Professor presents paper at C.S. Lewis conference

Dr. Randy Jensen, a Northwestern College philosophy professor, presented a paper at “C.S. Lewis, the Inklings, and the Call to Christian Community,” a conference held at Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, Calif., Feb. 7–9.

In the mid-1900s, Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and several others forged a friendship through an informal literary discussion group at the University of Oxford. Known as the Inklings, its members produced some of the most creative recent literature in the English language.

The California conference brought together leading experts on Lewis, Tolkien and the Inklings for two days of reflection, lectures and panel discussions. Among the topics examined were the nature of the Inklings’ friendship and how their relationships formed, developed and brought forth the best from each other.

Jensen’s paper is entitled “Face to Face? C.S. Lewis on Friendship.” A member of Northwestern’s faculty since 1999, Jensen specializes in ethics and ancient Greek philosophy, offers a course on C.S. Lewis and the Inklings, and has contributed chapters to South Park and Philosophy, 24 and Philosophy, Battlestar Galactica and Philosophy, and The Office and Philosophy—all of which are new or forthcoming books in Blackwell Publishing’s Philosophy and Pop Culture series.

Jensen earned a doctorate in philosophy from the University of California–Los Angeles and is a member of the American Philosophical Association and the Society of Christian Philosophers.