Calvin Seminars in Christian Scholarship - Hermeneutics at the Crossroads

Course Description:
Hermeneutics--interpretation theory--stands at the crossroads of the premodern, modern, and postmodern as well as at the crossroads of the several disciplines for which text interpretation is a central component. This seminar will focus on questions of textual meaning and interpretation--is there a meaning in the text? is objective interpretation possible? does authority reside with the interpretative community? --crucial issues not only for biblical interpretation, but for constitutional interpretation, literary theory, history, cultural studies, and philosophy as well. The seminar group will discuss common readings of significant books and articles from Plato and Augustine to Derrida and Ricoeur, and explore ways in which to bring Christian faith and thought to bear on these interdisciplinary issues. What might "faith seeking understanding" mean when applied to the task of interpreting texts?

Guest lecturers include John Caputo, David R. Cook Professor of Philosophy, Villanova University, Richard Rorty, Professor of Comparative Literature, Stanford University, Roger Lundin, Clyde S. Kilby Professor of English, Wheaton College, Philip Clayton, Professor of Philosophy, Sonoma State University and Susan Felch, Associate Professor of English, Calvin College.

Program Description:
This seminar, one in a series of Christian Worldview Point-Counterpoint Seminars sponsored by a grant from Fieldstead and Company, is designed to provide a forum for Christian scholars and others to explore critical issues facing the Academy in our time. It will include conversations with noted scholars whose viewpoints are directly counter to historic Christian positions. The purpose of these seminars is to enlarge the thinking of all involved.

Participants in each seminar discuss common readings during a six-week residency and work on individual research projects with the director and fellow participants. They are expected to present their projects at a conference the following spring and publish them in appropriate venues. Participants are encouraged to bring their families for the duration.

Seminar participants present their research in a conference held in May 2003, entitled Hermeneutics at the Crossroads: The Disciplines of Text Interpretation.