‘California conference call for papers’

     

The deadline is August 1, so I thought I should share this information again.

The 15th International Conference on Freemasonry is set for March 6, 2027. Hosted by the Masons of California, it’ll be back in Los Angeles, this time at the UCLA Faculty Club. Its theme: “Scotland and Freemasonry: The High Road, the Low Road, and the Road Less Traveled.”

Organizers issued the call for papers:

“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.”

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;” while “the road less traveled” naturally 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 (therefore dear to my heart) of the eighth century who came to be known as the Apostle of the Lothians.