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BGSA Conference

3rd Annual Braniff Conference in the Liberal Arts: On Friendship | January 27-28, 2017

FriendshipEach year the Braniff Graduate Student Association organizes a conference that reflects the unique interdisciplinary nature of the Braniff Graduate School and its emphases on the Western tradition, classical education and contemporary scholarship. This year's conference will explore the theme of friendship as addressed in the Western tradition and will take place at the University of Dallas, located in Irving, TX. 

A detailed conference program may be found here. 

The Speakers:

This year's keynote speaker is Ronna Burger, author, speaker and professor of philosophy at Tulane University. Plenary speakers include Erika Kidd, assistant professor of Catholic studies at the University of St. Thomas and Gary Borjesson, practicing psychotherapist.

  • Erika Kidd, "Parting Words: Augustine on Language and Loss," Friday, 5 p.m., Art History Auditorium
  • Gary Borjesson, "Friendship and Psychotherapy: Reflections on Friendship's Therapeutic Power," Saturday, 10:45 a.m., SB Hall Multifunction Room
  • Ronna Burger, "Aristotle on Friendship, Philosophy, and the Metaphysics of Eros," Saturday, 5:00 p.m., SB Hall Multifunction Room

Call for Papers: 

Abstracts are due no later than November 9, 2016.

The conference is multi-disciplinary and therefore welcomes papers from scholars working in the liberal arts including philosophy, literature, politics, theology, and psychology, through a single discipline or through an interdisciplinary approach, drawing from the classical, medieval, modern, or contemporary period. Preference is given to papers conversant with the great texts of the Western tradition. 

Braniff 2016 Conference

Relevant topics include, but are not limited to:  

  • Love and friendship, eros and philia
  • Friendship, citizenship, and civility
  • Friendship and ethics
  • Literary depictions and explorations of friendship
  • Biblical and theological understandings of friendship
  • Philosophic inquiry and friendship
  • Rhetoric, persuasion, and friendship
  • Friendship, selfhood, and authenticity
  • The psychology of friendship

We invite scholars working in the liberal arts to submit abstracts of no more than 500 words that consider the theme of friendship from the perspective of their discipline or through an interdisciplinary approach. Preference will be given to papers conversant with the great texts of the Western tradition. The conference committee will invite select authors to publish their essays in a special edition of Ramify: The Journal of the Braniff Graduate School of Liberal Arts.

Submit abstracts to udbgsaconference@gmail.com. Abstracts should be prepared for blind review. Please include a separate cover letter with your name, paper title, email address, and institutional affiliation.

Presenters will be notified of their acceptance by Monday, Nov. 28 and will be asked to submit their full papers, suitable for a 15 minute presentation (no more than 2,500 words), by Dec. 31, 2016.

Previous BGSA Conferences:

A description of the 2016 BCLA: On Philosophy and Poetry, may be found here. The keynote speaker was Ron Smith, Poet Laureate of Virginia.

Proceedings from the 2015 BCLA: On Reason and Revelation, were published by Ramify. The keynote speaker was Khalil Habib, Philosophy, Salve Regina University.

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