This 24 April, from 10am-5pm, the Storey Institute at the University of Lancaster will be hosting a symposium with Terry Eagleton, entitled After Atheism: Religion, Literature and Science. Speakers include Terry Eagleton, Arthur Bradley, John Cartwright, Abir Hamdar, Gavin Hyman and Andrew Tate. All are welcome, however, to reserve a place, please contact a.h.bradley@lancaster.ac.uk or a.tate@lancaster.ac.uk. Here's a blurb on the conference theme itself:

In recent years, the "God Question" has re-emerged with a vengeance. On the one hand, there has been a rash of best-selling polemics against God, religion and belief by Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris. On the other, there has also been a concerted defence of religious belief from Terry Eagleton, John Gray and Charles Taylor. This one-day symposium gathers together a range of international experts on religion, literature and culture - including the world-renowned literary critic Terry Eagleton - to consider the cultural significance of this debate. Why has the God Question re-emerged now? How has it impacted upon literature, culture and even politics? And what, finally, might come "after atheism" - a new Enlightenment or the return of the religious?

Good news for students interested in applying for MA and PhD programmes in the Centre for Religion and Political Culture. A number of funding opportunities have recently been announced within the University of Manchester's application framework.  

The first thing to be aware of is that 5pm, March 15, 2010 is the current application deadline specifically for the Religions and Theology Subject Area's new and existing students. Further details on all Religions and Theology specific awards can be found by clicking here and here. Further details on awards at University level and other funding bodies can be found by clicking here.

There are two prominent awards in particular which deserve special mention. Firstly, for UK/EU students, the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) has allocated two PhD studentships to the Religions and Theology Subject Area at the University of Manchester, and one MA studentship as well. This award covers the cost of tuition and maintenance. For overseas students, the Overseas Research Studentship (ORS) is now an internal University of Manchester award, of which there are two available to students in the School of Arts, Histories and Cultures. This award covers the difference between the cost of overseas tuition and UK/EU tuition. Students who win an ORS award will also be considered for the Religions and Theology Subject Area Home Fees bursary which, if awarded, would cover the remaining EU/UK fees. 

If you are interested in applying for these awards, you must submit the funding application form which is available by clicking here (DOC) (further details within the document itself). This form will then be considered alongside your submission of the University of Manchester online application for the MA or PhD programme of your choice. If you have any questions feel free to email us by clicking here.

The Church and Postmodern Culture website is hosting a three-part online symposium on Graham Ward's new book The Politics of Discipleship. The first contribution was from Ronald Kuipers, Senior Member in Philosophy of Religion at the Institute for Christian Studies in Toronto, Ontario. His reflection can be downloaded as a PDF by clicking here. Here's a brief abstract:

In the best Christian tradition, Graham Ward has, in The Politics of Discipleship, performed a true service—particularly for his Christian readers. While I think it is fair to say that one of the book’s primary messages is directed at a Christian audience (which is not to say that this is its only intended audience), at the same time the book does much more here than merely preach to the converted. The book instead calls for the conversion of the converted. That is to say, this book succeeds, in rather arresting fashion, to show Christians, especially those living in affluent Western societies, how deaf they have become to their faith’s true calling. The book severely criticizes what Ward calls “Christian accommodationism” to the powers that be, and with that dares Christians to be “impolite”—to turn from this accommodating stance and instead respond redemptively to the chasm that yawns between the world Scripture promises will one day come into reality, a world of justice and shalom, and the one human beings are now busily setting up, one in which “[t]he forces of dehumanization, dematerialization, and depoliticization are strong and hegemonic; new poverties and new slaveries proliferate; and we are sleepwalking into a future that threatens to overwhelm if grace and transcendent goodness cannot prevail" (Ward, p. 300).

Applications are currently being accepted (deadline 15 February) for a summer course on "Messianism - Jewish and Christian Perspectives" which will take place at the Central European University in Budapest, July 5-16, 2010. A number of renowned experts will give lectures and teach intensive seminars, but also the course participants will be invited to present their own research. Detailed information about contents, teachers, application procedures, and funding opportunities can be found by clicking here. We especially invite applications from advanced graduate students and young faculty. If you have any questions, please contact Matthias Riedl at Visriedl@ceu.hu. 

The course is a co-operation between the Center for Jewish Studies at the CEU, and Duke University's The Gerst Program for Political, Economic, and Humanistic Studies and Center for International Studies. The course is supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. 

Here's an excerpt from the course website:

This course will explore the ancient messianic idea, its spatial expansion, and its ideational development up to the present. The topic will be approached from a wide variety of disciplines (Political Science, History, Philosophy, Anthropology), sharing a common focus on the messiah as a central and enduring symbol of Jewish and Christian societies and their interconnected eschatological expectations.

From January 4-6, 2010, the Returning to the Church: Valuing Theological Education conference will be held at St. Stephen's House at the University of Oxford in association with the Centre for Theology and Philosophy.  On Tuesday, Graham Ward will be presenting a paper entitled, "The Lay Theologian: Working at the Coal Face." As well, on Tuesday Timothy Stanley will be presenting a paper entitlted, "The Return of the Scroll: From Codex to Google." To download a PDF of the conference poster click here.