ABC Religion: “Theology Must Save Science From Naturalism”

Conor Cunningham has written the following article for the ABC Religion and Ethics website entitled “Theology Must Save Science From Naturalism.” It begins:

Let me lay my cards on the table. The conversation between science and theology has been hijacked by a restrictive naturalism, which rests on an impoverished understanding of science, one that is underwritten by an atrophied imagination, and that leaves us bereft of nature.

I’ll explain what I mean. Generally speaking, there are two types of naturalism: methodological and ontological. The former is the approach that science must take when it engages with the universe insofar as it will fail to make any progress unless it brackets the divine. The latter holds that bracketing the divine is not merely methodologically necessary but constitutive of reality as such.

Click here to read the rest.

Posted: May 22nd, 2012 Permalink In the News

---

advertisement:

---

ABC Religion: “Nostalgia, Novelty, and our Modern Bordeom”

John Milbank has written the following article for the ABC Religion & Ethics website entitled “Nostalgia, Novelty, and our Modern Boredom”. It begins:

It is one of the most basic tenets of liberal belief that most people were bored out of their minds for most of human history. Before there were cinemas, art exhibitions, concerts, wine-bars, public gyms, internet sites and a variety of ethnic restaurants, there was basically nothing to do – except of course suffer pain, which was more or less continuous. [...]

Click here to read the rest.

Posted: May 20th, 2012 Permalink In the News

---

advertisement:

---

SSCE 2012 Conference: Theological Anthropology

Society for the Study of Christian Ethics

2012 Annual Conference:

Theological Anthropology

7-9 September 2012

University of Cambridge, Westcott House

The 2012 SSCE Conference will be devoted to theological reflection on questions old and new about what/who human beings are, and what it means to be human. These questions will be addressed from various perspectives, including that of the human body, advances in biotechnology, the relation between humans and other animals, and disability studies. Thus the conference will also aim to bring theological reflection into direct conversation with other disciplines and professions.

The conference costs £225 for SSCE members (£275 for non-members), and includes all food and two nights accommodation in the beautiful surroundings of Cambridge, as well as wine receptions and a conference dinner (Saturday evening). Assisted student rates, as well as non-residential rates, are also available. Visit the SSCE website for further details.

Call for Papers: the SSCE committee invites short paper proposals, including title and 200-word abstract. Email proposals to the SSCE Secretary, Dr Guido de Graaff at secretary@ssce.org.uk. Deadline for proposals is 15 June 2012, 5:00 pm.

Speakers include:

• David Clough, University of Chester
• Amy Laura Hall, Duke University
• Gerald McKenny, Notre Dame University
• Hans Reinders, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
• Bernd Wannenwetsch, University of Aberdeen

To register, visit http://ssce.org.uk/conference2012.

For further info, email the Conference Secretary, Brad Littlejohn at conference@ssce.org.uk

You may download the flyer here [PDF].

Call for Submissions: The Arthur Peakocke Student Essay Prize

Science and Religion Forum

The Arthur Peacocke Student Essay Prize

Call for Submissions:

‘The Soul: Can the concept of the soul still have meaning?

In memory of its founding President and former Chairman, the Revd Dr Arthur Peacocke, the Science and Religion Forum offers a prize for an essay directly relevant to the theme of its annual conference. This year’s conference (6th-8th September 2012 at Regent’s Park College, Oxford) is themed ‘The Soul: Can the concept of the soul still have meaning?’ For further details, see the Forum’s website: www.srforum.org

The prize is open to all undergraduate and post-graduate students in full or part-time education. The prize will consist of a cash award of £100, free membership of the Forum for one year, and the UK travel and accommodation costs (or equivalent of) of the winner’s participation in the Forum’s 2012 conference. Subject to the decision of the panel, the winning essay will be published in the Forum’s journal (Reviews in Science and Religion) and the winner will have the opportunity to present the paper at the annual conference.

The essay should not exceed 5000 words in length, including footnotes but excluding references. It should be preceded by an abstract of no more than 250 words, and should be submitted as an email attachment in Microsoft Word format, no later than 31st July 2012 to Dr Louise Hickman: l.hickman@newman.ac.uk. Dr Hickman will answer any questions about the prize. All submissions will be acknowledged within 1 week of receipt.

