Seminar - Genealogies of Modernity, 3-7 July 2017, University of Pennsylvania, USA

Each of four days of the five-day seminar will focus on a specific genealogy in one discipline: philosophy and the rise of univocal metaphysics, as well as covenantal voluntarism (Thomas Ward, Loyola Marymount University); theology and the rationality of tradition (Chris Hackett, Australian Catholic University); art history and the “age of the world-picture" (Christopher Nygren, University of Pennsylvania); biblical studies / literary history and the ascendancy of literal-critical exegesis (Ryan McDermott, University of Pennsylvania). In morning sessions we will seek to understand the dominant declension narrative in question—its motivations, affordances, and limitations—with reference to key primary texts. In afternoon sessions, we will consider alternative passages to modernity in the given field. Each day will be led by a specialist in the field.