Sense and Saintability: A Roundtable Reimagining the Multisensory Spiritual Labors of Thomas Merton

This roundtable takes a familiar subject in the study of North American Religion and American Catholicism–-the Trappist monk, Thomas Merton-–and reimagines his life and work as touchpoints in the sensorial production of religious lives and study in the modern world. An adult convert to Catholicism, Merton later joined the Trappist order of monks at the Abbey of Gethsemani outside of Bardstown, Kentucky, where he lived a contemplative, often writerly life, from 1949 until his untimely death in 1968. What we know about Merton is largely through examination of his many books and essays, published both during his lifetime and posthumously. But his life and work–even the work of reading and writing–was also engaged in intentional spiritual sensations of sound, sight, and touch. Each participant in this roundtable hones in on artifacts of Merton’s spiritual labor–sound, photograph, essay, reading–and unpacks them from the participants’ stated disciplinary and professional positions.