Friday, Jan 31 – Feb 1st
9am – 5pm.
Lunch will be provided. Coffee and Water will also be provided throughout the day!

FORMA contemplates ancient ideas for contemporary people. We are a community of classical educators and thinkers who seek to better understand the classical tradition and enact it in a contemporary context.

This year, we have the pleasure of announcing our second annual FORMA conference, the FORMA Symposium! Both speakers and attendees are invited to join as we discuss classical education, Great Ideas, and the future of the classical renewal.

What is the FORMA Symposium?

This is unlike the other CiRCE conferences, in that speakers will present peer-reviewed papers, and rather than learning from a few select speakers, all attendees will engage in the work of the symposium by asking questions, presenting ideas, and reviewing each others work.

At our second symposium in January 2025, we will explore the Quadrivium. In this upcoming FORMA conference and subsequent journal, scholars from the home to the university will come together to explore both the traditional role of the Quadrivium in classical education and how we can practice these arts today. Topics may include (but are not limited to): better understanding one of the four arts within the Quadrivium, contemplating challenges we face in teaching the Quadrivium in a contemporary context, exploring different ways the Quadrivium was approached or understood within the tradition, considering a master teacher within the Quadrivium, considering a contemporary college or school as a case study for teaching the Quadrivium, casting a vision for the Quadrivium in American education, etc.

Each year, we host a special panel responding to a new book with the author present. This year, we have the honor of responding to Andrew Kern’s new book Unless the Lord Builds the House, the first of many in a series on the essentials of classical education. Kern argues that before we can consider the Seven Liberal Arts, we must understand knowledge itself. Rather than approaching this enormous topic from an epistemological perspective, he offers the Holy Temple as an archetypal form of all revelation and shows how this model can transform teaching. We welcome speakers to respond to Kern’s work. Four speakers will be chosen, after which Kern will respond to their thoughts.

If you would like to respond to this new book, please email us at formamag@circeinstitute.org to let us know.

Registration Pricing:

1. Regular: $147
2. Clergy: $100
3. Spouse*: $70
4. Student: $70

*(The spouse price is for the spouse of someone who has already purchased an attending ticket.)

Do I have to submit a paper to attend?

No, you can attend the Forma Symposium without submitting a paper.

Do I have to attend the symposium to submit a paper?

No, you can submit work to the Journal without attending the symposium. The Symposium is for academic papers, but the journal also publishes columns, poetry, and book reviews.

Wondering how this will work?

Each session will consist of 4 presenters and a moderator, in which each individual will present their paper for 12-15 minutes. Once each individual has presented their paper, a moderator will ask questions and then open it up to the audience for Q&A.

The paper will likely be longer by word count than what the 12-15 minute presentation allows. Your presentation should consist of a summary of your main points and main arguments. The feedback you receive from the peer review and the audience at your presentation will help you refine your longer paper for future publication.

When is the paper due for publication?

A 3k-5k word first draft of your paper should be submitted for peer review by December 15th. After the symposium, the final manuscript is due for publication anytime in the following five months. Final Manuscripts should be ~5k words. We will publish them at varying times, allowing you a flexible deadline. Only papers following the Chicago Manual of Style will be published. 

Submissions

Late proposals will still be considered*

If you would like to join the symposium, please submit a proposal for your paper for review by October 31st, 2024. By submitting a paper, you are also agreeing to review another author’s work. Each author must review at least one other piece in order to qualify for presenting their paper at the symposium. The FORMA Symposium is committed to communal inquiry, to which this peer-review process is essential.

Please note, the FORMA publication will move exclusively to an online format. If you would like to be published in a print journal as well, we encourage you to do so. We will not retain publication rights for any papers. 

Please submit your proposal and a short bio to formamag@circeinstitute.com with “Symposium Submission” as the title.

Check out the Job Fair too which is happening right before our 2025 FORMA Symposium!