Our 13th Annual meeting will take place at Thomas Berry Place, a Passionist Retreat Center attached to their monastery in Jamaica, Queens, New York. Needless to say that New York is one of the most ethnically, culturally, spiritually, gastronomically, architecturally, and environmentally diverse places on the face of the Earth. We will partake of its environs with explorations of sacred landmark sites in and around the city. Despite this urban vibrancy, the Thomas Berry Place offers a private, contemplative, and beautiful setting conducive to sharing, considering, and speculating about the issues before us. All symposium events (save for exploration of New York environs) will take place here.
The cost of the Symposium will be as follows:
• Day attendance + Overnight for singles (1 person): $ 1,000
• Day attendance + Overnight for couples (2 people ): $ 1,900
• Commuters: $600
This symposium fee will cover the following:
• If you are staying overnight, you will get private accommodation for 4 nights in a newly renovated, monastery-style, air-conditioned bedroom with single bed (queen bed for couples), chair, and sink. Single rooms have desks. (washrooms and showers are down the hall. Many are private, but not all).
• All meals: from dinner on May 31st to lunch on June 4th, you will receive 3 buffet service hot meals a day; snacks, coffee & juice during the breaks; appetizers during receptions. Wine will be served at receptions and dinners.
• Access to all symposium activities.
• Bus transportation to the local sacred sites tour with on-site guides and a box lunch.
• A commemorative ACSF 13 T-Shirt.
• All gratuities and taxes.
Those who have submitted an abstract will be notified of their acceptance on or before March 15th after which you will have two weeks to confirm your participation and one more week to register on-line prior to the rooms becoming available to the remaining ACSF membership and public at large. Thomas Berry Place has 49 private bedrooms, 20 with Queen Sized beds and 29 with single beds. Couples will have precedence over individuals for booking the Queen bedrooms. If you are planning to attend the conference, to ensure a place on-site, you must register no later than April 5th, or preferably as soon as you receive your paper/workshop acceptance. All bookings will be available online through ACSF. Please do not contact Thomas Berry Place directly. Thank you for your cooperation.
The Thomas Berry Place is well served by public transportation andhighly accessible, a 5-minute walk from the Jamaica 179th Street stop on the city’s E and F subway lines. The venue is a short, 20-minute drive from either LaGuardia Airport (LGA) or JFK International Airport (JFK) --- U$S 20-25 outside of rush hour. There is free parking for those arriving by car.
May/June is one of the best times to visit the New York City area. Early in June, afternoon high temperatures are very pleasant, averaging mostly in the low to mid-70sF (22-24C). Early morning lows will fall to the mid to upper 50sF (13-15C) while a couple of cooler mornings can see lows down into the upper 40sF to near 50F (9-10C).