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X-WR-CALNAME:Levan Book Chat—David Albertson\, The Geometry of Christian 
 Contemplation
X-WR-TIMEZONE:Pacific Time (US & Canada)
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20260810T012043Z
UID:tag:localist.com\,2008:EventInstance_50907198321618
DTSTART:20260417T180000Z
DTEND:20260417T190000Z
DESCRIPTION:A discussion of David Albertson's new book\, The Geometry of Ch
 ristian Contemplation: Measure without Measure (Oxford University Press\, 
 2025). The author will be joined in conversation by Amy Hollywood (Harvard
  University) and Alexis Torrance (University of Notre Dame)\, moderated by
  Arjun Nair (USC). Organized in partnership with the School of Religion an
 d the School of Philosophy. Registration is required. REGISTER HERE\n\n \n
 \nAbout the Book: Many ancient and medieval Christian mystics were redisco
 vered in the twentieth century. But have modern assumptions about religiou
 s experience influenced how we hear those premodern voices? The Geometry o
 f Christian Contemplation suggests a fresh approach to the history of myst
 ical theology oriented toward exteriority more than interiority and toward
  the measurable world outside more than the invisible world within. The an
 cient Greek philosopher Plotinus taught contemplatives to close their eyes
  and withdraw into the soul. Most Christians followed his directions\, but
  others dissented. In three critical episodes\, an alternative model of Ch
 ristian contemplation began to emerge: from Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagit
 e to the Byzantine monks who defended the icon to eccentric humanists in m
 edieval Paris. Together\, these episodes add up to a different theological
  aesthetics that can help us correct some imbalances in the modern study o
 f mysticism. In the centuries before the scientific revolution and the sec
 ularization of nature\, Christians still saw God in the exterior world\, n
 ot only in the interior soul. God was not an ineffable and formless Absolu
 te\, immeasurable like the soul\, but an infinite Measure who leaves behin
 d geometrical traces in the figures of the world. The God who became a hum
 an body in the Incarnation not only entered time and matter but also spati
 al extension\, and with it\, the conditions of measure. Today\, the wisdom
  of this countertradition can strengthen the study of mysticism and supple
 ment contemporary fascination with negative theology by redefining what it
  means to name God positively.\n\n \n\nAbout the Author: David Albertson i
 s Professor of Religion and Philosophy at USC. He is the author of Cusanus
  Today: Thinking with Nicholas of Cusa Between Philosophy and Theology (Th
 e Catholic University of America Press\, 2024)\, Mathematical Theologies: 
 Nicholas of Cusa and the Legacy of Thierry of Chartres (Oxford University 
 Press\, 2014) and\, with Cabell King\, eds.\, Without Nature: A New Condit
 ion for Theology (Fordham University Press\, 2009).\n\n \n\nOpen to attend
 ants outside of USC. An excerpt of the book will be made available to regi
 stered attendants. Registration before the event is required. \n\n \n\nThi
 s event is part of the Levan Institute for the Humanities' “Book Chats
 ” series\, conversations about new books published by USC scholars in th
 e humanities and humanistic social sciences. To see more events in this se
 ries\, including recordings of past events\, visit https://dornsife.usc.ed
 u/levan-institute/book-chats/.
LOCATION:
SUMMARY:Levan Book Chat—David Albertson\, The Geometry of Christian Conte
 mplation
URL;VALUE=URI:https://calendar.usc.edu/event/levan-book-chatdavid-albertson
 -the-geometry-of-christian-contemplation
CATEGORIES:Lecture / Talk / Workshop
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