August 2025 to 2nd August 2025

Place : United States of America, Pasadena

Website :https://www.jis3.org/symposium2025

Contact Person:Oskar Gruenwald, Ph.D.

Description:

The Inklings revitalized ancient genre--Quest for the Holy Grail. Can Christian fairytales restore a fractured self by envisioning a more felicitous human nature pursuing classical virtues, nurturing families & communities, aspiring to transcendence?

JIS Symposium 2025: “C.S. Lewis & J.R.R. Tolkien: The Promise of Christian Fairytales” will be held in Pasadena,United States of America on date 2025-08-02

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Deadline for abstracts/proposals : 15th March 2025

Keynote Speakers :

Conference Highlights :CONFERENCES 2025 – Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies


JIS SYMPOSIUM 2025:C.S. LEWIS & J.R.R. TOLKIEN:THE PROMISE OF CHRISTIAN FAIRYTALES
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 Narnianarratives and Tolkien’sThe HobbitandThe Lord of the Ringsoffered 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?
CONFERENCE STRUCTURE:
Main Conference Program via Zoom:  Saturday, 18 October 2025.Format:  Multidisciplinary panels and papers.  Suggest PowerPoint presentations.Keynote:  Joshua Roberts, “Saving the Imagination: The Inklings and Their Interpreters.”Leitmotif:  In search of virtues (theTao) 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 DonateButton on JIS Symposium 2025 web: https://www.jis3.org/symposium2025.

Check the event website for more details.