The Undiscovered C.S. Lewis Conference Schedule
A PDF version of the full conference program will be available closer to the event.
Note: Schedule is subject to change
2026 Conference Schedule
Thursday, Sept. 24
From noon – 2 p.m., registration will take place at Edwards Stevens Center.
After 2 p.m., registration will take place in Canyon Commons.
- Dr. Jason Lepojärvi, Director’s Welcome
- Dr. Robin Baker, President’s Welcome
- Dr. Bruce Johnson, “The New Horizon”
1A: Rhetoric and Style
Edwards-Holman Science Center - 102
- “Dip, Write, Repeat: Escaping to C.S. Lewis's Analog World,” Dr. Kent Kersey
- “C.S. Lewis’s Realistic Approach to Narrative Rhetorical Criticism’s Fantastic Problems,” Dave Terpstra
- “Imaginative and Pictorial Preaching: Lewis’s ‘Weight of Glory’,” Dr. Greg Anderson
Chair: Dr. Gary Tandy
1B: The Cosmic Trilogy: Past and Present
Edwards-Holman Science Center - 125
- “‘Since our Beloved Became a Man’: The Narrative Significance of the Incarnation in Perelandra,” Mr. Simon Wipf
- “Bergson vs. Boethius on Perelandra: Reassessing Sanford Schwartz,” Dr. Brian Roden
- “That Hideous Strength from the Inside,” Dr. Scot Headley
Chair: Mrs. Madeleine Teel
1C: The Making of Lewis
- “C.S. Lewis’s Undiscovered Boyhood Bookshelf,” Dr. Joyce McPherson
- “Lewis, Being, and The Whole,” Mrs. Erin Seidel
- “‘That Was New’: Speculations on the Content of C.S. Lewis's ‘Hegemony of Moral Values’,” Dr. Matthew Jordan
Chair: Dr. Brenton Dickieson
1D: All Creatures Great and Cosmic
- “Creatures, Cousins, and Kings: An Exploration of Lewis's Theology of Animals,” Mr. Isaac Owen
- “Angelic Aliens and Marvelous Monsters: Reimagining of Science Fiction Tropes in the Cosmic Trilogy,” Dr. Nathan Fayard
Chair: Mr. Josiah Peterson
1E: Desire
- “C.S. Lewis and the Kingdom of God,” Dr. Clayton Carver
- “Desire and Conscience in A.E. Taylor’s The Faith of a Moralist,” Prof. Aaron Rizzieri
- “Lewis and Hegel on Sehnsucht and the Bad Infinite,” Dr. Brian Gregor
Chair: Dr. Bruce Johnson
1F: Pedagogy and Education
- “Pedagogy of the Chest: Reviving the Ordo Amoris in the Classroom,” Mr. Josh Withrow
- “Lewis on Pre-University Education: Unimaginative, Inconsistent, or Reasoned?,” Dr. Carrie Birmingham and Janice Park
- “The A.I.bolition of Man: Can C.S. Lewis Help Save My Comp 1 Class in the Age of Digital Necromancy?,” Dr. Benjamin Utter
Chair: Dr. Traver Carlson
Friday, Sept. 25
Dr. Alister McGrath (remotely), “When Science Becomes Apologetics: Lewis’s Most Overlooked Strategy”
Workshop 1
"Inklings as Reliable Guides for Bible," Dr. Bruce Johnson
Workshop 2
“Translating Fellowship to Comics: Visualizing the Story of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien,” Dr. John Hendrix
“Hearing C.S. Lewis’s Wartime Broadcast to Iceland: ‘The Norse Spirit in English Literature’,” Prof Harry Lee Poe
2A: Lewis's Influences
- “Blue and Amber Castles: How Novalis is Reborn in the Works of L.M. Montgomery and C.S. Lewis,” Ms. Avery-Claire Galloway
- “‘The Biggest Shaking Up’: Jacob Boehme in the Works of C.S. Lewis,” Mr. Scott Brown
