Who are we?
With the blessing of the Abbot of the Serbian St. Spyridon ‘Mother’-Skete in Geilnau (Germany), Father Basilius (Grolimund), S’chi Archimandrite Justin (Rauer) (locum tenens of the Annunciation-St. Justin Hermitage in Unterufhausen) has started this conference initiative in 2024.
The support group of this endeavor (and editorial board of the online publication, see below) includes Father Adrian Iuga, Dean of the Romanian Great West in France Diocese, Anastasia Limberger, Roca Diocese, Munich, Father Professor Dumitru Vanca, Theology Faculty of Alba Iulia University, Romania, Father Professor (Deacon Sampson) Ryan Nash, Hagop S. Mekhjian Chair in Medical Ethics and Professionalism, The Ohio State University, Columbus Ohio, Father Tibor Imrényi, titulary dean at St. George’s Orthodox Church, Szeged, Hungary, and Cornelia Delkeskamp-Hayes, Director of European Programs, International Studies in Philosophy and Medicine, serving as secretary.
Date
This year’s conference on
Christian love is not a private matter.
St. Dumitru Stăniloae's theology of Person and Communion
will take place from Thursday, June 19th, at 1 pm (lunch) till Saturday, June 21th, at 5 pm.
Participants are also welcome to stay for dinner and evening service on Saturday evening, as well as for liturgy and lunch on Sunday, the 22th of June.
Conference site and Accommodation
The conference meets at the Annunciation-St. Justin Hermitage in Eiterfeld Unterufhausen.
(See exact Google maps location here!
(Unfortunately, the website of the Hermitage is in the process of being re-worked. Some information can be gathered from https://www.edition-hagia-sophia.de/c/iajc.)
Hospitality evenings at Gickelshuis just down the road
FFor accommodation during the conference, there are two main options for participants especially (even though not exclusively) without a car:
1. The Hermitage (our conference site)
There are a limited number of rooms at the Hermitage for men, and very limited accommodation options for women (basically one 3-bed room, a 2-bed room with a curtain in between, and a single room). Please direct your wishes for accommodation in the Hermitage to our ‘conference support’ Photini at Sabine.Dinkler@yahoo.de.
2. Hotels in the vicinity
Eiterfeld
At a distance of 6,5 km to the Hermitage, Eiterfeld has two hotels.
Meissmers Hotel http://www.meissmers.de
Pension am Amtsgericht https://pension-am-amtsgericht.de/kontakt/
Other locations
There are many additional places close by. Please let Photini (email see above) know of your interest, and she will provide an extended list.
Expenses
IAJC is a monastic outreach without extra funds. Participants are encouraged to find support from their own academic institutions or elsewhere to cover their expenses.
We can provide you with a personalized formal letter of invitation in order to help obtain those funds.
Expected expenses
- Your travel
- Accommodation (the Hermitage is grateful for a voluntary donation)
- Meals, rental of hospitality place, and conference organization fee: 120 €
Travel
The closest airport is the International Airport of Frankfurt (FRA) in Germany. From there, a direct train connection (about 1 hour) is available to Fulda.
From Fulda railroad station, car pickup (a half-hour drive) can be organized from the Hermitage on Wednesday and on Thursday morning. This is why, for participants flying in on Thursday morning, we urgently recommend arriving before 10 am, to secure enough time for joining the opening lunch at 1 pm.
Participants are welcome to arrive on Wednesday already, when Cornelia can offer pickup service for four people from the Airport. For all others, such early arrival limits the risk of getting delayed by our (in)famously deficient German trains. It also offers the option of participating in the Hermitage’s Thursday liturgy.
Please, let Photini (see email above) know your travel plans (and mobile phone numbers) as soon as possible to help us organize any needed support for your arrival.
Conference schedule
From Thursday afternoon to Saturday afternoon, we will have six to seven formal sessions of
90 to 165 minutes.
Each presenter is allotted a total of 45 minutes for (shortened) presentation and (in-depth)
discussion.
Depending on the number of papers, we might undertake a little pilgrimage to Fulda’s relics of Saint Boniface, the Apostle to Germany.
We are also invited to take part in the evening and morning services, as well as (for those who have arrived on Wednesday) in the Divine Liturgy on Thursday morning. (The Liturgy on Saturday unfortunately interferes with our schedule.)
Please remember the normal monastic dress-code and Father Justin’s request not to bring mobile phones into the Church.
Papers
The general subject set for each IAJ Conference should provide the general framework for presentations.
As a matter of courtesy in view of all other participants’ commitment, already before our meeting, to read and prepare helpful criticism for all presentations, the papers should be between 3000 and (no more than) 10 000 words in length, written in a traditional academic format (as pdfs, with title, author, page numbers).
Since fostering a good quality discussion is a major goal of IAJC, the oral presentation should offer a 15 minute condensed version that sets the stage for intensive conversation.
A one-page summary of core quotes or theses to be distributed during the sessions is also often helpful. Obviously, the discussions can also continue during breaks, meals and evening hospitality.
Papers should be written in English if possible, otherwise either in German or French.
Deadlines:
- The title of your paper is due on Saturday, March 8th, 2025.
- The abstract of your paper is due on Saturday, May 3rd, 2025.
- Full text of final papers is due on Saturday, May 31st, 2025.
All documents should be submitted to conference secretary: corinna.delkeskamp-hayes@gmx.de.
Participants who send in their papers later will be asked to bring printed copies to be distributed to each participant at the beginning of the conference.
Publications
Participants who wish to have their presentation published will be invited to send them in for peer review and linguistic support. After successful editing, the papers will appear (open access) on the website of the Annals of the IAJC, which is hosted by the Edition Hagia Sophia (EHS) under its logos sub-website (https://www.edition-hagia-sophia.de/c/iajc).
Gregor Fernbach, the publisher of EHS, has provided this opportunity; he will be permitted to produce German translations of selected essays, to be printed in an Annals of the IAJC book series.
This website will also give an overview of planned and completed conferences (citing the names, presentation-titles, and abstracts of participants who wish to be included. We hope that this will also help us find like-minded Orthodox thinkers willing to join our meetings.
Questions
All questions (except travel and accommodation, which are in Photini’s hands) should be addressed to the conference secretary:
corinna.delkeskamp-hayes@gmx.de
You can also call (Central European Time, which is also +1 UTC):
Land-line +49 6055 6610 or (whatsapp/telegram) +49 (0) 175 9808 593