C.S. Lewis Summer Conference 2006
Williams College, Williamstown, MA
“Love Among the Ruins: On the Renewal of Character & Culture”
Morning Course Schedule
Monday, July 10-Friday July 14 – 10:00 am – 12:30 pm
Seminars
1. Growing up with C.S. Lewis (and Staying Young with Jack!) – Malcolm Guite
We are all called to grow up into the full stature of Christ, to let the joys and sorrows of life call out and develop the unique character that Christ himself planted in us. But as Lewis shows in his many writings, there's a big difference between true and false maturity. He has no time for the false cynicism and sophistication that passes for “being grown-up,” and his best characters retain, as he did, a magical, child-like spring of joy and imagination.
This seminar will explore how we can develop, building character and depth, without losing grace and simplicity, by “growing up with Lewis.” We will look at the twin tracks of the stories he wrote and the story he lived. We will trace how the characters in his stories, both the Narnia Chronicles and the "grown-up" novels, faced the problems of life and grew through them, as well as how Lewis himself developed as a man and as a Christian, especially how he re-discovered and renewed the well springs of his imagination right into old age.
Throughout the course we will try to apply what we learn from Lewis and his stories to challenges in our own lives, as we strive to be mature in Christ and yet receive the kingdom of Heaven like a child.
2. Towards a Christian Response to Popular Culture – Dick Staub
This interactive seminar will analyze the power of popular culture despite its aesthetic & spiritual poverty and will then examine the church’s tendency towards withdrawing from, fighting or mirroring culture. We will then explore examples of a better way: the rediscovery of the deep, culturally enriching faith that combines spiritual devotion, intellectual vitality and artistic creativity. We'll also examine how Lewis shifted from a straightforward apologetic appeal to reason, to a more nuanced appeal to “universal longings” and imagination.
3. “They Stand Together: C.S. Lewis and His Contemporaries” – Tolkien, Eliot, Waugh, Chesterton, Campbell and Sassoon” – Joseph Pearce
C.S. Lewis is arguably the most influential Christian apologist of the twentieth century. He was not alone, however, in his lucid and literary defense of the Faith. Amongst his contemporaries were many great writers who, collectively, created a Christian Literary Revival. The course will look at Lewis’s relationship with writers such as Tolkien, Eliot, Chesterton and Waugh. What did Lewis’s apostolate have in common with these other writers; how did it differ? It has been said that the Christian Literary Revival was a network of minds energizing each other, and a network of grace doing the energizing. The course will focus on the creative energy at the heart of the works of Lewis and his Contemporaries.
Special Tracks
4. Children’s Track – Pursuing Prince Caspian: Character Lessons from Narnia – Andrew Lazo
Designed for children ages 8-12 (age exceptions gladly considered on an individual basis!), this program will offer children a chance to engage with C. S. Lewis on their own level in imaginative, creative and faithful ways. So what does that mean, how will that look, you surely ask? So glad you did!
- Imaginative: Following Lewis’ example of gleefully living the life of the mind, we will ask the children loads of questions, letting the answers arise from their own thoughts—how might the Prince Caspian movie look? How might the forthcoming
film differ from the book we are reading together? Which characters in the book do
you recognize in yourself and others? Who do you want to be like?
- Creative: Each day, children will participate in a creative activity of their choosing—making up stories based on some of Lewis’ hints in the books, making pictures, or songs, or a little play—the limits in this section will be those of the imagination!
- Faithful: Each day, after reading from the book, we will explore on a child’s level devotional aspects from the text. We’ll memorize some verses and seek from our reading ways in which we can live as followers of Aslan in our homes and schools – in all our daily lives.
- Joyful: We will spend time each day in song with the children. Whether meant for learning memory verses, performance, or just plain fun, our song time will joyfully reinforce the creative learning happening at every session.
Our goal is for purposeful fun, so that we might encourage children to enjoy their reading, to find little life lessons all around them, and to become better followers of Aslan in their own inimitably unique ways!
The Children’s Track will meet for 7 sessions, each Saturday morning (July 7 and 15) as well as Monday-Friday, July 10-14, from 9:00-12:30. Drop-ins are welcome on the weekends. A short program presenting some of what the children have learned during the week will be conducted at the beginning of the Friday evening Summer Institute program, July 14.
Afternoon Course Schedule
Monday, July 10-Friday July 14 – 2:15-4:45 p.m.
1. Redeeming the Ruins: C. S. Lewis’s Rehabilitation of Love – Andrew Lazo
Humanities Seminar (for academic credit)
Owen Barfield claims (and Lewis essentially agrees) that all of Lewis’s thinking is present in any of his writings. Assuming the truth of this principle, we will explore two of Lewis’s last books, Till We Have Faces and The Four Loves as well as the student’s own self-selected readings of Lewis’s other writing in order to discover his views about love. We will also trace the principles we discover throughout the Lewis corpus.
This will accomplish two goals: first, it will allow us to attempt some synthesis of Lewis’s thought and writing from the vantage point of the end of his career, and second, it will cause us to explore and apply one of the central underlying themes of Lewis’s work, love. Although the majority of this course will devote itself to understanding what Lewis said and implied, it will also highlight practical and, where appropriate, devotional application of what Lewis taught.
Outdoor Education
Grab your swords, walking sticks, and journals! We are heading out on the trail to unearth the nuances of personal character development and the transforming power of love in characters from the Chronicles of Narnia, The Great Divorce, The Screwtape Letters and Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. During our adventures we will explore such questions as: How are the ruins of our culture metaphorically conveyed through Lewis’s “Grey Town” and Tolkien’s “Land of Shadow.” How can we become “solid” in a world littered with Tashlans, Screwtapes, and Wormtongues? What does it mean for us to “draw swords together” within our culture’s battlegrounds?
Through exploratory hikes in the beautiful Berkshires and outdoor team-building activities, we will identify and use practical tools in our effort to move toward a renewal of character and culture. Activities require moderate exertion; dress comfortably and be prepared for inclement weather.
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Malcolm Guite
Dick Staub
Joseph Pearce
Andrew Lazo – A Ph.D. candidate at Rice University, where he studies Modernist British literature, Lazo is a Jacob K. Javits Fellow in the Humanities, as well as a visiting scholar at the Marion E. Wade Center (Wheaton, IL). He has published several articles about Lewis and Tolkien and has lectured around the country on their books. He has also taught a highly popular church-based adult education course, exploring devotional aspects of The Chronicles of Narnia. He enthusiastically led the Children’s Track at our Southeast Regional C.S. Lewis Retreat at Camp Allen, Texas in 2004 and 2005.
Matthew Dominguez shares C.S. Lewis’ and J.R.R. Tolkien’s love for teaching truth and exploring God’s creation. He teaches high school literature, including classes on the works of Shakespeare and the Inklings at Wheaton Academy, Wheaton, IL. His classrooms, however, are not limited to this setting. As director of the school’s Adventure Club and Climbing Club, he creates opportunities to inspire students in the mountains of Colorado and the limestone cliffs of West Virginia. He earned his M.A. in Literature from the University of Illinois at Chicago and was at Houghton College, NY from 1993 to 2002, as an interim instructor in their outdoor education program, trip leader, program assistant, and rock climbing instructor.