Belmont University Announces C.S. Lewis Academic Conference

Event on Eve of Release of Disney’s Narnia Blockbuster; University Issues Call for Academic Papers
Inspired by the forthcoming Walden Media/Disney Film of the classic Chronicles of Narnia story The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Belmont University has scheduled this year’s biggest academic conference on author C. S. Lewis and his contribution to literature, theology, apologetics, scholarship, popular culture, myth, and imagination. The conference, titled Past Watchful Dragons: Fantasy and Faith in the World of C. S. Lewis, will be held November 3-5, 2005, on the Belmont University campus in Nashville, and will also consider the work of the constellation of writers associated with Lewis such as J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, Owen Barfield, and Dorothy Sayers.

Belmont University has issued a call for academic papers in relation to the event.
Scheduled to appear at the conference:
• Doug Gresham, stepson of C. S. Lewis and consultant to the Disney film;
• Christopher Mitchell, Director of the Marion E. Wade Center and Assistant Professor of Theology, Wheaton College;
• Bruce Edwards, noted Lewis scholar, Associate Dean, and Professor of English at Bowling Green State University;
• David Payne, British actor and President of Rising Image Productions, specializing in dramatizations of the works of C. S. Lewis; and
• Glass Hammer, literary progressive rock band specializing in original music based on the writings of C. S. Lewis.
The university invites scholars, students, church and community members to attend this exciting event. Scholars working on C.S. Lewis and the Inklings are invited to present paper proposals on the following suggested topics:
• Fantasy and Film: Lewis and The Inklings.
• Archetypes in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
• The Image of the Messiah and the Works of C. S. Lewis and the Inklings
• Overcoming Evil with Good: The Theology of Lewis
• Fairy Stories: Worlds of Imagination in the Writings of Lewis and Tolkien
• Surprised by Words: ‘Thrones, Dominations, Princedoms’ and the Aesthetic Experience
• Lewis and the Integration of Faith and Learning
• The Appeal of C. S. Lewis: Exploring the Mystery
Papers on other topics considering the work of C. S. Lewis and suggested panel discussion topics are also welcomed. The university is accepting proposals online at www.belmont.edu/cslewis. Proposals should be limited to a 300-word abstract, and papers should be 20-25 minutes in presentation length. All paper submissions are due by May 1, 2005.