TWU’s School of the Arts, Media + Culture (SAMC) will present the 7th annual Verge Conference September 26-27, 2013. This year’s conference theme, Arts and Narrative, will explore the ways that different art forms, particularly interdisciplinary arts, relate to narrative.
“The arts have always played a key role in telling and creating the stories that shape culture,” said SAMC Dean and conference director David Squires, Ph.D. “Digging deep into how this takes place can help us understand more about ourselves and others.”
Verge presenters—including keynote speaker Gregory Wolfe, noted author and writer-in-residence at Seattle Pacific University—will address themes, such as what role the arts play in the formation of community narratives today and historically, and in what ways the arts contribute to what it means to be human.
Wolfe, who is also the founder and director of Seattle Pacific’s Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, has been called “one of the most incisive and persuasive voices of our generation.” He and his wife, Suzanne—who teaches English Literature at SPU—are the founders and editors of Image, a forum for “the best writing and artwork that is informed by—or grapples with—religious faith.”
Other featured presenters include:
- TWU alumna and author Connie Braun | A Return to Old Country: Traveling the Landscape of Chaos through Silence, Memory and Imagination
- TWU Media + Communication instructor and author Loranne Brown | Bluebeard and the Narrative of Self-Transcendence
- Musician Erin Heisel, Ph.D. | Musical Narrative as a Shared Process
- Chair of the Art + Design Department and artist Erica L. Grimm, Ph.D. | Art-Making and Releasing the Power of Narrative
- Music alumna and current TWU post-graduate student Leah Cameron | Singing with Sophia: The Theological Imagination of Thomas Merton
During the two-day conference, some 30 presenters will examine how artistic narratives intertwine with personal identity. Past Verge Conferences have examined topics such as Arts and Ethics (2012) and the Arts and Community (2008). “These conferences ask important questions,” said Squires, “and we’re very pleased to be hosting them.”
Verge Conference
Thursday, September 26 and Friday, September 27
Music Building
Trinity Western University
22500 University Drive, Langley, BC