Events held in the Academic Year 2005/06

Colloquium "Religion and Political Liberalism II: The Christian foundations of liberal society"

Public Lectures on Religion and Ethics: The rigins of Monotheim in the Mediterranean World "

An Evening in Commemoration of Yitzhak Rabin

Visiting Scholars and Occasional Lectures

Colloquium: “Religion and Political Liberalism II: The Christian foundations of liberal society”

26-28 June 2006, Trinity College Dublin

Organised by the School of Religions and Theology, and sponsored by the Institute for International Integration Studies and the Faculty of Arts, Trinity College Dublin.

This was the second in a series of international colloquia on the place of religions in liberal societies. The general aim of the series is to develop European thinking on this neglected topic by drawing from the well advanced American debate in a manner suitable to political contexts on this side of the Atlantic.

The first colloquium, “Religious Voices in Public Places”, was held in June 2003 and sponsored by the British Academy. It gathered together a distinguished body of academics, NGO representatives, and journalists from 11 countries. Professor Nigel Biggar (School of Religions and Theology) and Dr Linda Hogan (ISE) are now editing a multi-author symposium based on material presented at the colloquium.

The topic of the second colloquium emerged out of the first one, and was intended to include consideration of such questions as: What historical roots does liberalism have in Christianity? Does liberalism require Christian ideas to make (optimal) sense of itself? Or is it sustainable apart from its religious roots? What would a ‘Christian’ form of liberalism look like?

The main speakers were:

Professor Christopher Eberle, United States Naval Academy, USA
Dr Christopher Insole, Cambridge University, England
Prof. John Kelsay, Florida State University, USA
Dr Joan Lockwood O’Donovan, Oxford University, England
Professor Michael Perry, Emory University, USA
Professor Alan Sell, Acadia University, Nova Scotia, Canada
Professor Paul Weithman, Notre Dame University, USA
Professor Nicholas Wolterstorff, Yale University, USA.

A third colloquium on Islam in Europe is presently envisaged for 2008.

Public Lectures on Religion and Ethics: "Decoding Da Vinci "

January - March 2006, Trinity College Dublin

Every year in Hilary Term the School of Religions and Theology stages a series of lectures on a topic in religion or ethics that has public appeal.

In 2006 it was the hugely popular "Decoding 'Da Vinci'". Dan Brown's blockbuster novel, The Da Vinci Code, has provoked global popular interest in conspiracy theories about the origins of Christianity, as well as speculation about how different things might have been, had the patriarchal institution of the Catholic church not impressed its baleful stamp on the infant religion. Drawing on the latest scholarship, this course of eight lectures exposed the real history behind the bestselling fiction.

The lecture series attracted a large amount of media interest. Read the articles in the Sunday Times (Ireland) and Times Higher Education Supplement.

The speakers were:

19 January 2006: Prof. Seán Freyne, Emeritus Professor of Theology, School of Religions & Theology, T.C.D: Jesus and the Lost Gospels: Fiction or Fact?
26 January 2006: Prof. Karen L. King, Winn Professor of Ecclesiastical History, Harvard University: Mary of Magdala & Women in Early Christianity
2 February 2006: Prof. Philip Alexander, Professor of Post-Biblical Jewish Literature, University of Manchester: TheDa Vinci Code, the Lost Gospels and the Dead Sea Scrolls
9 February 2006: Prof. Christine Morris, Leventis Senior Lecturer in Greek Archaeology and History, Department of Classics, T.C.D.: The Power of the Goddesses: The Sacred Feminine in the Ancient World
16 February 2006: Dr David Hutchinson Edgar, Lecturer in Early Christianity, School of Religions & Theology, T.C.D.: Climax or Catastrophe? Constantine and the Christians
23 February 2006: Prof. Malcolm Barber, Emeritus Professor of Medieval European History, University of Reading: Medieval Martyrs: Why Were the Templars Arrested?
2 March 2006: Prof. Chris Partridge, Professor of Contemporary Religion, University of Chester: Understanding the Appeal of the Da Vinci Code
9 March 2006: Dr Peter Cherry, Lecturer in History of Art, Department of History of Art, T.C.D., Leonardo da Vinci - Decoded

Bronfman Lectures in Jewish Studies: "Judaism and Gender"

Autumn 2005, Trinity College Dublin

The exploration of the lives and experiences of Jewish women has become a dynamic field of research in recent years, which has numerous implications for contemporary Judaism outside the academic discourse. The lecture series, organised by Dr Maria Diemling, explored various historical perspectives of gender in the Jewish experience.

