Missouri State > University Communications > Campus Resources > News Releases > February 2008 > News Release

SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State University will host the first International Conference on Inquisition Studies Feb. 8-10 at the Hawthorne Park Hotel in Springfield, Mo.         

Scholars from universities around the world will host a variety of panel sessions and book reviews. With topics ranging from witchcraft and medicine to the censorship of the Inquisition, the event will explore many aspects of the Inquisition and the affect that it has had on world history. 

Conference organizer Dr. John Chuchiak, associate professor of history at Missouri State, said the conference will be a great place to show off the different areas of research that are currently taking place in Inquisition Studies. “The conference panels assembled here will attempt to highlight some of the more recent research, methods and conclusions of current Inquisition studies,” said Chuchiak.

Participants from Missouri State University will include: Chuchiak, who will discuss differences in punishment proceedings between Inquisitional jurisdictions; Dr. Eric Nelson, assistant professor of history and Cameron Fellow at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, who will serve as commentator on one of the panels; and Mara Cohen-Ioannides, editor of “Ozarks Watch – Documenting the Jews of the Ozarks” and executive board member of the Midwest Jewish Studies Association, who will also serve as commentator on one of the panels.

The event is co-hosted by the Missouri State Provost Research Initiative, the College of Humanities and Public Affairs, the Latin American, Caribbean and Hispanic Studies Program, and the history and religious studies departments.

The conference is free to everyone who would like to come and listen to any of the panel discussions. For more information visit the event website at http://history.missouristate.edu/chuchiak/template/inquisition_studies.htm, or contact Chuchiak at (417) 836-5425.