The essay should be the original work of the applicant – unacknowledged quotation from the work of others will automatically disqualify the entry. Copyright in the essay will remain with the author. Each submission should be accompanied by a statement from the author’s Supervisor or Head of Department, confirming the author’s student status and indicating awareness that the essay has been submitted. The adjudicators reserve the right not to award the Prize if no entry of sufficient standard is received. Their decision will be final, and no correspondence about it will be entered into.

You may download the flyer here [PDF].

Reality-Making: Exploring Fundamentals in Metaphysics

From our neighbours in Department of Philosophy at the University of Nottingham:

Registration is now open for:

Reality-Making: Exploring Fundamentals in Metaphysics

Nottingham, 10-12 July 2012.

The conference will focus on recent debates in metaphysics surrounding questions of grounding, fundamentality, essentialism and the monism vs pluralism debate.

Keynote speakers:

• Laurie Paul (UNC)
• Jonathan Schaffer (Rutgers/ANU)
• Elizabeth Barnes (Leeds)
• Graham Priest (Arché/CUNY/Melbourne)
• Sònia Roca Royes (Stirling)

Registration is on-line: http://bit.ly/K4DA6I (this webpage also provides accommodation and transport details).

We have a small number of Analysis student bursaries available, which can cover up to 50% of registration and accommodation for students attending the conference. These are available on a first-come-first-served basis. Please email mark.jago@nottingham.ac.uk to apply for one.

The conference is generously supported by the Mind Association, the Analysis trust and the Dean’s fund.

Varieties of Continental Thought and Religion

Varieties of Continental Thought and Religion
June 14-17, 2012
Ryerson University
Toronto, Canada

An international conference exploring questions and issues concerning religion and secularism from the purview of major currents in modern and contemporary European thought and aesthetics.

Conference and Registration Website: http://vctr.blog.ryerson.ca/

Keynote Address:

• John Caputo (Syracuse University)

Plenary Speakers:

• Bettina Bergo (Université de Montréal)
• Morny Joy (University of Calgary)
• Nikolas Kompridis (University of Western Sydney)
• Ron Kuipers (Institute for Christian Studies)
• Robert Sinnerbrink (Macquarie University)

Special Screening of Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life – co-sponsored with the Higher Learning Programme of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) Lightbox: June 14, 2012. Followed by a talk by Prof. Robert Sinnerbrink. The screening is open to the public.

International Symposium on St Maximus the Confessor

International Symposium on Saint Maximus the Confessor

KNOWING THE PURPOSE OF EVERYTHING
THROUGH THE POWER OF THE RESURRECTION

Belgrade, October 18-21, 2012

The conference is organized by the Faculty of Orthodox Theology of the University of Belgrade, in collaboration with the Orthodox Christian Studies Program of Fordham University, the Chair of Orthodox Theology of Münster University, Pontifical Lateran University.

The Department of Patristic Studies of the Faculty of Orthodox Theology of the University of Belgrade in Serbia is organizing an International Symposium on Saint Maximus the Confessor in Belgrade, October 18-21, 2012, commemorating the 1350th year since his repose in 662.

The goal of the symposium is to highlight those elements and aspects of Saint Maximus’s teaching that are relevant for our time, especially the theological, philosophical, psychological and other questions it raises.

A number of areas present themselves as interesting foci for the conference: theology, anthropology, hermeneutics, philosophy, science, eschatology, human physis, freedom, otherness, person, gender, psychology, biology, cosmology, physics, modern and ancient philosophy.

Featured Speakers:
Demetrios Barthrelos, Grigory Benevich, Calinic Berger, Paul Blowers, David Bradshaw, Adam Cooper, Brian Daley, Petar Jevremović, Bishop Atanasije (Jevtić), Jean-Claud Larchet, Joshua Lollar, Andrew Louth, Maximos of Simonopetra, Pascal Mueller-Jourdan, Bishop Ignatije (Midić), John Panteleimon Manoussakis, Alexei Nesteruk, George Parsenios, Torstein Tollefsen, Athanasios, Vletsis, Aristotle Papanikolau, Fr Philipp Gabriel Renczes, George Varvatsoulias, Bishop Maksim (Vasiljević), Christos Yannaras, Metropolitan John (Zizioulas).

