Humanities and Social Sciences

Philosophy and Religious Studies

Staff Directory

Teaching Responsibilities

Dr Blackhirst has over fifteen years experience as a tutor, lecturer and supervisor across the Humanities disciplines. The focus of his teaching is in Philosophy and Religious Studies. He currently offers the following package of units and modules of study:

• Introducing Religious Studies (Sacred Texts)
• Islam and the West
• Renaissance Art
• Traditional Cosmologies
• Medieval Studies
• The Biblical World
• Dead Sea Scrolls Debate

Doctoral Dissertation

Dr Blackhirst's doctoral dissertation was entitled 'Myth in the Timaeus: the Mythological Underpinnings of Plato's Cosmology'. The thesis explores the roots of Plato's cosmology and natural science in Greek mythology and in the religious cults of ancient Athens.

Research Interests

Dr Blackhirst has wide interests in various philosophical and religion traditions that have their geographical locus in the ancient Levant and Mesopotamia.

The monotheist religions: Judaism, Christianity, Islam and especially Islamic mysticism and metaphysics. Islamic/West relations. The Gospel of Barnabas. Early Christianity and Biblical texts. Religious art, architecture and iconography.

Plato, Platonism, Pythagoreanism and the Timaeus. Ancient Egypt. Hermeticism. The premodern sciences.

The perennialist perspectives in Religious Studies and comparative religion (Guénon, Coomaraswamy, Schuon, Burckhardt, Nasr et al) with particular attention to traditional cosmology.

Some Publications

• 'The Temptation in the Wilderness in the Medieval Gospel of Barnabas' The Journal of Higher Criticism, Vol. 6, No. 1, 1999.
• 'Barnabas and the Gospels: Was there an Early Gospel of Barnabas?' The Journal of Higher Criticism, Vol. 7, No. 1, 2000.
• 'Shadows & Strife: On Islam & the West' Sacred Web: A Journal of Tradition & Modernity, Vol. 8 (with Harry Oldmeadow), 2001.
• Book of Moons (The Islamic calendar), self-published, 2001.
• 'Herbs and Wild Fruit: Judas Maccabee and Reflections of Rechabitism in the Medieval Gospel of Barnabas', The Journal of Higher Criticism, Vol. 9, No. 2 2002.
• 'Islam and Protestantism' The Australian Rationalist, 2003.
• 'Above and Below: Correspondence in Traditional Astrological Symbolism' Sacred Web: A Journal of Tradition & Modernity, Vol. 12, 2003.
• 'Autochthony and the Symbolism of Islamic Prayer' Religioperennis, 2003.
• 'Central Themes in the Alchemy of Farming' in Sacred Web: A Journal of Tradition & Modernity, Vol. 13, 2004.
• 'Capitalism, Tradition & Traditionalism' Sacred Web: A Journal of Tradition & Modernity, Vol. 14, 2004.
• 'Rudolph Steiner, Anthroposophy & Tradition' (chapter in The Betrayal of Tradition, edited by Harry Oldmeadow, World Wisdom Books, 2005)
• 'The Diabolical Symbolism of the Automobile', Vincit Omnia Veritas, ii. 2, June, 2006.
• 'The Transcendent Connection and the Problem of Loneliness', Vincit Omnia Veritas, iii. 1, January, 2007.
• 'Evolutionism & Traditional Cosmologies', Vincit Omnia Veritas, iii. 2, July 2007
• 'The Spangled Tortoise: The Peculiar and Unusual Feature in Hermetic Modes of Exegesis', Vincit Omnia Veritas, iii. 2, July 2007.
• (Book) Primordial Alchemy & Traditional Religion, Sophia Perennis, San Rafael, CA, 2008.
• The Renewal of Turkish Mystical Islam: Observations on the Gulen Movement, The Treasure, #22, July 2008.
• Four Essays republished in Vincit Omnia Veritas: Collected Essays, ed. Renaud Fabbri, Timothy Scott, La Trobe University, October, 2008.
• Outward & Inward Dimensions in Judaism, Christianity & Islam, Sacred Web: A Journal of Tradition & Modernity, Volume, 22, 2008.

Lectures and Conferences

• Spirit 2001, Public Lecture Series, convener, January-February, 2001.
• 'Australia Islamica: A Manifesto of Australian Islam', International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan, November 2006.
• 'The Mysteries of Wine and Spiritual Transformation in Sufi and Christian Perspectives', Sufism and Intercultural Discourse, Iqbal Academy, Lahore, Pakistan, November, 2006.
• 'Sufism and Goethe', Goethe and Iqbal Conference, Iqbal Academy, Lahore, Pakistan, November 2006.
• 'The Relevance of Sufism Today' Minhaj University, Lahore, Pakistan, November 2006.
• Animals in Religion Public Lecture Series, convener, January-February 2007.
• 'Kosher and Halal: Food Laws in the Religions of Abraham', Animals in Religion Public Lecture Series, January 2007.
• 'Tales of the Buraq: an Islamic Bestiary', Animals in Religion Public Lecture Series, January 2007.
• Graeco-Islamic Medicine and Traditional Cosmologies - Department of Unani Medicine, Aligarh Muslim University, India, February 2008.
• Plato and Graeco-Islamic Medicine - Department of Unani Medicine, Aligarh Muslim University, India, February 2008.
• Islam & the Post-modern Predicament - Department of Philosophy, Aligarh Muslim University, India, February 2008.
• Attitudes to Other Religions in the Abrahamic Faiths, Co-ordinator, Report to the Plenary Session of the Sixth Annual Interfaith Conference, Doha, Qatar, May 14th 2008.

Administrative Responsibilities

• Selection Officer, Bachelor of Arts, La Trobe University, Bendigo, 1998-2007.
• First Year Coordinator, Bachelor of Arts, La Trobe University, Bendigo, 2006-2007.

Academic Responsibilities

• Member of the editorial board, Eye of the Heart, Journal of Traditional Wisdom, 2007.
• La Trobe University Representative, The Australasian Society for Classical Studies, 2007.

Community Responsibilities

• Secretary, Bendigo Islamic Association.

Media Appearances

Dr Blackhirst is an occasional speaker on ABC National radio discussing current issues in religion, philosophy and spirituality. He is a regular contributor of letters to local and national newspapers and has appeared on television discussing Islamic religion in Australia.

Personal Interests

• Organic gardening
• Old World roses
• Doves
• Mevlevi Sufism and Islamic spirituality, music and culture

Websites

• The Medieval Gospel of Barnabas (Author and webmaster)
• Homepage