March 7–11 · Omni Bedford Springs Resort & Spa
Chalk & Pen™
Two Tracks. One Artist-Scholar Commune.
Times are Eastern and subject to small adjustments as artists in residence are confirmed.
CHALK
Pedagogy as Cultural Production
For participants who want concentrated attention to teaching, course design, pedagogical imagination, experiential learning, and the vocation of the scholar-teacher.
PEN
Writing as Cultural Production
For participants who want protected time for manuscripts, essays, creative work, public scholarship, revision, and publication.
Participants select a primary track. Shared salons, artist encounters, meals, contemplative practices, and evening gatherings bring the full cohort together.
Sunday, March 7
Arrival & Invocation2:00–5:00 PM
SHAREDCheck-In at Omni Bedford Springs
Cohort welcome table in the Colonnade lobby. Materials and retreat packets available upon arrival.
5:30 PM
SHAREDOpening Libation & Invocation
Springs Terrace. Naming the ancestors, archives, communities, and traditions that accompany our work.
7:00 PM
SHAREDWelcome Dinner: Entering the Commune
Introductions to the artists, scholars, Fellows, and the rhythm of Chalk & Pen.
Monday, March 8
Mediumship: What Moves Through Our Work?7:30 AM
SHAREDMorning Walk, Silence, or Yoga
Optional trail walk along Shober's Run, quiet reflection, or yoga.
9:00 AM–12:00 PM
PARALLEL TRACKSMorning Studios
CHALK
Pedagogy Studio I
Teaching as Cultural Production
A sustained work session devoted to courses, assignments, pedagogical questions, or teaching projects. Participants consider teaching as an act of interpretation, creation, and cultural transmission.
PEN
Writing Studio I
Protected Writing Block
Three hours of uninterrupted work. Manuscripts, essays, creative projects, public scholarship, or other writing.
1:30–3:30 PM
SHAREDArtist-Scholar Salon: Black Cultural Production as Theological Archive
A conversation about art, memory, religion, inheritance, and the production of Black knowledge.
4:00–6:00 PM
SHAREDOpen Studio: Encountering the Medium
Tactile engagement with artistic media through paint, sound, textile, image, and material practice.
8:00 PM
SHAREDEvening Fire: On Being a Conduit
Conversation on mediumship, ancestral memory, spiritual practice, artistic process, scholarly voice, and what passes through us when we create.
Tuesday, March 9
Making: Art, Pedagogy & Prose9:00 AM–12:00 PM
PARALLEL TRACKSMorning Studios
CHALK
Pedagogy Studio II
Art, Ekphrasis & the Classroom
Participants explore ways that artistic encounter, ekphrastic response, and material practice can reshape teaching in theology and religion. Time is reserved for the development or revision of a course element, assignment, classroom exercise, or pedagogical project.
PEN
Writing Studio II
Protected Writing Block
Sustained manuscript and creative work.
1:30–4:30 PM
SHAREDChalk & Pen Artist-Scholar Workshop
From Medium to Word
A signature encounter with the Artist-in-Residence centered on writing process, creative practice, Black cultural production, and mediumship.
CHALK
For CHALK participants
Consider how the exercise might enter pedagogical practice.
PEN
For PEN participants
Attend to image, voice, cadence, form, and the sentence as a made object.
5:00–6:00 PM
OPTIONALConsultation & Feedback Circles
Small-group conversations with senior scholars and peers.
7:30 PM
SHAREDArtist Conversation
Cultural Memory, Mediumship & the Creative Life
An evening conversation with the Artist-in-Residence about artistic process, religious imagination, cultural inheritance, and the work of creation.
Wednesday, March 10
Deep Work9:00 AM–12:00 PM
PARALLEL TRACKSMorning Studios
CHALK
Pedagogy Studio III
The Teaching Laboratory
Protected development time for syllabi, course units, assignments, teaching philosophies, pedagogical essays, or new modes of classroom practice.
PEN
Writing Studio III
Protected Writing Block
Three uninterrupted hours devoted to individual writing projects.
12:00–2:00 PM
SHAREDSprings Interval
Rest, mineral baths, walking, silence, and contemplative time.
2:00–5:00 PM
PARALLEL TRACKSAfternoon Studios
CHALK
Pedagogy Studio IV
From Imagination to Practice
Participants develop a concrete pedagogical experiment that can move from COMMUNE into a classroom, congregation, public program, or professional setting.
PEN
Writing Studio IV
Deep Work & Revision
Protected time for composition and revision.
5:00–6:30 PM
OPTIONALFeedback Session
Courses, chapters, essays, grant narratives, teaching projects, and creative manuscripts.
8:00 PM
SHAREDCOMMUNE Reading & Showing
Five minutes each. Participants may share prose, poetry, a pedagogical idea, an image, an assignment, a reflection, or something created during the week.
Thursday, March 11
Sending Forth9:00–11:00 AM
PARALLEL TRACKSClosing Studios
CHALK
Final Pedagogy Studio
What Will I Teach Differently?
Final work period followed by reflection on how the retreat will enter one's teaching life.
PEN
Final Writing Studio
What Will I Carry Forward?
Final protected writing period followed by identification of the next stage of the project.
11:30 AM
SHAREDClosing Circle: Vocation, Practice & Covenant
Participants reflect upon what they encountered, what they created, and what they will carry into their professional lives. Accountability partnerships and future points of connection are established.
1:00 PM
SHAREDFarewell Lunch & Departures
Registration — $3,500
Opens October 1. Includes all sessions, studio access, cohort materials, and daily snacks, meals, and beverages. A limited number of full and partial fellowships are available for junior, contingent, and independent scholars. Members of the Society for the Study of Black Religion may enter discount code KGC1950 at registration for the $2,750 member rate.
Register for Chalk & Pen