SEMINARS IN CHRISTIAN SCHOLARSHIP 2000 Sponsored by The Pew Charitable Trusts
Christianity as a World Religion Lamin Sanneh, D. Willis James Professor of Missions and World Christianity, Yale University June 19 through July 28, 2000 Course Description	Modernity, Postmodernity, and the Future of Hope Miroslav Volf, Henry B. Wright Professor of Theology, Yale University June 19 through July 28, 2000 Course Description
This seminar will examine the factors that have powered Christianity as a world religion and thus helped to shape a new era of intellectual and spiritual awakening, cultural revitalization, and personal commitment among the peoples in the non-Western world. A comparative historical and theological perspective will be used to examine world Christianity as the fruit of the western missionary movement and as the promoter and preserver of non-Western languages and cultures. The historical materials will reassess the role of missions in the context of colonial rule, and the Christian impact in relation to the preservation or corruption of local cultures and societies. Wide participation of faculty from a variety of disciplines is expected in the seminar.	Over the last three decades a major cultural shift has taken place in the attitudes of Western societies toward the future. Optimism has given way to pessimism, messianic codes of thought have capitulated before the drawing of apocalyptic or even exterministic scenarios. A major theological and cultural project must be re-learning the forgotten language of hope or infusing the jaded language of hope with new vitality. The seminar group will analyze modern forms of optimism (Marx et al.), postmodern forms of tragedy and cynicism (Nietzche et. al), and the impact of the contemporary global media culture of images on thinking about the future. The group will explore ways to retrieve authentically Christian language about the future. Disciplines related to the topic are theology, religious studies, political science, philosophy, history, social studies, and anthropology.
Public Lecture Audio Information Follow-up Conference
Program Description Two seminars are offered each summer. The participants in each seminar share and discuss common reading during a six-week residency and work on individual research projects with the director and fellow participants. They are also expected to attend a follow-up conference, and some participants may be invited to speak at this conference. The highest quality work produced will be included in a collection of essays on the seminar topic.	Advisory Board V. Elving Anderson University of Minnesota Jean Bethke Elshtain The University of Chicago Roger Lundin Wheaton College George Marsden University of Notre Dame Christian Smith University of North Carolina Eleonore Stump St. Louis University

Contact seminars@calvin.edu. Last revised on 30 December 2003 by A.B. Chadderdon.