Be sure to check out the schedule and registration information.

Please e-mail us with questions.

See the main conference website here.

Truth and Mystery: Videos from Hollywood, Marion, and Desmond

Below are three videos of talks by Amy Hollywood, Jean-Luc Marion, and William Desmond, from the “Truth and Mystery” conference that took place on 12 April 2012.

Amy Hollywood, “‘Thin Wings’: On Reading, Death, and Devotion”

Jean Luc Marion, “Truth as a Saturated Phenomenon in St. Augustine”

William Desmond, “Being True to Mystery: On Saturated Phenomena and the Hyperbole of Being”

Theology Studio’s Podcast #2: “Breathing Space”

The second episode from Theology Studio is now posted on their website:

In the second podcast, Tony Baker and Scott Bader-Saye talk about Public Theology:  we discuss the ABC Religion and Ethics website, interview John Milbank (who says blogging is like a recreational drug for young theologians), wonder together what makes Rowan Williams Rowan Williams, and Tony calls Marylinne Robinson the American Chesterton.

Click here to listen.

Theology Studio’s podcasts may also be found on iTunes here.

New from INTERVENTIONS: Metaphysics, by Adrian Pabst

Out today from Eerdmans published with the Centre of Theology and Philosophy as a part of the INTERVENTIONS series:

Metaphysics:
The Creation of Hierarchy

by Adrian Pabst

[Purchase US | Pre-order UK | Pre-order through Alban Books, Eerdman's UK distributor]

“This book does nothing less than to set new standards in combining philosophical with political theology. Pabst’s argument about rationality has the potential to change debates in philosophy, politics, and religion.” (from the foreword by John Milbank)

This comprehensive and detailed study of individuation reveals the theological nature of metaphysics. Adrian Pabst argues that ancient and modern conceptions of “being” – or individual substance – fail to account for the ontological relations that bind beings to each other and to God, their source. On the basis of a genealogical account of rival theories of creation and individuation from Plato to `postmodernism,’ Pabst proposes that the Christian Neo-Platonic fusion of biblical revelation with Greco-Roman philosophy fulfills and surpasses all other ontologies and conceptions of individuality.

New & Notable: The Intimate Strangeness of Being by W. Desmond

The Intimate Strangeness of Being:
Metaphysics after Dialectic
by William Desmond

[Purchase UK | Purchase US | Purchase from the CUA Press website]

This book explores the contested place of metaphysics since Kant and Hegel, arguing for a renewed metaphysical thinking about the intimate strangeness of being. There is a mysterious strangeness to being at all, and yet there is also something intimate. Without the intimacy, argues William Desmond, we become strangers in being; without the mystery, we take being for granted. The book locates the origin of metaphysics’ contested place in recessed equivocations in Kantian critique and Hegelian dialectic, equivocations that keep from view the more original sources of metaphysical thinking. It takes issue with contemporary claims about the “overcoming of metaphysics” associated with Heidegger, the “deconstruction of metaphysics” associated with Derrida, as well as with claims that a new “post-metaphysical thinking” is necessary.

The book begins with an exploration of the status of metaphysics in light of equivocations in Hegelian dialectic. It then offers an assessment of metaphysics in light of critique and deconstruction. Finally, it proposes an affirmative rethinking of the constant perplexities of being in terms of a metaxological metaphysics. This metaphysics involves a thinking of the between (metaxu ) that characterizes Desmond’s singular approach, and that he also has distinctively developed in his other works. Addressing the problematic state of metaphysics in recent centuries, this metaxological metaphysics tries to be true to both the strange mystery and the intimacy, to be faithful to the constant perplexities of being, and to recuperate appreciatively some of the rich resources of the longer philosophical tradition.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

William Desmond is currently professor of philosophy at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven as well as David Cook Visiting Chair at Villanova University. He is the author of many books, including Being and the Between (winner of the Prix Cardinal Mercier and the J.N. Findlay Award for best book in metaphysics, 1995-1997); Is There a Sabbath for Thought?: Between Religion and Philosophy; and God and the Between. He has also edited five books and published more than 80 articles. He is past president of the Hegel Society of America, the Metaphysical Society of America, and the American Catholic Philosophical Association.

