"Witness in the Academy"
              The Seventh Annual New England Conference
             for Christian Graduate Students and Faculty

will take place on the weekend of February 7-9, 1997.  (Friday evening 
through early Sunday afternoon; at Pilgrim Pines Conference Center in 
southern New Hampshire.)

The main speaker this year will be Professor Richard Baer.
The topic is "Witness in the Academy."

There will also be a time for "contributed talks" by any conference 
attendee who would like to present one.  (Information about these talks, 
including how to submit an abstract, is at the end of this letter.)

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    What does effective witness look like in a relativistic, 
      pluralistic, postmodern environment?

    How do we, as Christians, make the gospel visible at the University?

    How can we proclaim a relevant gospel to the University?

    How do we affirm a gospel that speaks to the whole person?

These sorts of questions will be the main focus of this year's 
conference.  Professor Baer** will share his insights and experience.

This conference, sponsored by InterVarsity and the Yale, Harvard, and 
MIT Graduate Student Christian Fellowships, is an opportunity to retreat 
from your regular studies, to consider how your Christian faith should 
influence your studies, and to consider how you, as a Christian, can 
influence your profession.

In addition to the plenary sessions with Professor Baer, there will be 
several workshops, a panel discussion with area faculty members, and 
times of praise and worship throughout the weekend, including a worship 
service on Sunday morning.  There will be many opportunities to meet and 
talk with other Christian graduate students and faculty from all over 
New England.

Most of Saturday afternoon will be free, providing a chance to play 
ping-pong or foos ball, hike, ice skate, or cross-country ski (skates 
and skis can be rented at the conference grounds), stay indoors by the 
fireplace and talk or play games, nap, or join the traditional game of 
broom ball on the frozen lake.

We hope that this conference will help every participant make new 
friends, refresh your mind and spirit, and help you to seriously 
consider how your Christian faith can influence your work.

If you would like to receive a registration brochure, contact Paula 
Castner at (617) 729-2550.

If you have other questions about the conference, contact Lou Soiles 
(LSoiles@aol.com).

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**Richard Baer has been a Professor of Environmental Ethics in the 
Department of Natural Resources at Cornell University since 1974.  He 
has a Ph.D. from Harvard University in History and Philosophy of 
Religion and a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Princeton Theological 
Seminary.  He is a fellow of the Center for Public Justice in Washington 
D.C. and author of a book on Philo of Alexandria, as well as numerous 
book chapters and journal articles on environmental ethics, religion and 
education, and religion and public life.  Before going to Cornell 
University, he taught for 12 years at Earlham College in Indiana, where 
he was chairman of the Religion Department.  He is the 1994 recipient of 
the Professor of Merit Award for outstanding teaching and student 
advising.  His most recent work has focused on the place of religion in 
public life, particularly in education.

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                          Call for Contributed Papers

This year we will have several sessions of "Contributed Talks" by you, 
the conference attendees.


WHO:  Any conference attendee who wishes to contribute a talk.
        (This is not a requirement to attend, but we hope that 
         many of you will volunteer.)

WHAT: A 25-minute talk (including Q&A time) on a topic which interests 
        you, relating your Christian faith to your academic studies, 
        life in academia, or society in general.

WHEN:  Saturday morning of the conference, February 8.

WHERE: Organized by topic into parallel sessions.

WHY:  This is a great opportunity to do a little "integrating your faith
         with your academic studies."

    If you have recently published an article, or written something you 
want to publish, here's a chance to present it to some fellow Christian 
scholars for feedback.  If you have contributed anything to an 
electronic discussion group on a relevant topic, here's a chance to 
share it with another audience.  If you recently read a good book or 
article and would like to share and discuss some of its ideas, simply 
prepare a short talk (as little as ten-minutes will suffice --- that's 
not very much work!) and open the floor for questions and comments.  
If you've been *meaning* to read a book or think about a topic, but 
haven't found the time, here's a chance to motivate yourself to get it 
done!  (Christmas break!)

    Most of you, at some time in the future, will be called upon to 
write or speak on topics relating your Christian faith to your area of 
expertise.  Here is an opportunity to practice those skills with a 
friendly, but challenging, audience.

HOW:  You can start by simply sending me e-mail saying, 
         "I want to do this!"
      Eventually, I will ask every contributor to submit a title and a
         50-100 word abstract, by mid-January.
      If you have any questions or would like to talk about style, 
         topic, or content, feel free to contact me.  

Loren Haarsma
lhaarsma@opal.tufts.edu

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