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Dear Colleagues,
Ten days before his assassination on April 4, 1968, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) spoke at the National Cathedral on March 31st. His topic, “Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution,” contained a theme he had used over the years: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” He had used it in what has become known as his “How Long, Not Long” speech that he delivered at the end of the successful completion of the Selma to Montgomery March on March 25, 1965 in which he declared: “How long? Not long, because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” King was drawing on both the Black prophetic tradition and the words of the transcendentalist, abolitionist, and Unitarian minister Theodore Parker (1819-1860) who declared in his sermon “Justice and the Conscience,” “I do not pretend to understand the moral universe; the arc is a long one, my eye reaches but little ways; I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight; I can divine it by conscience. And from what I see I am sure it bends toward justice.” (Ten Sermons on Religion, 1853). As a systematic theology doctoral student who studied with Edgar S. Brightman and L. Harold DeWolf at Boston University School of Theology, King had been exposed to Parker’s work. “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice” is King’s potent paraphrasing of a portion of Parker’s 1853 sermon.
The conference theme for the 2025 Society of Christian Ethics is:
“Riding on the Moral Arc of the Universe ”
The theme for our 2025 annual meeting draws on King and Parker and invites us to think about how we might or should be engaged in conceptualizing and/or participating in justice and justice-making: “Riding on the Moral Arc of the Universe.” Moreso in King, this metaphorical expression conveys an optimism about the eventual triumph of justice and morality—that humanity deals with the triumphs and sorrows in our social order with an optimism that we are moving toward a more just and equitable society. To ride on the moral arc of the universe may imply action—that we have a responsibility to contribute tangibly to the building of just and equitable relationships that can be structural and temporal as well as conceptual and intangible.
You are invited to explore (affirm, challenge, rebut, offer alternatives, etc.) the implicit assumption that moral progress occurs over time and that humanity tends to move toward justice, equality, and fairness. Papers can deal with topics such as class(ism), environmental justice, rac(ism), sexuality and gender, sexual identities—in sum, the various ways in which find ourselves. Also, one might consider democracy, hierarchy, imagination, and virtue. My hope is that papers approach “riding on the moral arc of the universe” from philosophical, social, and theological perspectives.
Plenary Sessions:
Speaker: Nikky Finney
Nikky Finney was the Guy Davenport Endowed Professor of English at the University of Kentucky for twenty years. In 2013, she accepted a position at the University of South Carolina as the John H. Bennett, Jr. Chair in Southern Letters and Literature. An alumna of Talladega College, and author of four books of poetry and a short-story cycle, Finney is an advocate for social justice and cultural preservation. Her honors include the 2011 National Book Award for Poetry for her collection Head Off & Split.
Respondent: Walter Earl Fluker
Walter Earl Fluker joined the Candler School of Theology faculty as Dean's Professor of Spirituality, Ethics, and Leadership upon retirement in 2020 from Boston University, where he is Martin Luther King, Jr. Professor Emeritus of Ethical Leadership and editor of the Howard Thurman Papers Project. He is also Distinguished Professor of the Howard Thurman Center at the Hartford International University of Religion and Peace. He is also the founder of Walter Earl Fluker & Associates that seeks to identify, recruit, and train a “new generation of ethical leaders who are spiritually disciplined, intellectually astute, morally anchored, emotionally and socially whole.” Fluker is an internationally regarded consultant, lecturer, and workshop leader. His books include editor of the five-volume documentary edition of The Papers of Howard Washington Thurman, 2009-2019; and coeditor of the ongoing Walking with God: The Sermon Series of Howard Thurman, including The Way of the Mystics (2021) for Orbis. In 2023, Fluker was awarded the Freedom of Worship Award from The Roosevelt Institute.
Moderator: Emilie M. Townes
Panel Speakers:
Elizabeth Hinson-Hasty, Mary E. Hunt, Traci C. West, James W. Pearsall, and Thelathia “Nikki” Young
Feminist and Womanist Musings: Is justice an effective strategic goal for a society in chaos? The panelists are invited to respond to this question in light of the theme, “Riding on the Moral Arc of the Universe.” They are encouraged to explore the question on either the macro- or micro-level or both and to make use of their own work as appropriate to respond to the question and theme.
Call for Proposals:
Submitting Proposals
All proposals are due Monday March 18, 2024. Proposals that are submitted after that date will not be eligible for the 2025 meeting. Proposals will be accepted only from members whose SCE dues have been paid. All the relevant policies governing proposals for papers, panels and posters are summarized in the document “Submission Guidelines” which is available on the SCE website.
Submit your concurrent session proposals here.
Poster Sessions
Posters that include syllabi or content for teaching and learning Christian Ethics, as well as those that include teaching Christian Ethics in non-traditional contexts, are most welcome. If your proposal is selected for this year's meeting, it will not affect your eligibility to submit paper or poster proposals for future meetings. Finally, many universities and colleges provide institutional support for those who are listed in the program as presenters, including those of poster sessions. I hope this year we generate even more posters to further engage each other.
Submit your poster proposals here.
Interest & Working Groups Slots
Interest and Working Groups normally meet during early morning or evening time slots, and proposals must be made by the group's convener(s) in order to be considered. Each IG/WG may submit one (1) proposal for an early morning or evening time slot. Interest Group requests for evening sessions are exempt from competitive review and are accepted on a space-available basis.
Submit your Interest and Working Group proposals here.
Conversation with an Author
Any member of the SCE who has a book published between January 1, 2023 and April 30, 2024 is eligible to submit his or her own book for the Conversation with an Author session. Revised or subsequent versions of a book are not eligible. Authors are responsible for insuring that facilitators have a copy of the book. Please note that space is limited and will be assigned on a first come, first served basis.
Submit for the Conversation with an Author session here.
Call for Nominations:
Vice President and Board of Directors
The Nominations Committee invites recommendations for Vice President and Board of Director Members, including our Student Board Member. Please submit your recommendations via the online call for nominations form.
Lifetime Achievement Award
March 18, 2024 is also the deadline for proposing names to the Lifetime Achievement Award Committee. Click here for more information about the selection committee and the submission process.
Send nominations to Steve Long who chairs the committee as past president of the SCE, [email protected].
Nominations for International and Global Scholars
The International Scholarly Relations Committee (ISRC) seeks to strengthen ties between the SCE and scholars and their institutions from around the world.
- Two subsidy scholarships are available for international scholars to attend the 2025 annual meeting that include a waiver of the registration fee as well as a $500 stipend to offset the cost of attending the annual meeting. Applications are due Friday, August 9, 2024.
- Bring a Global Scholar to the SCE Annual Meeting. The Global Scholar receives a waiver of the registration fee, a $4,000 stipend, and a guaranteed concurrent session slot. SCE members are invited to nominate scholars from around the world, notably the Global South, to be SCE Global Scholars. Click here for additional information.
Members are also encouraged to invite international and global scholars for lectures or discussions at their institutions.
Meeting Location:
The 2025 annual meeting of the Society of Christian Ethics will be held January 9-12, 2025 at the Palmer House Hilton, 17 East Monroe St., Chicago IL. Phone number: 312-726-7500.
Website:https://soce.memberclicks.net/2025-meeting.
Sincerely,
Emilie M. Townes
President, Society of Christian Ethics
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