GUIDE TO OPENING SESSIONS
THURSDAY, JUNE 27
1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
1. First-Timers Orientation–Judith Valente and Cassidy Hall
Cassidy Hall is the author of Notes on Silence, filmmaker (In Pursuit of Silence), podcaster (Encountering Silence), and holds a masters degree in counseling. Cassidy’s writing has been published in the Convivium Journal, and the Merton Seasonal.
Judith Valente has worked for national PBS-TV, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. Her most recent book is “How To Live: What The Rule of St. Benedict Teaches Us About Happiness, Meaning and Community." She is a popular retreat leader and serves on the ITMS board.
This orientation session is designed for those attending their
first ITMS meeting. The session will include a brief introduction to
Thomas Merton, then consider the meeting theme and offer a preview
of meeting events and sessions. The orientation is an opportunity to
meet other first-timers.
2. ITMS Chapters Workshop–Mike
Brennan
Mike Brennan serves as ITMS Coordinator of Chapters and is director of the
Chicago ITMS Chapter. A former ITMS president, he loves medieval and
Church history. He works at O’Hare Airport and lives in Chicago with
his wife and daughter.
If you are interested in discovering what
ITMS chapters are doing, locating a chapter near you, or learning
how you might go about founding a chapter, attend this session.
3. Creating a Community of Merton Scholars—Deborah Kehoe, Patrick F. O’Connell, Paul M. Pearson
Deborah Kehoe teaches
English as Northeast Mississippi Community College and the
University of Mississippi. She is a frequent presenter at ITMS
General Meetings and
is Co-Editor of The Merton Annual.
Patrick F. O’Connell ITMS founding member and former president, is editor of The
Merton Seasonal, coauthor of The
Thomas Merton Encyclopedia,
and editor of six volumes of Merton’s monastic conferences.
Paul M. Pearson is Director and Archivist of the Thomas Merton Center at
Bellarmine University, resident secretary and treasurer of the ITMS
and chief of research for the Merton Legacy Trust. He is editor of Seeking
Paradise: The Spirit of the Shakers.
This session will include a panel presentation regarding the
publications of The Merton Seasonal and The Merton Annual,
the process for submitting to either journal, and opportunities to
discuss ways to support persons interested in Merton, contemplation
and the social issues of the 21st century.
4. Merton and Journey
a. Kathleen Tarr—“From the Inner Frontier to the Last Frontier: Thomas Merton’s 1968 Alaska Journey.”
Kathleen Tarr is the author of We Are All
Poets Here (2018). She earned her MFA at the University of
Pittsburgh and serves on the board of the Alaska Humanities Forum.
In 1968, Merton spent 17 days in the land of tundra, glaciers, rain
forests, and sacred and majestic mountains—Alaska. An intimate
interpretation will be offered about Merton’s short, yet profound,
sojourn north. New spiritual insights and physical details will
deepen our understanding of this mostly overlooked aspect of
Merton’s biography.
b. Joseph Quinn Raab—"Madness and Meaning:
Thomas Merton and the Sixties."
Joseph Quinn Raab is
professor of Religious Studies and Theology at Siena Heights
University. He received
a Ph. D. in theology from the University of St. Michael’s College,
at the University of Toronto (2000). He is co-editor of
The Merton Annual: Studies in
Culture, Spirituality and Social Concerns.
Thomas Merton produced his most poignant social critiques in the
nineteen sixties. With
Foucault’s Madness and
Civilization in 1961 and Hannah Arendt’s
Eichman in Jerusalem in
1963, the problem of what madness means was in the public discourse.
This paper explores the problem of “madness” in the final
years of Merton’s life and considers their continued relevance in
our own mad world.
5. Merton in Correspondence
a. Gordon Oyer—" Peace and Person in Merton's Correspondence."
Gordon Oyer received his MA in
history from the University of Illinois—Urbana-Champaign. He is the
author of Pursuing the
Spiritual Roots of Protest.
Thomas Merton’s views of personhood and the “unique self” provided
a cornerstone for many facets of his worldview, including his
reflections on monastic prayer, contemplation, and community. This
paper explores ways in which his personalism also underpins his
engagement with social issues and his relationships with social
activists.
b. William Apel—" How to Disagree: Peace
Building in the Interfaith Letters of Thomas Merton and Dona Louisa
Coomerwaswamy."
William Apel
is an emeritus professor in religion and spirituality at Linfield
College in Oregon. He has presented papers on Thomas Merton at
numerous ITMS and Merton Society of Britian and Ireland meetings and
is the author of Signs of
Peace: The Interfaith Letters of Thomas Merton published by
Orbis Books.
Dona Louisa Coomeraswamy wondered whether something like a Sufi order could be established within Christianity. This paper explores the manner in which Merton responds to Dona Louisa's proposal and how his response offers a model for peacebuilding - especially when disagreement occurs. Merton could not fully agree with Dona Louisa's proposition. It can be said that Merton presents us with a way to disagree without being disagreeable or worse. His correspondence with Dona Louisa contains a way that could prove to be a valuable model for dialogue in our present polarized times.