History, Continuity, and Rupture
A Symposium on Christianity and Art History
Sponsored by The Association of Scholars of Christianity in the History of Art
Le Pavé d’Orsay, Paris, France
May 25 – 31, 2010

Call for Papers Deadline: January 1, 2010

If the history of art and architecture has been one of both rupture
and continuity, nowhere has this process of continuity and creativity
been more evident than in the 2000-year history of Christianity and
the visual arts. At times marked by religious conservatism, and at
times by radical innovation, artists engaged in developing visual
means of expressing Christian faith and doubt within various
historical contexts have both embraced and transformed inherited
thematic, iconographic, and formal elements. This creative process
has, over two millennia, established numerous and diverse connections
across historical, geographic, religious, and cultural divides.

Practices of art history and criticism must, in turn, include
strategies by which both points of connection and innovation are
recognized within the work of artists informed by Christian faith. We
seek 20-minute papers to be presented in French or English that
represent new and publishable scholarship addressing the ways in which
artistic initiatives have emerged from within particular cultural,
historical, and religious moments engaged in the reception and
transformation of inherited thematic, iconographic, and/or formal
elements associated with Christian faith. Because nowhere is this
history given wider representation than in Paris, History, Continuity,
Rupture will be held at Pavé d’Orsay, sponsored by La Fonderie, at 48
rue de Lille, just blocks from the Musée d’Orsay. Papers engaging
works of art and architecture in Paris are of special interest and
select Symposium papers are intended for publication in English in a
collected volume. It is hoped that Symposium participants will also
form the core of inaugural efforts to form an Association of Scholars
of Christianity in the History of Art.

Paper proposals of no more than two pages double-spaced should be
submitted along with a cover letter and c.v. to James Romaine
([email protected] ) and Linda Stratford ([email protected] ) and
should include reference to methodological assumptions.

The deadline for submission is January 1, 2010. Previously presented or published
papers will be considered but should be indicated as such. Acceptance
in the Symposium implies commitment to attend.

Linda Stratford and James Romaine, Symposium co-chairs
Linda Stratford
Asbury College
1 Macklem Drive
Wilmore, Kentucky 40390

Email: [email protected]