The speakers were:

20 October 2005: Professor Charlotte Elisheva Fonrobert, Stanford University: "Regulating the Body: Rabbinic Law and the Making of Jewish Gender"
3 November 2005: Professor Alicia Ostriker, Rutgers University: "The Book of Ruth: Gender and the Proposal of Peace"
17 November 2005: Dr Ada Rapoport-Albert, University College London: "Women and Jewish Mysticism"
1 December 2005: Professor Susannah Heschel, Dartmouth College/University of Edinburgh: "Jews and Judaism from a Feminist Perspective"

Senior Research Seminar 2005/06

Michaelmas Term

26 October 2005	Professor Ian Linden, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London: “Globalisation and Religion: Hegelian Heroics or Crisis Management?”
17 November 2005	Dr Christopher Insole, University of Cambridge: “‘Beyond glass doors the sun no longer shining’: English Platonism and the Problem of Self-love in the Literary and Philosophical Work of Iris Murdoch”
1 December 2005	Professor Sean Freyne, School of Religions & Theology, TCD: A round-table discussion of Professor Freyne's latest book, Jesus, a Jewish Galilean: A New Reading of the Jesus Story (T.&T. Clark and Continuum, 2004)

Hilary Term

2 February 2006	Dr Vasilis Politis, School of Philosophy, TCD: "The Divinity of Plato's Idea of the Good"
16 February 2006	Dr Maria Diemling, School of Religions & Theology, TCD: "The Jewish Body in Early Modern Polemical Discourse"
2 March 2006	Professor Andrew Mayes, School of Religions & Theology, TCD: "Freud, Moses, and Monotheism"
9 March 2006	Professor Joel Kaminsky, Smith College, USA: "New Testament and Rabbinic Views of Election"

Trinity Term

13 April 2006	Dr Helga Hammerstein-Robinson, School of Histories, TCD: " The Abbess says NO! A Fresh Look at the Uncomplicated Reformation process in the Foremost City of the Holy Roman Empire"
27 April 2006	Dr Hannah Holtschneider, University of Edinburgh: "Dabru Emet (Speak Truth): The Future of Christian-Jewish Dialogue"

An Evening in Commemoration of Yitzhak Rabin

24 November 2005, Trinity College Dublin

Yitzhak Rabin

The Herzog Centre for Jewish and Near Eastern Religion and Culture and the Ireland-Israel Friendship League co-organised an evening to commemorate the legacy of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin z "l. The programme included:

Brief memorial service
Talk by Dr Rory Miller (King's College, University of London): "Ireland, Israel and the Question of Peace: What ca be learned from the legacy of PM Ytzhak Rabin"
Screening of the Israeli Film "Yatzati Lehapes Ahava - Techef Ashuv" ("Out for Love - Be Back Shortly") by Dan Katzir

Visiting Scholars and Occasional Lectures

19 January 2006: Professor Georges De Schrijver (Leuven): Recent Theological Debates in Europe: Their Impact on Interreligious Dialogue
21 January 2006: Professor Georges De Schrijver (Leuven): Intellectual Resources for Interreligious Dialogue in a Globalised World
3 February 2006: Professor Loveday Alexander (Sheffield): The Gospel According to Celsus (MNES Seminar)
23 February 2006: Professor Hindy Najman (Toronto): Philosophical Contemplation and Revelatory Inspiration in Ancient Judaism (MNES Seminar)
24 February 2006: Professor Mark Waelkens (Leuven): Excavations from Sagalassos, Turkey, and 21st century Archaeology (MNES Seminar)
8 March 2006: Dr Claire de la Hogue (Paris): The principle of religious Freedom in Current Interpretations of International Law (IIIS Seminar)
9 March 2006: Professor Paul V. Flesher (Wyoming): The Development of Aramaic Dialects in Palestine: Literary, Inscriptional and Targumic Evidence (MNES Seminar)
10 March 2006: Professor Paul V. Flesher (Wyoming): Were the Jews of Dura Europus Messianic? (MNES Seminar)
19 April 2006: Professor Hans Joas (Erfurt/Chicago): Trauma and Human Dignity (IIIS Seminar)
20 April 2006: Professor Hans Joas (Erfurt/Chicago): Europe: Its Cultural Values
21 April 2006: Professor Hans Joas (Erfurt/Chicago): Does Modernisation lead to Secularisation? (IIIS Seminar)
21 April 2006: Dr Deirdre Barrett (Harvard): Using the terracotta lamp as a cultural indicator of change within Nabataean society in Petra and its environs circa CE 106 (MNES Seminar)
27 April 2006: Professor Oliver Leaman (Kentucky): Is traditional Judaism obsessive about rules? (Herzog Centre lecture)
28 April 2006: Professor Oliver Leaman (Kentucky): Maimonides on the soul: Judaism meets the classical tradition (MNES Seminar)

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