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Call for Papers

7th Savannah Symposium: The Spirituality of Place

February 17-19, 2011 

www.scad.edu/savannahsymposium

 

Throughout history spirituality has been a major force in shaping the
built environment.  From ancient Mesopotamian ziggurats to European
cathedrals, cities have served as centers of sacred practices and
religion.  The connection between spirituality and place, however, has not
been the exclusive preserve of religious institutions.  The co-mingling of
sacred and secular realms in urban contexts often reflected the combined
spiritual and temporal authority of priest kings, popes and monarchs and
even facilitated the deification of mortal rulers, as with some Roman
emperors.  With the increasing secularization of the modern world,
concepts of spirituality have broadened and diversified, allowing purely
secular situations to be perceived as spiritual and for the emergence of
increasingly heterogeneous and personal concepts of spirituality to
supplant traditional religion.  

 

Savannah exemplifies the full range of meanings behind the concept of
spirituality of place.  With Georgia conceived as a charitable colony
providing a safe haven for continental European Protestants, Savannah
played a fundamental role in the introduction of various religious groups
to North America - Jews, Lutherans, Methodists, African Baptists.  The
idealistic egalitarianism allowing for the acceptance of all religions
(except Catholicism at first) instilled a spirit of peaceful co-existence
and toleration of diversity throughout the city's history that also
included remaining Native Americans and African slaves.  The legacy of
these different groups is understood through the rich histories of
Savannah and urban fabric of the city.  In more recent times, Savannah and
surrounding historical sites have become themselves "spiritual" places
that serve those who seek a more secularized pilgrimage experience
connected with their cultural and historical heritage.

 

It is with this in mind that the 7th biennial Savannah Symposium invites
papers that explore the role of spirituality as it relates to the
development and shaping of architectural and urban forms.  Paper sessions
will focus on the broadest context of spirituality as a significant factor
in the study of the built environment globally, nationally and locally.
Of particular interest are essays that provide a critical evaluation of
the relationship or co-existence of sacred and secular spirituality in
regards to the constructed world.  

 

Potential papers topics might include as their focus:

-        Spirituality and religion in the creation of urban forms
-        Places of contested religious identities
-        The appropriation of the sacred in secular architecture
-        Hallowed grounds:  the cultural geography of the spiritual
-        Heritage sites as places of spiritual pilgrimage
-        Competing Definitions of the concept of 'Spiritual Space'

-        Spirituality verses Religion in Contemporary Architecture

-        Contesting Spirits:  Architecture and conflicting forms of
spirituality

-        Temenos and Polis:  The Sacred City in the Secular City

-        The Cosmic House: Architecture as World Construction

 

Papers are invited from scholars and practitioners in, but not limited to,
architecture, architectural history, urban history, planning, historic
preservation, landscape design, art history, geography, archaeology,
cultural history, sociology, political science and anthropology.

 

How to Participate: Send one-page abstracts (300 words maximum) and
curriculum vitae to Thomas Gensheimer and Jeff Eley at
([log in to unmask]) or c/o Department of Architectural
History, Savannah College of Art and Design, P.O. Box 3146, Savannah, GA
31402-3146.  Electronic submissions are preferred.  For more information
about the symposium (and past symposia), visit our website at
www.scad.edu/savannahsymposium.

 

Deadline for submissions:  May 15, 2010.

 


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