Download and distribute the flyer here [PDF].

CFP: Analytical Approaches to Thomas Aquinas

ANALYTICAL APPROACHES TO THOMAS AQUINAS

CRACOW, 26th of MAY 2012

We have a pleasure to announce that on the 26th of May 2012 in Cracow, Poland it will take place an international conference on Philosophy an Theology devoted to the contemporary approaches to the work of saint Thomas Aquinas. We would like to encourage an inquiry whether his thought, despite the development in philosophy since the medieval times, may be a source of vital inspiration for theology, metaphysics, ethics and philosophical anthropology.

The invited speakers are the most notable researchers of Aquinas’ thought:

• Dr Stephen Boulter (Oxford Brookes University)
• Dr Petr Dvořak (Czech Academy of Sciences)
• Dr Jan Kiełbasa (Jagiellonian University, Cracow)

There is also planned a philosophical workshop by Dr Sebastian Kołodziejczyk (Jagiellonian University/UNIGE).

All lectures are open for audience and will be hold in English. However, we kindly ask all participants of the workshop for earlier registration, as the previous reading materials are to be provided.

Until the 10th of May we await the abstracts for talks (not more than 2500 words, in English exclusively). Speeches (20-30 minutes) should be in agreement with one of the following topics:

- the ideas of Aquinas in the perspective of the contemporary discussions in metaphysics (especially in the analytic tradition), philosophy of religion, ethics and philosophical anthropology.

- the thoughts of Aquinas as a crucial element of the modern theological discussions.

- the possibility of using Aquinas ideas in approaching the contemporary issues in the borderline of philosophy and theology: relations of science and religion, models of rationality, role of religion in the public sphere.

Please send abstracts via e-mail to the following address: aquinas.conference@gmail.com using the application form on our website http://aquinas-conference.appspot.com/

The conference is being organised by The Scientific Association of Philosophy Students at the Jagiellonian University and the Polish Province of the Dominican Order. It will take place in the convent of the Order in Cracow (Stolarska Street 7). The programme will appear soon on our web page.

CFP: Borders, Boundaries and Transgressions

British Association for the Study of Religions Annual Conference

University of Winchester

5^th – 7^th September 2012

The theme for the conference this year is Borders, Boundaries and Transgressions: within and between religions. Confirmed keynote speakers include Prof. Douglas Davies from the University of Durham and Prof. Douglas Pratt from the University of Waikato, New Zealand.

Further information, including a conference registration and booking form, can be found at the BASR website: http://www.basr.ac.uk/conference.htm. Please send proposals in form of a title, a short abstract (300 words max.) and a brief bibliographical statement including affiliation to Dr. Paul Hedges at Paul.Hedges@winchester.ac.uk.

Click here for the conference flyer [PDF].

Click here to download the full details for the Call for papers [Word document].

Theology Studio

A new website project started by Anthony D Baker and Peter M Candler, Jr:

We’ve devoted this space to the exploration of new issues and ideas in academic theology.  We’ve begun putting together a library, posting interviews, profiling scholars in the field, and we’ve started our monthly podcast.  Check in bi-weekly for our blog postings about the lives and times of theology in the academy.

We’re devoting The Theology Studio to the formation of a common space for academic theological conversation.  Check out the first podcast (via our media player, and soon available for download via iTunes), the library, and our first blog postings:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Theology-Studio/254399654648244

@theologystudio

Already posted: Tony Baker and Scott Bader-Saye discuss Catholic solidarity and the Occupy movement, Islamic Finance, pluralism and pragmatism. [Click here]

Forthcoming: their first video-blog, an interview with Stanley Hauerwas.

