Institute for Religion, Culture and Public Life
What Was Pious Attention?
Date: Friday, October 17th, 2025, from 12:15-1:45PM
Location: Casa Hispánica (612 West 116th Street)
Series: Devotion and Distraction
Speaker: Jamie Kreiner (University of California, Los Angeles)
Respondent: Seth Kimmel (Columbia University)
We tend to think of the problem of paying attention while being bombarded with an overwhelming quantity and variety of information and seduced by ever more invasive forms of distraction as a uniquely contemporary one. But medieval monks, pious early modern poets, and others from the past developed strategies to focus during what they perceived as their own moments of distraction or information overload. What were the pious practices of attention that these medieval and early modern Christians cultivated? How might better understanding these practices from the past help us to think critically about focus and distraction today in both sacred and secular contexts?
Free and open to the public
Registration is required—Please register in advance to reserve your spot
All prospective attendees must register by 11:59PM on Thursday, October 16. Registration will close at that time.
