Past Events

June 25-27, 2009: International Colloquium on Perelandra with Second Premiere of Perelandra: The Opera. Sponsored by the Oxford C.S. Lewis Society

March 26-28, 2009: “Inklings: Dinosaurs or Contemporaries?” Sponsored by the C.S. Lewis and Inklings Society. Keynotes: Peter Schakel, Cook Professor of English, Hope College; Devin Brown, Professor of English, Asbury College

December 7, 2008: “What’s So Great About Christianity,” with Dinesh D’Souza, sponsored by Grace Cathedral of San Francisco, co-sponsored by C.S. Lewis Society of California. Speakers: Dinesh D’Souza, author of the bestselling book What’s So Great About Christianity; Alan W. Jones, Dean, Grace Cathedral

October 16, 2008: “A Good God? A Dialogue About the Problems of Suffering and Evil” Debate/Discussion with N.T. Wright and Bart Ehrman, sponsored by Socrates in San Francisco

July 4-6, 2008: “Charles Williams and His Contemporaries,” sponsored by the Charles Williams Society. The conference aims at setting the life and work of Charles Williams (1886-1945) in its context. Of particular interest, of course, will be papers (4,000-6,000 words) on Williams himself and papers which deal with the lives and work of those who knew him in London and/or Oxford, and arguably influenced him or were influenced by him (e.g. Coventry Patmore, A. E. Waite, Alice Meynell, J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, Dorothy L, Sayers, Evelyn Underhill, T. S. Eliot, W. H. Auden, Robert Graves, John Heath-Stubbs). However, papers need not be confined to these areas and submissions on a variety of aspects of the period will be welcomed. They may cover literary, theological, historical, or biographical ground.

June 20-22, 2008: LionCon: A Narnian Convention, sponsored by Narniaweb.com, Narniafans.com, and TheLionsCall.com

May 29-June 1, 2008: Sixth Frances Ewbank Colloquium on C.S. Lewis & Friends, sponsored by Taylor University

May 22, 2008: “The Role of Art in Human Community,” sponsored by Socrates in San Francisco and co-sponsored by the C.S. Lewis Society of California. Speaker: Dana Gioia, Chairman of the National Endowment of the Arts, Recipient of the American Book Award, Recipient of the Poet’s Prize, Finalist for the National Book Critics Award

March 12, 2008: “God, Nature, and Modern Science,” sponsored by the C.S. Lewis Society of California. Featuring two top scholars, this very timely program examined the relationship between science and faith and offer thoughtful insights and discussion of such issues as origins, design, free will, evolution, materialism, transcendence, and more. Speakers: Paul D. Ashby, Staff Scientist, Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Former Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ph.D. (Physical Chemistry), Harvard University; Edward B. Davis, Professor of the History of Science, Messiah College, Director, Central Pennsylvania Forum for Religion and Science, Ph.D (History and Philosophy of Science), Indiana University

January 25-27, 2008: “C.S. Lewis Conference,” sponsored by Hope Lutheran Church

October 5-6, 2007: “The Crisis of the University: Freedom, Tolerance and the Pursuit of Truth,” sponsored by the C.S. Lewis Foundation

August 3-6, 2007: The 38th Annual Mythopoeic Conference (Mythcon XXXVIII), “Becoming Adept: The Journey to Mastery,” sponsored by the Mythopoeic Society

June 28-July 1, 2007: C.S. Lewis Summer Conference: “Finding the Way: C.S. Lewis as Pilgrim Guide in an Age of Pluralism,” sponsored by the C.S. Lewis Foundation.

Speakers:

• John Mark Reynolds, Founder and Director, Torrey Honors Institute; Associate Professor of Philosophy, Biola University; author, Towards a Unified Platonic Human Psychology
• Armand M. Nicholi, Jr., Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; author, The Question of God: C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud Debate God, Love, Sex and the Meaning of Life
• Paul F. Ford, Professor of Systematic Theology and Liturgy, St. John’s Seminary; author, Companion to Narnia: A Complete Guide to the Magical World of C. S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia
• Diana P. Glyer, Professor of English, Azusa Pacific University; author, The Company They Keep: C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien as Writers in Community
• Malcolm Guite, College Chaplian, Girton College
• Andrew Lazo, Jacob K. Javits Fellow, Marion E. Wade Center, Wheaton College
• Vishal Mangalwadi, Director, South Asian Resources, India; author, The World of Gurus
• Rick Hill, Professor of Writing, Point Loma Nazarene University

June 16, 2007: “Opposition Is True Friendship: Love, Friendship and Philosophy in C.S. Lewis’s World,” sponsored by the Southern California C.S. Lewis Society

Speakers:

• Gayne J. Anacker, Professor of Philosophy, Califorrnia Baptist University
• Paul F. Ford, Professor of Systematic Theology and Liturgy, St. John’s Seminary; author, Companion to Narnia: A Complete Guide to the Magical World of C. S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia
• Diana P. Glyer, Professor of English, Azusa Pacific University; author, The Company They Keep: C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien as Writers in Community
• Jane Hipolito, Professor of English and Comparative Literature, California State University at Fullerton; founding member, Owen Barfield Society
• James Prothero, former Editor, The Lamp-Post; author of forthcoming book, Wordsworth and Wales

June 14-16, 2007: The 26th Annual Chesterton Conference: “The Man Who Was Today,” sponsored by the American Chesterton Society

June 13-17, 2007: Dorothy L. Sayers Society Annual Convention, sponsored by the Marion E. Wade Center, Wheaton College. The Dorothy Sayers Society (DLS) will hold its second Wheaton convention, ten years after the first. The program will include numerous speaker. the annual DLS/Barbara Reynolds birthday with a banquet on the first night, performance of Gaudy Night, and more.