Study Day: Un « vieux différend » : Le L/logos, le(s) L/livre(s), la Philosophie

Journée d’étude
Un « vieux différend » : Le L/logos, le(s) L/livre(s), la Philosophie.
Sur l’ouvert et l’origine

Université de Louvain-la-Neuve
Instituts de Philosophie (ISP) & Religions, Spiritualités, Cultures, Sociétés (RSCS)

Samedi 28 avril 2012 – 9.00 à 18.30
Salle Jean Ladrière – Collège Mercier

Programme

9.00 : Jean Leclercq (UCL) : Ouvertures. Logos, Mythos & Epos. Avec Heidegger
9.30 : Jérôme de Grammont (Institut Catholique, Paris) : Entre sans-nom et nom propre
10.15 : Baudouin Decharneux (ULB) : Le Logos dans le récit de la création du monde de Philon d’Alexandrie
10.45 : Fabien Nobilio (ULB) : La voix peut-elle se faire Verbe ? Le Logos johannique chez Héracléon et Origène
11.15 : Joaquim Hernandez (UCL) : Le Logos, le Moi et l’Incarnation. Sur le christianisme
11.45 : Marine Manouvrier (ULB) : La vacuité, l’ouvert et l’éveil. Sur le bouddhisme
12.15 : Retour et discussions
13.00 : Déjeuner
14.30 : Hicham Abdel Gawad (UCL) : Le Logos, le devenir et le vouloir divin. Sur le Coran
15.00 : Anselme Paluku (UCL) : Un logos interprété : P. Ricoeur
15.30 : Paulo Rodrigues (UCL) : Un logos eschatologique : J. Ladrière
16.00 : Luca Possati (La Sapienza, Rome) : Un logos « défié » : J. Derrida
16.30 : Retour et Pause
17.15 : Jérémy Lambert (UCL) : Mythos/logos : écriture et littérature
17.45 : Olivier Riaudel (UCL) : Logos et formalisation du langage
18.15 : Retour et discussions
18.45 : Fin des travaux
Organisateurs : Jean Leclercq, Joaquim Hernandez & Sylvain Camilleri
Avec le Fonds Michel Henry, le Groupe de recherche sur la rationalité théologique & la PFT Fonds-Alpha

Adresse de contact : jean.leclercq@uclouvain.be

Download and distribute the flyer here.

Theatrical Theology: Registration and Additional Speakers

We are pleased to announce that registration is now open for Theatrical Theology: Conversations on Performing the Faith, a conference sponsored by the Institute for Theology, Imagination, and the Arts at the University of St Andrews on 15-17 August, 2012. You can access the link to registration by visiting the conference website (www.theatricaltheology.co.uk) or simply by clicking on this link.

The website also features an expanded list of plenary speakers now including David Brown (St Andrews) and George Pattison (Oxford) together with Shannon Craigo-Snell (Louisville Seminary), David Cunningham (Hope College), Jim Fodor (Bonaventure), Timothy Gorringe (Exeter), and Ivan Khovacs (Canterbury Christ Church).

We are grateful to those who have already submitted short paper proposals, but plenty of time remains before the deadline of 15 June. As such, if you are interested in presenting a paper on the conference theme, please review the Call for Papers on the website and send an abstract to this email address, and we will consider your proposal as soon as possible.

Attached you will find an updated conference poster, and it would be greatly appreciated if you are willing to circulate this poster within your department and to other interested parties. If any questions arise, please contact us at theatrical.theology@st-andrews.ac.uk, and we look forward to seeing many of you at Theatrical Theology in August.

[Full information on this conference originally posted here]

Notable: The Non-Philosophy Project: Essays by François Laruelle

The Non-Philosophy Project: Essays by François Laruelle

by François Laruelle. Edited and introduced by Gabriel Alkon and Boris Gunjevic

Available May 1, 2012. Save 20% when you purchase at the Telos Press website, www.telospress.com.

Early Praise for The Non Philosophy Project

“Of the post-1960s generation of modern French thinkers, François Laruelle is the most difficult and arguably the most probing. He raises the question of whether there could not be a philosophy or philosophies entirely other to ‘philosophy’ as we know it, based upon different axiomatizations. The debate that must now ensue is whether or not some pre-modern, theological, and non-western philosophies were not indeed already ‘non-philosophies’ and whether a ‘non-philosophy’ must necessarily assume a materialist guise. Laruelle has moved the theoretical conversation well beyond post-structuralism and postmodernism. He is a great thinker, and we are all deeply in his debt.” — John Milbank, Professor of Religion, Politics, and Ethics, University of Nottingham

