Register now: Early bird fees in effect through March 6, 2017.
Registration fees are:
- Regular registration: $85 ($75 early bird rate through March 6)
- Student/retiree registration: $80 ($70 early bird rate through March 6)
Rooms at Hotel Shattuck, our conference hotel, must be booked by March 6 in order to receive the discounted conference rate and count toward our room commitment. Those planning to attend should not delay in booking hotel rooms!
Click here to book a room through the hotel website. Use the “group attendee” code 1704AMERICA.
The American Society of Church History in partnership with the American Catholic Historical Association is pleased to announce the details of its 2017 Spring Meeting.
The conference will take place at the Hotel Shattuck Plaza and the Graduate Theological Union in scenic Berkeley, California. These venues, which are accessible from both the Oakland and San Francisco airports via Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), are located amidst the bustling heart of Berkeley. When not attending panels, consider touring local historic churches, including the Mission Dolores, Ft. Ross, Sonoma Mission, Grace Cathedral, San Francisco Chinatown Churches, First Unitarian Church of San Francisco, Swedenborgian Church in San Francisco, St. Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco, and Cathedral of Christ the Light in Oakland.
Papers on all topics related to the history of Christianity will be presented, but a special emphasis will be placed on topics related to the teaching of the history of Christianity in the 21st century, reform movements in Christianity, and Christianity in the American West and Pacific World.
The 2017 Spring Meeting will feature a number of special events, listed below:
- Thursday evening – Welcome Reception
- Friday morning – Women’s Breakfast
- Saturday morning – Graduate Student Breakfast
- Saturday evening — Celebratory Reception
- Sunday morning – Plenary Speaker
We also hope that you will stay with us on Palm Sunday (April 9th) for Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Protestant services.
We encourage all conference participants to book rooms at the Hotel Shattuck Plaza–conference sessions and refreshments will be hosted at this hotel. You may book online through the hotel website. Enter the “group attendee” code 1704AMERICA. You may also call 866-466-9199 and mention the group code and/or that you are attending the American Society of Church History/American Catholic Historical Association conference. The conference begins Thursday at 4 p.m. and concludes Sunday at 11 a.m., so our recommendation is that you book at least three nights: arriving April 6, departing April 9. Those interested in the Sunday tours/Palm Sunday excursions may wish to stay over an additional night.
We would also like to extend a special thank you to our sponsors, without whom this conference would not be possible: Church Divinity School of the Pacific, Jesuit School of Theology, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, Pacific School of Religion, San Francisco Theological Seminary, and the Starr King School for the Ministry.
Register now: Early bird fees in effect through March 6, 2017.
Meeting highlights
THURSDAY
The meeting begins with a Thursday evening reception at GTU headquarters building.
- 5PM the Doug Adams Gallery opens just for us with an exhibit “Reverberating Echoes, Contemporary Art inspired by Traditional Islamic Art,” Reception sponsored by the Graduate Theological Union 5:30 -7. Information about the Gallery Exhibit is at this website http://www.care-gtu.org/doug-adams-gallery
- Dinner at Berkeley restaurants. You will have a chance to join groups of people going to different restaurants – all kinds of food, all kinds of budgets.
FRIDAY
- 7:00 AM Women’s Breakfast at the Hotel Restaurant (order your own breakfast)
- Sessions at the Shattuck Hotel in Downtown Berkeley
- The program Friday, Saturday and Sunday features a rich array of topics such as Medieval Spirituality and Reform, The Afterlife of Reformations, Progressive Era Protestant Deaconesses paving the way for women’s ordination, Historiography and Collective Identity, The Long Influence of Augustine, and Teaching the History of Christianity in a Multi-Religious World. These are just a few.
- Friday Dinners in Berkeley Restaurants – there will be groups going to specific ones if you want to join a group for dinner.
SATURDAY
- 7AM Graduate Student Breakfast in the Hotel Restaurant (Order your own Breakfast)
- Sessions at the Shattuck Hotel
- Evening Reception Sponsored by the Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary and San Francisco Theological Seminary at the Pacific School of Religion Badé Museum of Biblical Archaeology where the current exhibit is entitled “Crossing Borders”
- Plenary Address: Ethan Shagan “From the Reformation of Belief to the Discipline of Unbelievers”
- Prof. Shagan teaches at the University of California, Berkeley and his research focuses on the intersections of religion and politics. He is the author of recent books such as The Rule of Moderation (Cambridge, 2011) and Popular Politics and the English Reformation (Cambridge, 2003)
- Dinner will again include the option of joining a group for another food adventure in Berkeley.
SUNDAY
- Sunday Morning’s sessions at Pacific School of Religion include:
- “An American Conscience: The Reinhold Niebuhr Story,” a Documentary Film by D. Healan Gaston that premiered at the November AAR meeting. This is a timely film with great potential for use in teaching about the relationship of religion and public life.
We will provide a list of Churches in the Bay Area where you can attend Palm Sunday services. There will also be a number of self-guided field trip opportunities for Sunday so that you can take advantage of the historical sites related to Christianity available nearby.