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ON CAMPUS ONLY

Sacred Imagination Symposium

Image by Babak Habibi
Marble sculpture of a robed figure reach

Ave Maria University is proud to present our inaugural Sacred Imagination Symposium.

 

For a downloadable schedule, click here. 

For the most up-to-date schedule, scroll down.

SymposiumSchedule

Friday, 1/30

Saturday, 1/31

7:30 AM - Mass
(Optional) Located in the Ave Maria Parish
9:30 AM -Registration
Optional Coffee and Pastries.
Honors' Lounge
10 AM - Panel 1:
Film, Literature, and the Sacred
Panelists:
Dr. Michael P. Murphy, Hank Center for the Catholic Intellectual Heritage, Loyola University, Chicago
Dr. Jessica Schnepp, Ave Maria University
Honors' Lounge
11:30 AM - Lunch Break
Boxed lunches provided to speakers and moderators.
 
1:30 PM - Panel 2: Imagination, Co-operation, and Creation: The Human Act and the Divine Plan
Panelists:
Dr. David Baird, Catholic Pacific College
Dr. Janice Breidenbach, Ave Maria University
Honors' Lounge
5:30 PM -Presenters' Dinner
Found at Oasis Restaurant.
8 PM - Concert 
Sacred music composed by Conner David McCain, performed by student musicians at Ave Maria University. A Q&A with the composer will follow.
Ark Chapel in Student Union
.
.
9:30 AM - Coffee and Pastries
Optional
Honors' Lounge
10 AM - Panel 1:
Wonder, Absence, and the Sacred Imagination
Panelists:
Dr. Sarah Elizabeth Maple, Mount Saint Mary College
Dr. William Gonch, Ave Maria University
Honors' Lounge
10 AM - Panel 1
Film, Literature, and the Sacred
Panelists:
Dr. Michael P. Murphy, Hank Center for the Catholic Intellectual Heritage, Loyola University,
Chicago
Dr. Jessica Schnepp, Ave Maria University
Honors' Lounge
10 AM - Panel 1
Film, Literature, and the Sacred
Panelists:
Dr. Michael P. Murphy, Hank Center for the Catholic Intellectual Heritage, Loyola University, Chicago
Dr. Jessica Schnepp, Ave Maria University
Honors' Lounge
11:30 AM - Lunch Break
Boxed lunches for presenters.
1 PM - Panel 4:
Q&A with Mr. Aaron Widerspahn, Writer, Director, Producer
Aaron Wilderspahn is the Producer of major films including 
Wildcat, the 2023 biopic on Flannery O'Connor directed by Ethan Hawke. 
Watch Wildcat, the film. 
Honors' Lounge
3 PM - Keynote Lecture
"Kingdoms of the Mind: Contemplation and Dramatic Form."
Dr. James Matthew Wilson, University of St. Thomas at Houston
O'Bryan Performance Hall in the Prince Building
4:30 PM - Closing Reception
Prince Building Lobby
Thank you for attending!
It is popular to believe that in order to see clearly one must believe nothing. This may work well enough if you are observing cells under a microscope. It will not work if you are writing fiction. For the fiction writer, to believe nothing is to
see nothing.

Flannery O'Connor

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