“François Laruelle, uniquely, has probed the question of materialism to its very depths—to a point where monism challenges rationalism and the absoluteness of matter becomes a religious absolute, accessible only by gnosis. After his work, the world will forever look topsy-turvy. But maybe just this insight will help us to set it right in an altogether new and unexpected fashion.” — Catherine Pickstock, Reader in Philosophy and Theology, Fellow and Tutor of Emmanuel College, Cambridge

“François Laruelle is not the ‘next big thing’ in philosophy. His thought does not aim to correct, reduce, or supersede that of Derrida, or Deleuze, or Badiou. That game of European ‘master thinkers’—with each new figure superseding the previous model—is over. What Laruelle offers us instead is a new vision of philosophy that is neither a right nor a wrong representation of reality, but is a material part of the real, a ‘mixte,’ ‘amphiboly,’ or ‘dyad’ that refracts the real. In The Non-Philosophy Project, we see Laruelle construct this vision in one of the most demanding and provocative intellectual practices within contemporary theory: an absolutely immanent, democratic, and materialist mode of thinking.” — John Mullarkey, Professor of Film and Television Studies, Kingston University, London

ISBN: 978-0-914386-47-6

$21.95 | Paperback | 248 pages

About the Editors

Gabriel Alkon teaches literature in the Department of English at Baruch College, CUNY. He is completing a doctorate at Yale University on self-gift and self-abandonment in modern American poetics.

Boris Gunjevic is an ordained minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Croatia and Associate Professor of the History of Philosophy and Liturgy at the Theological Faculty Matthias Flacius Illyricus, Zagreb, Croatia.

Download the promotional flyer from TELOS Press here.

Blackfriars: The Gift of Desire & the Fear of Loss

The Gift of Desire & the Fear of Loss: Psychological, Philosophical, and Theological Perspectives

Blackfriars, Oxford

A reminder of the Aquinas Institute Colloquium in honour of Fergus Kerr OP on Saturday 12^th May 2012 at Blackfriars Hall, Oxford:

10.00am – 5.30pm

Speakers so far confirmed include

• John Webster
• John Cottingham
• Jeff Green
• Peter Hunter OP
• Fergus Kerr OP

Registration (to include buffet lunch): Waged £10; Unwaged £5.

To request an invitation, please email pa-regent@bfriars.ox.ac.uk

SCPT Conference: Creation, Creatureliness, and Creativity

We are excited about our upcoming conference next month at Loyola Marymount University and hope you will join us. The full program can be found at: http://myweb.lmu.edu/btreanor/SCPT.html

For more information, see below. Note that March 26 is the last day to get the pre-registration price of $75 for the conference, the special rate of $89 at the conference hotel, and a place at the banquet ($60) on Saturday night. 

April 20-22, 2012
Loyola Marymount University
Los Angeles

SCPT’s 2012 conference takes today’s ecological crises as its point of departure. We invite theological and philosophical contributions informed by continental traditions such as phenomenology, hermeneutics, eco-feminism, post-structuralism, post-colonial studies, deconstruction, and social and deep ecology that help us understand and implement a sustainable future together. Authors may submit papers that address ecological issues head on, as well as those that tackle philosophical and theological themes that underlie these issues.

Keynote Speakers:

• Bruce Foltz (Eckerd College)
• Janet Martin Soskice (Cambridge University)
• Norman Wirzba (Duke Divinity School)

Accommodations:
The Custom Hotel
8639 Lincoln Boulevard
Los Angeles CA, 90045
310-645-0400 (or 877-287-8601 for registration)

http://www.jdvhotels.com/hotels/losangeles/custom_hotel

A block of rooms has been reserved until March 26, 2012 for SCPT conference attendees. All rooms are non-smoking unless otherwise requested. When booking reservations, inform the booking agent that you are attending the SCPT Conference at Loyola Marymount University. The conference rate is $89 per night for single king bed. When you register tell the employee that you are with the SCPT conference at LMU.

Registration:
Registration fees include conference materials and catered reception on Friday evening (nonrefundable).

• Pre-Registration: $75 must be received by March 26, 2012
• Registration: $95 after March 26, 2012
• Banquet (optional): $60 must be received by March 26, 2012

The registration and banquet form is available for print-out below.

