Visual Theology

Dear colleagues!

The Department of Theology of Yaroslav-the-Wise Novgorod State University and the editorial board of the “Journal of Visual theology” with the assistance of the Scientific and Educational Theological Association organize the 1^st International Scientific Symposium “Visual Theology. Themes and Horizons” and invite you to participate in it. The Symposium will be held on September 29–30, 2021 in Veliky Novgorod, Russia.

The purpose of the Symposium: formulation and discussion of the subject area, problematics and methodology of visual-theological research.

Visual fixation and translation of theological statements and norms is one of the essential features of religious culture. The physically manifested or implied visual forms of expression of theological knowledge or moral and theological regulations constitute a vast and diverse field of religious theory and practice. The visual, along with the verbal, carries a significant semantic load both in the field of systematization of doctrine, and in the areas of liturgical actions, practices of hierotopy and organization of everyday inhabited space, demonstration of hierarchical status and confessional identity.

Visual and theological themes have a particular importance for the study of Christianity: various forms of faith visualization are inseparable from a complex set of Christian sacred practices, and the history of Christian theology contains a rich experience of theoretical understanding of these forms. In the era of “visual turn”, Christian practices of fixing and transferring religious experience attract special attention and require special study. Finally, the completeness of theological knowledge is unattainable without a scientific understanding of its “visual” premises and its “optical” presentation.

 Modern humanitarian knowledge is developing in the direction of interdisciplinarity; this approach ensures the achievement of the most significant results in the field of research of the Christian culture visual parameters. The Symposium will unite and mutually strengthen the capabilities and resources of many special scientific fields: theology, philosophy, art history, art culture, and aesthetics. Specialists in architecture, iconology, iconography, visual anthropology, visual semiotics, religious studies, cultural studies and other related disciplines are invited to participate in the Symposium. The main focus is supposed to be on solving basic issues related to defining the specifics of visual theology as a special inter-disciplinary field of knowledge. In this regard, the main theme of the Symposium is formulated as follows:

- subject area and problems of visual theology,

- visible and invisible in the structure of Christian theological knowledge,

- non-verbal forms of comprehension and expression of truth in the Christian experience,

- confession of faith as a visual practice.

 The Symposium is planned to become a regular event, involving leading specialists in the field of visual and theological research. The development of knowledge in the field of visual theology will contribute to a deeper understanding of such humanitarian phenomena as the connection of image and meaning in semiotic practices, the cultural memory of a nation or regional community, the visual code of inhabited space, and the presentation of cultural and civic identity.

Applications for participation in the Symposium are accepted until September 1, 2021 at vistheo@yandex.ru. The organizing Committee reserves the right to select applications. Participation in the Symposium will be confirmed by official invitation.

There is no registration fee.

Conference languages: Russian, English.

The proceedings of the Symposium will be published in the “Journal of Visual Theology” (indexed by Ulrich’s Periodicals Directory, EBSCO, DOAJ and Science Index). The deadline for submitting materials for publication is September 15, 2021.

See the rules for formatting articles here: https://visualtheology.ru/index.php/journal/author-guidelines.

For organizational issues, contact the Executive Secretary of the Symposium, Elizaveta Speshilova:
+7 903 913 1991, e.speshilova@yandex.ru.

 

20.01.2021