A week of events in London and Cambridge with
Prof. Harry Oldmeadow

* Public Lecture · Lincoln Centre, Mon. 1st December, 2014

Organised jointly with the Temenos Academy.
This lecture will examine problematic notions of “tradition”, “modernity” and “postmodernism”, and argue that our most fundamental problems are rooted in a misunderstanding of the world and our place in it. It will reaffirm the verities of the Philosophia Perennis and explore some of the directions in which we might look for a remedy to the ills of the contemporary world.

Click here to book through the Temenos Academy.

* Seminar Weekend · Birkbeck College, 6–7th December, 2014

Room 539, 10:00–12:00 and 2:00–4:00
Four seminars over two days, with time for in-depth questions and discussion.
This is a unique opportunity to engage personally with the author on the topics of his expertise.

Seminar contents

1. Tradition, the traditions and the Perennial Philosophy
What is “Tradition”? What constitutes a “religious tradition”? How are these traditions related to one another? What sorts of problems are posed by religious diversity? What is the Perennial Philosophy? What do we mean by “metaphysics”?

2. The Foundations of Modernity
What are the philosophical hallmarks of the modern outlook? What are the fundamental ideas, assumptions and values which govern the prevailing worldview? How do they stand in relation to the principles and values vouchsafed by tradition? To what extent can we think of modernity as essentially a negation?

3. Modernism, Postmodernism and the Contemporary Predicament
What do the terms “modernism” and “postmodernism” signify? What are the consequences of the loss of traditional religious faith in the modern era? What can we learn from the contemporary debates about “culture”? What place is there for religion in the contemporary world? What is the proper function of the arts and crafts?

4. The “Religio Perennis” and the Spiritual Path
What is the “Religio Perennis”? What is “spirituality”? What is the relationship between “religion”, and “spirituality”? How are we to follow a spiritual path in our present circumstances?

Cost:
£150 for all four seminars (£75 for students).
Places are limited, early booking is advised.
Priority is given to those booking the four seminars. Individual seminars will be offered only if space is available, at a rate of £40/20 per seminar.
To book, click here to email the Matheson Trust.

* Some Puzzles and Conundrums in the Teaching of Religion · Thu. 4th December, 2014

Lecture and conversation with RE teachers at Chesterton Community College, Cambridge. Click here for details. This is a FREE EVENT.

Dr Harry Oldmeadow was until recently Coordinator of Philosophy and Religious Studies on the Bendigo campus of La Trobe University (Victoria, Australia). He is a recognized authority on the Traditionalist or Perennialist school of religious thought on which he has published Traditionalism: Religion in the Light of the Perennial Philosophy (2000) and Frithjof Schuon and the Perennial Philosophy (2010). He has also written extensively on the spiritual meeting of East and West in Journeys East: 20th Century Western Encounters with Eastern Religious Traditions (2004) and A Christian Pilgrim in India: The Spiritual Journey of Swami Abhishiktananda (2008). His other interests include critiques of modernity, the philosophy of science, the environmental crisis, and nomadic cultures such as those of the American Plains Indians and the Australian Aborigines.