Speakers:

• Joe R. Christopher, Professor of English, Tarleton State University
• Stephan P. Clarke, compiled and editor, The Lord Peter Wimsey Companion
• Christopher Dean, editor, Studies in Sayers
• Seona Ford
• Frances Limoncelli, adapter, Strong Poison and Gaudy Night
• Marjorie L. Mead, Associate Director, Marion E. Wade Center, Wheaton College
• Christopher W. Mitchell, Director, Marion E. Wade Center, Wheaton College
• Susan Peters
• Jasmine Simeone, Secretary, Dorothy Sayers Society
• Maggie Goodman, director, The Man Born to Be King

May 5, 2007: Southeast Regional C.S. Lewis Conference: “Faith Set Free: C.S. Lewis and the Quest for Joy,” sponsored by the C.S. Lewis Foundation

Speakers:

• Joseph Pearce, Professor of Literature, Ave Laria University; author of C. S. Lewis and the Catholic Church, Tolkien: Man and Myth and Literary Converts: Spiritual Inspiration in an Age of Unbelief
• J. Stanley Mattson, Founder and President, C.S. Lewis Foundation
• Andrew Lazo, Jacob K. Javits Fellow in the Humanities, Marion E. Wade Center, Wheaton College
• Stacy Jagger and Ad Deum Dance Company

March 23-24, 2007: “The Inklings and the Spiritual Journey,” sponsored by the C.S. Lewis & Inklings Society

Speakers:

• Thomas T. Howard, Professor of English Emeritus, St. John’s Seminary; author of C. S. Lewis: Man of Letters, The Achievement of C. S. Lewis: A Reading of His Fiction, Narnia and Beyond: A Guide to the Fiction of C.S. Lewis, and The Novels of Charles Williams
• Rolland Hein, Professor of English Emeritus, Wheaton College; author of Christian Mythmakers: C.S. Lewis, Madeleine L’Engle, J.R.R. Tolkien, George MacDonald, G.K. Chesterton, & Others, The Harmony Within: The Spiritual Vision of George MacDonald, and George MacDonald: Victorian Mythmaker
• David L. Neuhouser, Director, Center for the Study of C. S. Lewis & Friends, Taylor University
• Kerry Dearborn, Professor of Theological Studies, Seattle Pacific University

November 16-18, 2006: Apologetics Conference — “Loving God With All Your Mind,” sponsored by the C.S. Lewis Institute

Speakers:

• N.T. Wright, Bishop of Durham; author of The Challenge of Jesus, The New Testament and the People of God, Jesus and the Victory of God, and other books
• Craig Hazen, Professor of Philosopohy, Biola University; author, The Village Enlightenment in America: Popular Religion and Science in the Nineteenth Century, and other books
• The Village Enlightenment in America: Popular Religion and Science in the Nineteenth Century
• William Lane Craig, Professor of Philosopohy, Biola University; author, Theism, Atheism and Big Bang Controversy, God, Time and Eternity, and other books
• J.P. Moreland, Professor of Theology, Biola University; author, Does God Exist?, Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview, and other books
• Gary R. Habermas, Professor of Religion, Liberty University; author, The Historical Jesus: Ancient Evidence for the Life of Christ and other books

August 21-25, 2006: The Oxford Tolkien Conference: The Lord of the Rings: Sources of Inspiration

Speakers:

• Marcel Bülles, Founding Chairman, German Tolkien Society
• Stratford Caldecott, European Director, G. K. Chesterton Institute for Faith & Culture
• Patrick Curry, author, Defending Middle-Earth: Tolkien, Myth and Modernity
• Michaël Devaux, President, French Tolkien Society
• Verlyn Flieger, Professor of English, University of Maryland
• John Garth, author, Tolkien and the Great War
• Peter Gilliver, co-author, The Ring of Words: Tolkien and the Oxford English Dictionary
• Wayne G. Hammond, author, J.R.R. Tolkien: A Descriptive Bibliography
• Robert Lazu, author, J.R.R. Tolkien: Faith and Imagination
• Jeremy Marshall, former President, Oxford C. S. Lewis Society
• Alison Milbank, Lecturer in Literature and Theology, University of Nottingham
• Marek Oziewicz, author, The Magical Spell of Narnia: Poetics and Philosophy in C. S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia
• Christina Scull, co-author, J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator
• Guglielmo Spirito, Italian Tolkien Society; Vice-Dean, Theological Institute of Assisi
• Edmund Weiner, Fellow of Kellogg College, Oxford University

