To take place on March 27th and 28th, 2023, and in cooperation with Campo Santo Teutonico, REFORC is organizing a conference in Rome on wellbeing in Early Modern Christianity (ca. 1400-ca. 1700). Short paper proposals are welcome before December 1, 2022.
Today, wellbeing is high on the personal and societal agenda, but thinking about wellbeing certainly is not a new phenomenon. The Greek philosopher Aristotle, for example, came up with the concept of Eudaimonia – the contented state of feeling healthy, happy, and prosperous – and this concept has been influential through the centuries and up until today.
To take place on March 27th and 28th , 2023, and in cooperation with Campo Santo Teutonico, REFORC is organizing a conference in Rome on wellbeing in Early Modern Christianity (ca. 1400-ca. 1700). The conference aims to approach the topic from three perspectives: physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing. Questions to be answered are: Was wellbeing a central theme in Early Modern Christianity? How was it understood and how was it brought into practice? What did people do to attain a state of wellbeing? Is there a confessional difference in conceptions on wellbeing? How did wellbeing relate to questions of life and death? How was wellbeing expressed in the arts?
The conference is planned as an in-person event. It will be interdisciplinary and comparative regarding various geographical and confessional positions. The conference language is English.
Committed plenary speakers are Mathijs Lamberigts (KU Leuven) whose topic is People Want to be Happy: Augustine on Wellbeing, and Aleksandra Lipinska (University of Cologne) who will speak on Paradise, Arcadia, Ideal City: In Search of Wellbeing in Early Modern Art.
The scene of the conference is the impressive Campo Santo Teutonico next to the Vatican, where many of those buried spent their lives promoting the wellbeing of others. At the same time Campo Santo Teutonico reminds us of the finiteness of earthly wellbeing, so it is a perfect place for a fascinating conference!
Campo Santo Teutonico
Via della Sagrestia, 17
00120 Città del Vaticano
Italy
Short paper presentations will last 20 minutes and will be followed by 10 minutes of discussion.
Publication of the proceedings of the conference is intended.
Accepted applicants will receive a grant for travel and lodging of up to €400.
Paper proposal submission has closed per December 1, 2022.
For more information, contact Herman J. Selderhuis.
Visual: The Merry Fiddler, Gerard van Honthorst, 1623 (detail). © Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