- “Samuel Johnson and C.S. Lewis: Admiration, Affinity, and Influence,” Dr. Gary Tandy
Chair: Dr. Joseph Ricke
2B: Orual and Psyche
Hoover Academic Building - 105
- “‘You Also Shall Be Psyche’: New Aspects of C.S. Lewis’s Classical Engagement in Till We Have Faces,” Mr. Michael Frost
- “The Virginal and the Voluptuous: Lunar Imagery in Till We Have Faces,” Mrs. Olivia Hofer Hancock
- “Preparing the Bride: Psyche, Orual, and the Mikvah,” Mrs. Christine Norvell
Chair: The Rev'd Brian McGreevy
2C: Philosophy of Mind
- “C.S. Lewis and Religious Epistemology,” Mr. Josiah Peterson
- “Undiscovered C.S. Lewis in Twentieth-Century Epistemology and Philosophy of Science,” Dr. Piotr Bylica
- “Lewis’s Prescience in Philosophy of Mind,” Dr. Jim Slagle
Chair: Dr. Matthew Jordan
2D: Lewis and Dante
Murdock Library Basement - 025
- “Dante’s Ulysses and the Un-man,” Mr. Anthony Klein
- “Nose to the Sunrise: Dantean Spirituality in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” Dr. Michael Faletra
- “No, It's not all in Plato: an Exploration of New Narnia through a Dantean Lens,” Mr. Jonathan Selstad
Chair: Dr. Lindsey Scholl
2E: Fellow Fantasists
Art & Cinematic Arts Building - 105
- “The Shire and the Hundred Acre Wood: Milne and Tolkien’s Post-War Pastoralism,” Miss Grace Jenott
- “Two Oxford Fantasists: Exploring the Connections between C.S. Lewis and Elizabeth Goudge,” Mr. Roy Wallen
- “Another Path Past Watchful Dragons: Virtue in Stephen R. Lawhead’s The Song of Albion,” Mrs. Monique Stam
Chair: Prof Harry Lee Poe
3A: Literary Imagination
Art & Cinematic Arts Building - 105
- “Narrow Escapes and Unexpected Recoveries: Divine Grace in English Literature in the Sixteenth Century,” Prof. Clark Moreland
- “C.S. Lewis, the Modern Novel, and the Problem of Realism,” Dr. Ryan Stark
- “Lewis the Blurbologist: A Reply to Justin Keena on Screwtape Letters,” Mr. William O'Flaherty
Chair: Dr. Jeffrey Barbeau
3B: Systematic Theology
Edwards-Holman Science Center - 102
- “Exitus et Reditus: A Master Motif in C.S. Lewis,” Mr. Eric Anderson
- “Tolkien and the Turing Test: What Does It Mean To Be Human?,” Mr. Jonathan Miller
- “Reconsidering Lewis’s Categories of ‘Thick’ and ‘Clear’ Religion,” Dr. Terry Cokenour
Chair: Dr. Josh Herring
3C: Problem of Pain and Pleasure
Edwards-Holman Science Center - 125
- “C.S. Lewis Beyond Mere Theodicy,” Mr. Alexander Roth
- “The Great Divorce and the Problem of Hell,” Dr. Kristine Wolberg
- “On the Book C.S. Lewis Never Wrote: The Problem of Pleasure,” Dr. William Johnston
Chair: Dr. Jahdiel Perez
3D: Christian Stewardship
- “The Ecotheology of Till We Have Faces,” Mrs. Madeleine Teel
- “Mountains of Tin: Lewis and Sayers on Environmental Stewardship,” Dr. Lindsey Scholl
- “Of Priests and Beasts: Lewis on a Sacramental World,” Dr. Michael Muth
Chair: Dr. Greg Anderson
3E: Ethics of War
- “C.S. Lewis and the Ethics of War,” Dr. James Chappel
- “Hate With a Perfect Hatred,” Mr. Brody Stewart
- “A Lewis Stay with the YMCA: Difficulties in Reconstructing the Forgotten Front Campaign,” Dr. Bruce Johnson
Chair: Casey LaMar
Dr. Landon Loftin, “Inklings on Abortion: Barfield vs. Lewis?”