Conference Location, Directions, and Maps: Conference registration and all presentations will be held in the William H. Hannon Library, in the Von der Ahe Suite and in rooms 117 and 118.

For detailed directions and maps, visit http://www.lmu.edu/resources/campus_maps.htm

The walk from the Custom Hotel to the Hannon Library is pleasant, once you leave the major thoroughfares of Lincoln and/or Manchester, and will take about 20 minutes at a comfortable pace.

Flight Information: The Los Angeles area is served by a number of airports, but the best option, by far, is to fly into Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). LAX is a short ride, perhaps 7-10 minutes, from both the conference hotel and from Loyola Marymount University. The Custom Hotel operates a free shuttle service to and from LAX between the hours of 5:00am and 2:00am. To use the shuttle service, call the hotel upon arriving(310-645-0400) to arrange for pick up. Returning to the airport, shuttles leave the Custom every 30 minutes. Taxi service from the airport to the hotel will cost approximately $20.

Car Rentals: Car rental services are available at Los Angeles International Airport for those who wish to secure an automobile. Los Angeles is, generally speaking, a car-oriented city and trips further afield would be facilitated by a rental car. However, a car is not necessary for conference activities. The Hannon Library is about one mile from the conference hotel and can be reached on foot in 20 minutes. Several restaurants are very near the hotel and taxis, as well as bus service, are available for those who wish to get to the restaurants in nearby Marina del Rey, Venice, and Santa Monica.

Contact Information: If you encounter any problems with registration, accommodations, and so on, please contact us and we will work to help you.

Brian Treanor
Philosophy Department
Loyola Marymount University
310-338-3711
btreanor@lmu.edu

Institute of Ideas Academy Scholarship Programme

Does the idea of grappling with the great existential questions of free will and determinism through the works of Homer and Sophocles, Thomas Paine and Herbert Spencer, Jane Austen and Dostoevsky, Martin Luther and Jean-Paul Sartre, appeal to you? Do you have a passion for the greatest works in the historical, philosophical, classical, and literary cannons? Would you like to spend a long summer weekend in a stimulating and open environment, with interesting, like minded people from all walks of life? If so, then the The Institute of Ideas Academy, organised by the Institute of Ideas is definitely for you. The full price may be a challenge for students, so this year we have launched a new Academy Scholarship Programme for students between the ages of 18-26.

The Institute of Ideas Academy is a three day residential retreat from Friday 20^th July to Monday 23^rd July, in which we aim to get away from the overly prescriptive nature of debate in society at large, and be unashamedly esoteric and intellectual for a weekend, in the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake. This year, there are three separate lecture series on Classics, Literature and History as well as a plenary series on Free will and Determinism. They will explore texts as diverse as Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and Homers Illiad, right through to Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment and Sartre’s Nausea, in the hope that together we may come to better understand the great question of whether we are truly free, or whether we are determined by human nature, circumstances or indeed God.

As well as this, the Academy Scholars will also have three additional lectures organised for them on Liberty, the role of The Public Intellectual, and the Western Canon on Friday 20^th July, prior to the main programme which will begin on the morning of Saturday 21^st July.

Students from all disciplines are encouraged to apply to the Scholarship Programme, and you will be joining Institute of Ideas members from every possible walk of life; from Professors and academics, to other students, Barristers, film makers and writers. The one thing that they all share is a passion for knowledge. And as such, the environment is one of free thinking, in which everybody will have the opportunity to cultivate themselves in beautiful surroundings, with good books, good food and drink, and amongst good company.

The scholarship programme offers a limited number of students the chance to attend for the heavily subsidised price of £60 for three nights’ accommodation and full board at the luxury Wyboston Lakes complex in Bedfordshire.

To apply for an Academy Scholarship, please submit a 500-word (max) essay on the question: “What is the value of the humanities today?” Please also submit a 300-word (max) motivation on why you in particular deserve to attend The Academy.

Submit applications online by 11am May 15 2012. When we have successfully received your application you will be sent the reading list so you can start preparing while we evaluate the applications.

All successful candidates will be notified on June 1^st 2012

For more information on the Scholarship Programme, please email scholarship@instituteofideas.com

To learn more about the Academy itself, and to see full details of the lectures and schedule, please visit: http://www.instituteofideas.com/academy2012.html