April 1, 2020

To All IARPT Members and Affiliates:

As many of you may have guessed, we will not be meeting in St. Paul this June 15-19. Due to the COVID-19 public health crisis, there will be no IARPT 2020. However, the Board has made the decision to move the program to June 14-18, 2021 in St. Paul, Minnesota. After a lot of hard work, Co-Chairs Andrew Irvine and Austin Roberts have put together a splendid program that will be just as fresh and relevant fourteen months from now. As Demian Wheeler points out, “we’ll still be living in the Anthropocene in 2021!” Mike Hogue’s book will be every bit as urgent a year from now, and William Connolly has tentatively committed to moving his keynote address to 2021. Andrew and Austin may tweak the program a little, but they will honor the acceptances they have recently sent out. If your paper proposal or panel will change, please be in touch with Andrew and Austin. And I’m so pleased to tell you that we will once again be in the good hands of our local hosts in the Twin Cities, Bill Hart and Demian Wheeler. I want to thank them all—Andrew and Austin, Bill and Demian—for the thoughtfulness and dedication they have put into every detail of planning. And for their willingness to do it all again!

This June’s Board of Governors meeting and Business Meeting Thursday were to be my last before turning it over to the next President, Michael Raposa. Rest assured that I am committed to providing continuity in leadership and will work with Michael (and the Board, which is due for some turnover) through the summer. He is a quick study, anyway.

IARPT runs so smoothly because of the hard work, trustworthiness, and administrative talent of our Treasurer, Dan Ott. I want to take a moment and say Thank You Dan! We are glad to see that Monmouth College recognizes your skills, too, and has appointed you Associate Dean for Academic Initiatives. Dan will be offering those who paid registration for 2020 either a postponement or a reimbursement, whichever you prefer. Please let him know.

I sincerely hope that each of you is finding ways to center yourself and those in your networks as we all struggle with multiple rapidly changing situations. I encourage you to prioritize your health right now—mental, physical, spiritual—individually and collectively.

Until we meet again, stay safe and healthy, and all my best!

Nancy

Nancy K acheter kamagra oral jelly en ligne. Frankenberry
John Phillips Professor in Religion Emeritus, Dartmouth College
President, Institute for American Religious and Philosophical Thought (2016-2020)

Dear IARPT members:

One of the distinctive hallmarks of IARPT is the face-to-face fellowship and intellectual exchange we enjoy in remarkable settings. We do not wish to compromise any of that this year.

COVID-19 has presented a unique public health challenge that requires constant monitoring. Information about the spread of COVID-19, federal and state guidelines, and other factors beyond our control are evolving and surfacing at a breakneck pace right now.

In this environment, the Board of Governors of IARPT has made the decision to wait and see. Our conference is now three months away. We will make an assessment again in a few weeks, and then again on May 15 in the hope that circumstances will enable us to convene June 15-20, 2020 in Saint Paul. Some of you have already purchased airlines tickets, and others are waiting to hear or have already heard about scholarship assistance.  We are extending the deadline for applications for a Creighton Peden Scholarship until May 15.  You do not need to wait until then to make reservations since most airlines are currently displaying the kind of flexibility they should always show, making refunds or re-bookings available if cancellation is necessary.

In the meantime, Andrew Irvine and Austin Roberts are putting together a stimulating program, and local hosts Bill Hart and Demian Wheeler have done an excellent job in lining up the venues in which we can comfortably talk, argue, shout, agree and disagree, eat and drink, be transported, and yes, sleep.  

Please check the website (iarpt.org) for further updates.

I encourage you all to remain vigilant, agile, and optimistic despite the unknowns associated with this pandemic.

Nancy Frankenberry for the Board of Governors

Nancy K. Frankenberry
John Phillips Professor in Religion Emeritus, Dartmouth College
President, Institute for American Religious and Philosophical Thought (2016-2020)