Saturday, Sept. 26
Dr. Anne-Frédérique Mochel-Caballero, “C.S. Lewis and France: The Untold Story”
Workshop 3
“Classical Literature in Narnia,” Dr. Austin Freeman
Workshop 4
Hoover Academic Building - 105
“New Digital Tools for Lewis Scholars,” Justin Keena
4A: Narnia and Middle-earth
Edwards-Holman Science Center - 102
- “‘The Mythical Tollewis’: Tolkien and Lewis on Myth and Allegory,” Mr. Jonathan Rolfe
- “Unlikely Father Figures in Narnia and Middle-earth,” Dr. Joel Hawbaker
- “‘Not Wholly Vain’: A Tolkienian Reading of Lewis’s Narniad,” Mr. Daniel Hubin
Chair: John Garth
4B: Faith in Conversation
Edwards-Holman Science Center - 125
- “Unlikely Traveling Companions: C.S. Lewis and Jonathan Edwards,” Dr. Christian Cuthbert
- “The Wound That Orients: Language, Desire, and the Split Subject in C.S. Lewis and Jacques Lacan,” Dr. Paul Hoard
- “C.S. Lewis and Rudolf Bultmann – Theologians at Odds?,” Dr. John Nelson
Chair: Dr. Leslie Baynes
4C: Beyond Mrs. Lewis
- “Bloodstained Banners and Weeping Bays: An Undiscovered Influence on Joy Davidman’s Second Novel,” Mr. Gabriel Connor Salter
- “Joy Davidman’s French Connection,” Prof. Don King
- “The Problem of Joy: A Reexamination of C.S. Lewis's Wife In the Context of #MeToo,” Kathleen Coffin
Chair: Dr. Anne-Frédérique Mochel-Caballero
4D: Patristics and Metaphysics
- “Augustinian Illumination and C.S. Lewis’s Theory of Imagination,” Mr. Colton Kirby
- “To Nothing They Shall Return: The Athanasian Influence on Lewis’ Metaphysics,” Mr. Austin Story
- “From Marginalia to Message: C.S. Lewis’s Sermons and Athanasius’s Understanding of the Incarnation,” Prof. Andy Shurson
Chair: Dr. Landon Loftin
4E: Inklings and Women
- “Discovering Comus in the Wardrobe: Lewis’s Miltonic Feminine Spiritual Heroism in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,” Mr. Mark-Elliot Finley
- “The Bachelor, the Nun and the Feminine Genius: C.S. Lewis's and Edith Stein's Interwar Writings on Women,” Mrs. Megan Mueller
- “Is Mary Magdalene Human? Dorothy Sayers as Biblical Interpreter of Jesus's Female Friends,” Dr. Jennifer McNutt
Chair: Dr. Sarah O'Dell
4F: Cinema+
- “The ‘Gentle Slope’ in Black and White: C.S. Lewis, Film Noir, and the Moral Crisis of the 1940s,” Dr. Bryan Mead
- “From Baker Street to Narnia,” Mr. J. Wesley Mullins
- “Screwtape, The Movie,” Dr. Joseph Ricke
Chair: Dr. Michael Ward
5A: Poetry and Poetics
Edwards-Holman Science Center - 102
- “What’s in a Name? Jadis, Narnia, and Francois Villon,” The Rev'd Brian McGreevy
- “Die and Come to Life: Matthew Arnold’s Influence on C.S. Lewis’ Conversion,” Dr. Jason Staples
- “On Failing to Finish Bleheris,” Dr. Brenton Dickieson
Chair: Prof. Don King
5B: Till We Have Faces: Memory and Mapping
Edwards-Holman Science Center - 125
- “Deserts into Oases: Baptized Memory in C.S. Lewis’s Till We Have Faces,” Miss Megan Rials
- “An Incarnational Cartography: Mapping Lewis’s Till We Have Faces,” Dr. Laura Van Dyke and Dr. Katharine Bubel
- “‘You Flashed and You Shone’: Echoes of Confessions Book X in Till We Have Faces,” Mr. Michael Oppizzi
Chair: Dr. Michael Christensen
5C: Love and Moral Psychology
- “Love vs. Trauma: The Making of an Icon,” Dr. Kali Miller
- “‘The First Rule in a Holy Game’: Lewis and Love in Contemporary Philosophy,” Mr. Aaron Milkie
