‘Call for Papers: 2027 International Conference on Freemasonry’

    

I see it’s on the Grand Master’s calendar, so it is official: The 15th International Conference on Freemasonry is set for March 6 of next year. Hosted by the Masons of California, it’ll be back in Los Angeles, this time at the UCLA Faculty Club.

The theme for 2027 will be “Scotland and Freemasonry: The High Road, the Low Road, and the Road Less Traveled.” Organizers have issued the call for papers, saying:

“We are now accepting proposals for academic paper presentations for the 15th International Conference on Freemasonry, sponsored by the Grand Lodge of California and the California Masonic Foundation. Topics are open, but should be closely matched to the theme of the conference. Successful proposals will adhere to academic standards of original research and composition, and pursue original analyses. Please send curriculum vitae and 500-word proposal to Susan Mitchell Sommers here.”

Bro. Erich Huhn, who serves as both The ALR’s Senior Deacon and NJ LORE’s Secretary, while pursuing a Ph.D. in History on nineteenth century American Freemasonry, was a speaker at this year’s conference just four weeks ago. Based on his account of the affair, it sounds like a pretty wild weekend! I imagine outside the lecture hall, sherry was tippled, monocles were steamed, laughter was…was audible!

Send in your précis!

Kudos to whoever devised the conference title. “The high road” and “the low road” call to mind the Scottish folk song “The Bonnie Banks o’ Loch Lomond,” and “the road less traveled” reminds us of “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost, a California native and son of a Scottish immigrant mother.

And March 6, for that matter, is the Feast Day of St. Baldred, a hermit (so he’s dear to my heart) of the eighth century who came to be known as the Apostle of the Lothians.