The Academy of Philosophy & Letters presents:
“To Build and Renew:
The Good, the True, and the Beautiful”
DATES:
June 3—5, 2027
College Park, MD
College Park Marriott & Conference Center
Early Registration for the conference. [now open]
View a list of featured speakers. [coming late 2026]
See the full conference schedule. [coming late 2026]
Call for Papers:
Profound discontent with the state of our country, and with the direction of the Western world more generally, has become too widespread to ignore. Repeated changes of political direction have not quelled the sense that something is fundamentally wrong even as technological progress accelerates. Dispassionate argument seems increasingly impossible despite our access to the most technically sophisticated means of communication ever known to man. Others offer visions of a very different sort: that we will soon outsource all our thinking, working, and imagining to machines. Utopia, at last, is said to be close at hand.
What will it take, given these challenges, to revivify the transcendentals—goodness, truth, and beauty—in a way that reflects the best of our traditional inheritance but also displays versatility toward the challenges of our time? How can we offer hope in an age of widespread confusion and anger? How can we, in short, repair civilization?
As John Henry Newman put it: “The heart is commonly reached, not through reason, but through the imagination, by means of direct impressions, by the testimony of facts and events, by history, by description. Persons influence us, voices melt us, looks subdue us, deeds inflame us.” Or, as Irving Babbitt wrote: “to be human one needs to look up to a sound model and imitate it.”
This conference welcomes paper and panel proposals that reflect this way of engaging the theme. We especially welcome proposals in areas including, but not limited to:
- Politics – With a broad and humane focus, understood not as commentary on the partisan horserace, but as the kind of high human activity Aristotle described.
- Literature (novels, plays, poems) – With special attention to the role of the imagination in forming character and (ultimately) in shaping society.
- Art, architecture, and aesthetics – With an emphasis on beauty and objectivity, rather than subjective emotional self-expression.
- Philosophy – With a concentration on the fundamental questions of human existence, in dialogue with the greatest thinkers on these subjects from the past 2500+ years.
- Religion and theology – As ‘faith seeking understanding’ in generous, ecumenical conversation with the other liberal arts, beyond mere apologetics for one particular sect or church.
- Education – With the aim of forming gentlemen and ladies who inhabit the riches of history, rather than narrow technical training or activist indoctrination.
How to submit a proposal:
Paper proposals should include a title and an abstract of no more than 300 words. They should be sent to APL@philosophyandletters.org. We also welcome proposals for full panels (of up to four speakers plus a chairperson).
The deadline for proposals is February 1, 2027. Decisions will be made and communicated no later than 15 days after this deadline.
The conference will be held June 3-5, 2027 at the College Park Marriott Hotel and Conference Center in College Park, Maryland. Registration for the conference is already open.
Paper proposals should include a title and abstract of no more than 300 words.
They should be sent to APL@philosophyandletters.org.