- “Beyond Good and Evil? C.S. Lewis and Nietzsche on Moral Psychology,” Dr. Jahdiel Perez
Chair: Dr. Joyce McPherson
5D: History and Political Thought
- “C.S. Lewis as Philosopher of History in Relation to Herbert Butterfield,” Mr. Jack Nicholson
- “C.S. Lewis, Quentin Skinner, and the Cambridge School of Intellectual History,” Mr. Cody Mitchell
- “Medicine, Not Food: C.S. Lewis on the Purpose and Perils of Democracy,” Dr. Todd Wilson
Chair: Dr. Jennifer Woodruff Tait
5E: Re-enchantment
- “Bicycles, Shadows, and The Music of The Spheres: Philosophical Poetics of Re-Enchantment in Lewis and MacDonald,” Mr. Jonathan Mueller
- “The Proper Pleasure of Ritual: The Language of Liturgy in the Aesthetics of Lewis and His Contemporaries,” Mr. Sean Doyle
- “Recovery of Sight as a Task of Re-enchantment: Lewis in Conversation with Josef Pieper,” Lauren Revay
Chair: Dr. Stephanie Midori Komashin
5F: Inklings and Friends
- “New Light on C.S. Lewis and J.A.W. Bennett,” Dr. Joel Heck
- “Memoirs of a Medical Inkling,” Dr. Sarah O'Dell
- “A Circle of Friends: C.S. Lewis, Nicolas Zernov, and the Ecumenical Movement in Oxford 1947-1963,” Dr. Dwain Tissell
Chair: Mr. Gabriel Connor Salter
Dr. Michael Ward, “Cursèd fate that gave thee to the Moore? Mrs. Moore in Lewis’s Life and Works”
Sunday, Sept. 27
6A: Further Studies in Narnia
Edwards-Holman Science Center - 102
- “Susan and Lasaraleen as Heroes,” Dr. Stephanie Midori Komashin
- “‘The Dwarfs are for the Dwarfs’: Race Anxiety in the Caspian Era,” Ms. Heidi Turner
- “What’s the Use of Eustace? The Redemption of Usefulness in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” Dr. Robert Garcia
Chair: Gary Tandy
6B: Apologetics
Edwards-Holman Science Center - 125
- “Stealing Past the Watchful Dragons: Imaginative Subversion and Spiritual Formation in C.S. Lewis,” Dr. Jeff Tacklind
- “The Argument from Morality and Phenomenology,” Dr. Regan Reitsma
- “The Abolition of Man Versus The Green Book: A New Verdict,” Dr. Gregory Bassham
Chair: Dr. Austin Freeman
6C: Lewis and Barfield
- “Why Lewis Ended the Great War Debate,” Dr. Lilian Lindén
- “Slithering from Poly to Pan: Barfield’s Criticism of Miracles: A Preliminary Study,” Dr. Landon Loftin
- “Was Owen Barfield Really an Inkling?,” Dr. Harry Lee Poe
Chair: Dr. Bart Fowler
6D: Retracing Old Steps
- “Walking with Dinosaurs: Following the Steps of the Cretaceous,” Dr. Michael Christensen
- “Variation(s) on a Date, or, When C.S. Lewis Read to the Mermaids,” Dr. Sarah Waters
- “A Needful New Look: Correcting Chronologies and Characterizations of Joy Davidman,” Rev'd Dr. Andrew Lazo
Chair: Dr. Scott Key
6E: Sex and Gender
- “Seven Genders in That Hideous Strength and Lewis's Epistemology,” Mrs. Willa Hoard
- “Celebrating Gender in 1943: Gratitude for Gendered Embodiment in Perelandra,” Dr. Josh Herring
Chair: Dr. Jennifer McNutt
6F: Surprised by Maths
- “The Business of Lewis: Private Matters with Public Impact,” Miss Annie Mae Platter
- “Good Reading and Good Mathematics: Comparing C.S. Lewis and G.H. Hardy,” Dr. Josiah Reiswig
- “Surprised by Maths: Dispelling the Cloaking Enchantment,” Prof. Evan Hedlund
Chair: Mr. Roy Wallen
Hosted by Dr. John Nelson (Premier Christian Radio)