The Twelfth General Meeting of the
International Thomas Merton Society
June 9-12, 2011
at
Loyola University,
Chicago, Illinois
Thomas Merton entered the Abbey of
Gethsemani on December 10, 1941; so in the Twelfth General Meeting, the ITMS
will mark the seventieth anniversary of this pivotal moment in his life. The
Abbey of Gethsemani became the first real home that Merton had ever known.
In The Sign of Jonas Merton wrote “This is the land where you have
given me roots in eternity, O God of heaven and earth. This is the burning
promised land, the house of God, the gate of heaven, the place of peace, the
place of silence, the place of wrestling with the angel.” The monastic
life provided Merton with the spirituality and the structure to produce some
of the great spiritual texts of our time. Merton’s exploration of
spirituality and monasticism and its relevance for the modern world
transformed monasticism and influenced innumerable people around the world,
as he became a prophetic critic of contemporary urban crises and an agent of
social transformation.
Download the Conference
Brochure as an Adobe PDF File - ITMS
Conference Brochure
Plenary
Speakers:
| Douglas Burton-Christie |
Martin E. Marty |
Robert F. Morneau
|
Esther de Waal |
Friday Evening
Thomas Merton’s Celestial and Urban Music:
A concert of
Thomas Merton’s Poetry Set to Music. |
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Presidential Address |
Dorothy Day Roundtable |
Closing Liturgy |
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Robert Grip |
Robert Ellsberg , Tom Cornell and Rosalie
Riegle |
James Conner, OCSO |
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Opening
Sessions:
First-Timers' Session I
Robert Grip |
Merton: Monasticism
East and
West
Nass Cannon |
Researching Merton
Mark Meade / Andrea Neuhoff
|
Emerging Scholars
Eric
Anglada / Vanessa Wibberley /
Hyeokil Kwon |
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First-Timers' Session II
Soul Searching:
The Thomas Merton Story
Morgan Atkinson |
Chapters Workshop
John King |
Merton and the Challenge of Technology
Paul Dekar / Gary Purdy |
Merton and Cuba:
1940,
1959, 1962
Don Grayston |
Concurrent Sessions:
Merton: Vision and Revision
Mary Frances
Coady / Patrick F. O’Connell |
Merton’s Mysticism: City and
Cosmos
Cristóbal Serrán-Pagán / Robert Peach |
Merton: Shaping a Culture
of Justice
William Apel / Robert Weldon Whalen |
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Merton and the Education of the Heart
Mary McDonald / Ty Anderson |
Merton and Poetic Imagination
Lynn Szabo / Małgorzata Poks |
Merton and Marxism
David
Golemboski / Marc Boswell |
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Merton: Desert and City
Patrick Cousins
/ Christopher Pramuk |
Merton: Camus, Milosz, Hopkins
David Belcastro /Mary Sommerset |
Merton and Monastic Vision
Christine Bochen / Young-Suck Moon |
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Merton and Contemporary Culture
Jeff
Kiernan / Dan P. Horan, OFM |
Merton and the Wild Ones
Angus
Stuart / Joseph Madonna |
Merton and Two Historical
Voices
Kathleen Deignan, CND / Joshua Hollmann |
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Merton and the Human Community
Steven
Millies / Larry Culliford |
Merton in Correspondence
Maria
Barrera / Fiona Gardner |
Merton: Paradox and
Struggle
Lars Adolfsson / Ed Kaplan |
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Merton and the Earthly Paradise
Katharine Bubel / Hans Gustafson |
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Workshops, Guided Prayer & Special
Presentations:
Thomas Merton and Dorothy Day:
Pilgrims
and Prophets of Peace
Sharon Halsey-Hoover / David Hoover
|
The Paradox of Place: Experiencing
‘All the Times and Moods of One Good Place’ with Thomas Merton
Paul M. Pearson |
Another Door To
Contemplation:
Wisdom in Thomas Merton’s Art
Mary Louise
Heffernan, SSJ |
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Merton and Mission
Mark Filut, OCSO |
Doing Lectio with Thomas
Merton
Suzanne Zuercher |
A Signed Confession of
Crimes Against the State
Gray Matthews |
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Soul Friends: Merton and Modern Poets
Judith Valente / Charles Reynard |
Finding the Sky Within
Monica
Weis, SSJ |
Seeing Through the Eyes of
Thomas Merton:
The New York Years
Jan Sheridan |
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Uncommon Vision: The Life and Times of
John Howard Griffin
Morgan Atkinson |
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Drawn into the Mystery:
Art-Journaling® with lines, shapes and spaces as a way of
meditation and prayer
Marianne Hieb |
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Program Committee
Donald Grayston, Vancouver, BC. Canada
(Chair)
Michael A Brennan, Chicago, IL (Site Coordinator)
Christine M. Bochen, Rochester, NY
Vaughn Fayle, Chicago, IL
Robert G. Grip, Mobile, AL
Paul M Pearson, Louisville, KY
Monica Weis, Rochester, NY
Suzanne
Zuercher, Chicago, IL
|
Chicago Site
Committee
Michael A. Brennan (Site Coordinator)
Vaughn
Fayle, Chicago, IL
Suzanne Zuercher, Chicago, IL
|
L to R: Suzanne Zuercher, Paul M. Pearson,
Robert G. Grip, Monica Weis, Vaughn Fayle,
Christine M. Bochen, Michael
A. Brennan, Donald Grayston.