The Third Annual "Town Meets Gown" Laurier/Grace Lecture Series
Tuesday November 20th, 7:30 p.m.
Dr. Lisa Wood
Faculty of English and Contemporary Studies
Wilfrid Laurier,
“The Politics of Food during the
French Revolution”
Wednesday November 21st, 7:30 p.m.
Dr. Robert Feagan
Associate Professor, Geography & Contemporary Studies Wilfrid Laurier Brantford campus
“Where will your supper come
from?
-Alternative and Localized Food
Systems”
Lectures in the Upper Parish Hall of Grace Anglican Church
Wine and Cheese to follow each evening
in the Fireside Room
Admission free
Second Annual Grace Laurier Lecture Series - November 15th and 16th, 2006
This Year's theme:
The Language of Grace
A two evening lecture series on contemporary issues in Church and Society.
Wednesday November 15th, 2006 – 8:00 p.m.
Speaker: David Haskell, Assistant Professor of Journalism, Wilfrid Laurier University, Brantford Campus.
"The Language of Grace in the Media Today."
Prof. Haskell's Synopsis of His Lecture
Journalists in North America, especially those working for the most
elite news outlets, are a secular bunch. Most aren't interested
in religion personally and they become uncomfortable when a story that
highlights religion, faith, or spirituality comes their way: for
them, the language of Grace is a foreign tongue. I will be
discussing journalists' attitudes toward religion--in particular their
attitudes toward traditional Christianity--and I will address the
impact those attitudes have on the coverage they produce. I will
also look at strategies that believing Christians might use to
"translate" the language of Grace to the media elite.
Lecture will be followed by Wine and Cheese and conversation with the speaker.
Thursday November 16th, 2006 - 8:00 p.m.
Speaker: Dr. Kathryn Carter
Professor of English, Interim Program Co-ordinator for Contemporary Studies Laurier Brantford
"Inventing and Finding Forms of Grace: The Last 100 Years in Literature."
Dr. Carter's Synopsis of her Lecture:
Early twentieth-century literature is generally characterized as
expressing a profound questioning of Christian values catalyzed, many
would say, by Nietzche's provocative pronouncement that "God is dead."
The agonies of disbelief are most clearly evident for me in the
writings of James Joyce whose short story "Grace" parodies the concept
by having an Irish drunkard fall down some bar stairs into a version of
hell only to be possibly redeemed by the intervention of bungling
friends. Beginning with Joyce, the lecture pursues twentieth-century
literature's fall from grace through the poetry of Leonard Cohen,
Robert Hass, and even U2, but ends with the conclusion that we are
witnessing a return to grace in literature. I argue that these
newly invented forms of grace--found in the most unlikely places--offer
a compelling and much-needed defense against a culture of
disposability.
Lecture will be followed by Wine and Cheese and conversation with the speaker.
Looking Back -
Synopsis of the 2005 Grace Laurier Lectures -"Faith and Citizenship in a Pluralistic World"
Some scholars would argue that the Age of Christendom is dead. We live in a pluralistic society where Christianity no longer influences public institutions as it once did. Many forget that Canada was founded on principles of faith and that God is explicitly mentioned in the Preamble to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Questions remain: Do people of faith have a responsibility to participate in the public realm? How should faith inform politics and public policy? Recent developments in the United States – where the “religious right” is accused of commandeering the Republican Party, the Presidency and, most recently, appointments to the Supreme Court – have made this a topical issue. What is happening in Canada, and how should Canadians of faith seek to live out their citizenship? Our speakers will provide some historical perspectives and suggest a way forward for thinking, caring Christians.
