The Louise and Richard Goodwin Prize
for Excellence in Theological Writing
Offered by Theological Horizons
The Louise and Richard Goodwin Writing Prize for Excellence in Theological Writing is given to graduate students in recognition of essays that demonstrate:
- creative theological thinking,
- excellence in scholarship,
- faithful witness to the Christian tradition, and
- engagement with the community of faith.
The writing prize is awarded by the Board of Directors of Theological Horizons, a non-profit corporation fostering reflection and responsibility in the church, the community, and the academy.
Three chances to win:
- $2000 prize
- $1000 prize
- $500 prize
$500 will be given to the professor of the winning student
Submissions must be postmarked by June 1, 2012. Read more.
2010 Goodwin Prize Winners
Read interviews with the 2010 winners
$2000 Prize: Erinn Staley, Yale University
“Intellectual Disability and Mystical Unknowing:
Insights for Contemporary Christian Life from Medieval Text”
Abstract:
Intellectual disabilities make people vulnerable to oppression and exclusion from churches and social spaces, yet theology generally has neglected the topic and failed to promote the flourishing of intellectually disabled people. This paper offers a dual intervention into contemporary theology’s inadequate attention to both intellectual disabilities and historical resources for reflection on disabilities. I argue that Bonaventure’s Itinerarium Mentis in Deum provides a model for imagining intellectually disabled and nondisabled people sharing the same journey into God and that Eckhart’s view of intellect as the uncreated element in the soul includes intellectually disabled people among those who may be united with God.
A $500 Prize has been awarded to Denys Turner of Yale University for acting as the advising professor on Erinn Staley's essay.
$1000 Prize: Derek Woodard-Lehman, Princeton Theological Seminary
"Radical Protestant, Radical Democrat:
Cornel West and the Possibility of Public Theology"
Abstract:
“Radical Protestant public theology” is neither a misnomer nor a mistake. Radical Protestant theology is not intrinsically sectarian. Public theology is not necessarily Constantinian. Instead, Radical Protestant public theology is a form of Christian social criticism whose practical stance embodies both measured cooperation and mitigated opposition, and whose rhetorical style expresses both qualified affirmation and circumscribed rejection. That such a public theology is not widely in evidence is distressing, but not devastating. Cornel West is a provocative, albeit imperfect exemplar thereof. Considering West as both a Radical Protestant and a Radical Democrat not only makes better sense of his own broad corpus, it also reveals compelling theological, ethical, and political possibilities beyond the moribund alternatives of antidemocratic post liberalism and antireligious liberalism. These Westian possibilities are new democratic vistas and prophetic visions of King’s Beloved Community.
$500 Prize: Anna Davis, University of Exeter
“Embracing the ‘Negative’: A Theological Reflection on
Shostakovich’s Eighth String Quartet”
Abstract
This essay argues that Shostakovich’s Eighth String Quartet invites us to pursue a theological reflection on music which looks beyond notions of music as pointing to the divine and instead focuses on music’s more dissonant aspects. Informed by the work of G.W.F. Hegel, it argues that we might understand the Quartet as a musical embracing of the ‘negative’, and thus interprets the work as illustrative of the fractured beauty which necessarily lies at the centre of theological aesthetics.
Eligibility requirements and submission guidelines:
- The writer must be a masters or pre-dissertation doctoral student
- The submission must be an original, unpublished essay
- Please submit your manuscript as a single-document email attachment (in Microsoft Word format) to info@theologicalhorizons.org and one hard copy to:
Theological Horizons,
1841 University Circle,
Charlottesville, VA 22903
- This document should include:
- The author’s name and brief biographical information
- A title for the essay
- An abstract (100 words or less) at the beginning of the document
- The body of the essay
- The suggested length for submissions is 5000 words
- Please include your name, permanent postal address, email address, and telephone number
- For further submission guidelines typical of a peer-reviewed journal go to link.
- Winning essays may be submitted to peer-reviewed theological journals for publication consideration.
The prize is endowed by a generous gift from Mr. & Mrs. Frank Garrett Louthan III in loving memory of Mrs. Louthan’s parents, Mr. & Mrs. Richard T. Goodwin of Fredericksburg, Virginia.
For more information on the Louise and Richard Goodwin Writing Prize
for Excellence in Theological Writing, contact:
Karen Wright Marsh, Theological Horizons
1841 University Circle, Charlottesville, VA 22903
434.244.2839
info@theologicalhorizons.org
- The author’s name and brief biographical information