Workshop speaker
Reenchanting the Modern Imagination: C. S. Lewis and the Medieval Cosmos
The modern imagination is driven, in large part, by materialistic reductionism, and the effects of this “evil enchantment” have seeped into every area of life, including the classroom. In both the imaginative and academic works of C. S. Lewis, he presents a potent antidote with which to awaken our imaginations from this deep sleep—the medieval cosmos. Lewis’s love for medieval cosmology goes beyond the purely intellectual and extends into the practical. By studying his use of the medieval cosmos in his writings, we can gain the tools to reshape our students’ imaginations and break them out of the fog of this “evil enchantment.”
Christiana Hale graduated Summa Cum Laude from New Saint Andrews College with an MA in Theology and Letters in 2017. Her graduate research focused on one of her favorite authors, C. S. Lewis, and his love of medieval cosmology and medieval and renaissance literature, particularly as seen through Lewis’s Space Trilogy. She also holds a BA in Liberal Arts and Culture and graduated with her second graduate degree, an MFA in Creative Writing, through New Saint Andrews College in 2022. She has taught at Logos School, a classical Christian school in Moscow, Idaho, as a secondary Latin and literature teacher since 2019. She also teaches writing and literature classes at her alma mater, New Saint Andrews College. Her book Deeper Heaven: A Reader’s Guide to C. S. Lewis’s Ransom Trilogy, the culmination of years of research, was released in January 2021 and has received praise from such Lewis scholars as Michael Ward and Holly Ordway. Christiana grew up in North Idaho and has lived in Moscow, Idaho, since 2011. She lives in a cheery house with her two sisters and enjoys walking downtown, haunting local coffee shops, hiking with friends, and eating Sunday dinners with the rest of her family.