July 24-28, 2006: “Baptized Imaginations, Transformed Minds, Surrendered Hearts: The Philosophy and Theology of The Chronicles of Narnia”

Speakers:

• Janice Daurio, Professor of Philosophy, Moorpark College
• Paul Ford, Professor of Systematic Theology and Liturgy, St. John’s Seminary
• Fr. Aelred Niespolo, St. Andrew’s Abbey

May 17, 2006: C.S. Lewis Communicator of the Year Award Presentation and Reception Honoring Philip F. Anschutz

Speakers:

• Douglas Adams, Professor of Art and Religion, Graduate Theological Union, University of California, Berkeley
• Philip F. Anschutz, Chairman, Anschutz Corporation
• James A. Donahue, President, Graduate Theological Union, University of California, Berkeley
• Robert Beltz, Special Assistant to the Chairman, Anschutz Corporation
• Stewart Heller, Director, Christian Institute for the Study of Media
• David J. Randolph, Professor of Media Worship and Communications, Center for the Arts, Religion and Education, Graduate Theological Union, University of California, Berkeley
• David J. Theroux, President, C.S. Lewis Society of California; President, The Independent Institute
• Ken Wales, award-winning film producer
• Michael Rhodes, award-winning filmmaker; President, Film Clips

August 7-9, 2009: “All Things Considered”. Sponsored by the New York C.S. Lewis Society, Commemorating its 40th Anniversary

May 5, 2009: Science and Faith: The Vantage Point of One Neuroscientist. Sponsored by the Veritas Forum

March 17 – April 19, 2009: “The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe”
William Newsome, Chairman and Professor, Department of Neurobiology, Stanford University. Sponsored by Antic Disposition, London England

January 9, 2008: “An Evening with Dr. Francis Collins,” sponsored by Socrates in the City (San Francisco) and the C.S. Lewis Society of California

May 21, 2007: “Evangelicals and Roman Catholics: Christian Unity via C.S. Lewis?”, sponsored by the C. S. Lewis Society of Frederick (MD). Speaker: Kevin Offner, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Ph.D. candidate at The Catholic University of America

July 15, 2006: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: Envisioning Christian Concepts from the Novel (in the 2005 Film Version): Sponsored by New College Berkeley. Speaker: Margaret McBride Horwitz, Visiting Professor of Christianity and Literature, New College Berkeley.

October 1 and 3, 2009: The Screwtape Letters, with a Post-show Conversation with Actor Max McLean and Director Jeffrey Fiske. Sponsored by the Fellowship for the Performing Arts in Association with the C.S. Lewis Society of California

May 17, 2008: Lunch and Private Screening of the New Film Based on C. S. Lewis’s Beloved Book, Prince Caspian, sponsored by the C. S. Lewis Society of California.

Program:

Presentation by Dr. Michael Ward, Chaplain of Peterhouse, University of Cambridge. Author of the widely acclaimed book, Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis (Oxford University Press, 2008).

Private screening of the film, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (Produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media)

Lunch with Dr. Michael Ward

February 9, 2007: “An Evening With G.K. Chesterton,” dinner and performance sponsored by the St. Anthony of Padua Institute. The Historian-Actor and Fulbright Lecturer Dr. John Chuck Chalberg performs as G.K. Chesterton in journeying all the way from England to offer his own unique views on everything from the virtues of things small, whether they be families or pubs, to the evils of things large, whether they be imperialist schemes or socialist states. A man of paradox and humor, he will surprise you, confound you, and provoke you. This is the Englishman who so profoundly influenced the thinking and beliefs of his fellow countryman C.S. Lewis. What might he have in store for you?

January 17 – February 11, 2007: “C.S. Lewis’s The Great Divorce,” sponsored by Eastern Gate Entertainment and Magis Theatre Company. Lewis’s great novel, The Great Divorce, is adapted and brought to the stage by director/writer George Drance. This 1946 novel takes us to an unfamiliar world where conscience is magnified and faults personified: A whispering lizard torments his keeper. A talking waterfall reaches out to a misguided opportunist. A melodramatic giant steals the voice of a husband reunited with his wife. A magical stallion appears just when all seems lost. With original music by critically-acclaimed composer Elizabeth Swados and puppets by the renowned master Ralph Lee, Magis will take you on a wild ride from Hell to Heaven that will change your view of life on Earth.

January 13 – February 4, 2007: “Shadowlands,” sponsored by LifeHouse Theater. The acclaimed William Nicholson drama based on the life of Narnia author C.S. Lewis appears for the first time on the LifeHouse Theater stage. This riveting story of Lewis’s personal life chronicles his discovery of true love and the testing of his faith when tragedy strikes. The basis of the hit movie starring Anthony Hopkins, Shadowlands, is an award-winning drama that inspires audiences.

January 15, 2007: “Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Death of Dorothy Sayers,” sponsored by Dorothy Sayers Society

December 17, 2007: “Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Death of Dorothy Sayers,” sponsored by Dorothy Sayers Society

October 26-27, 2007: “C.S. Lewis: Man and His Work: A 21st Century Legacy,”sponsored by L. Russ Bush Center for Faith and Culture