Over the course of the past year I’ve been convening the Group for Religious and Intellectual Traditions, at the University of Newcastle, Australia. It’s been a chance to collaborate with a brilliant group of scholars from across the Faculty of Education and Arts as well as coordinate research seminars and public lectures. Last year we ran seminars on a range of topics such as religion and empire in greater britain (Prof. Hilary Carey), the language of “soul” in the Hunter River Lake Macquarrie Language (Dr. Jim Wafer), Lenin’s appropriation of biblical literature (Roland Boer) and the gendered nature of sainthood with reference to Australia’s own Mary MacKillop (Dr. Kath McPhillips). We also promoted public lectures last year on the Dead Sea Scrolls (Prof. George Brooke, The University of Manchester) and biblical translation (Fr. Nicholas King, Universtity of Oxford).
This year we’re hosting an excellent set of seminars on Religion and Politics (Prof. Marion Maddox), Religion and Economics (Prof. Paul Oslington) and Religion and Public Health (Dr. Craig Dalton). We’re also promoting a new set of public lectures. Here’s the schedule with links to fliers:
Seminars (hosted in the Auchmuty Library Cultural Collections):
- Tue, March 13, 3.30-5pm, Prof. Marion Maddox “Religion and Politics: How Powerful Is the Christian Right?”
- Tue, April 17, 3.30-5pm, Prof. Paul Oslington “Religion and Economics: Adam Smith as Theologian”
- Tue, May 15, 3.30-5pm Dr. Craig Dalton “Gross National Happiness in Bhutan: Piloting Contemplative Practice in Australian Public Health”
Public Lectures:
- Tue, May 29, 6-7.30pm, at Christ Church Cathedral, Dr. Timothy Stanley “Morpeth Lecture: Theology between Religion and Politics”
- July (venue and dates TBC) Prof. Barry Kosmin “The American Religious Landscapt Today” For further details on this lecture please contact Prof. Hilary Carey.