Humanities and Social Sciences

Philosophy and Religious Studies

CANCELLED

Dear Friends,

It is with regret that I must announce the cancellation of the proposed summer program of lectures in Philosophy & Religious Studies. We had proposed a full and exciting program of eighteen public lectures on a wide range of topics. We have had strong public interest and many people have been looking forward to the series.

You will have heard, however, that La Trobe  University has now discontinued the Philosophy & Religious Studies major at Bendigo. This decision has many consequences and impacts upon the scope of all our work.

For a start, the whole purpose of the summer program was to promote the PRS major. Since the major has been axed, the reason for the summer program has gone. Following from this, a number of key speakers who were going to take part in the program have, understandably, withdrawn their generous support and have expressed a reluctance to promote the Bachelor of Arts without a PRS major.

Secondly, the staffing consequences of this decision mean that the PRS staff are now overloaded with teaching commitments as the existing major is "taught out". The same staff must also "redeploy" into other disciplines. This entails a huge amount of work. Consequently, the staff who were going to offer the core of the summer program have been swamped with unforeseen tasks and must now spend the summer preparing and reworking classes.

I want to thank all those who offered their assistance to the program and I am sorry if this cancellation causes any inconvenience.

Sincerely

Dr Rod Blackhirst

Summer Public Lectures 2008-2009

Art & the Sacred

The Philosophy & Religious Studies program is proud to present the 2008-9 programme of Summer lectures and activities. All events are offered free to the general public. The theme for this Summer's series is Art & the sacred. It has well been said that to understand a culture one should understand its art. We will consider the broad spectrum of traditional art including painting, sculpture, poetry, music, architecture, dance, and dress.

This year's programme will include:

• Public lecture series click here
• Public debate (Art, Free Speech & Blasphemy)
• Secondary school art prize click here
• Collaborative exhibition

You are cordially welcome to join us at the La Trobe Gallery and Theaterette, 121 View St, Bendigo during Januray-Feburary 2009.