Ancient Thought from a Global Perspective: Human Freedom and Dignity

This course offers the project ESRs and other interested parties insight into the reception of Origen by Augustine, and how the later reception of Origen was shaped by the interaction of these two influential thinkers. This will be followed by a morning in the cathedral Archives where students will learn to handle manuscripts and rare books in a professional way, both as potentially relevant for their research as also for later practical and professional work. Finally the scope of the event will be widened and a group of distinguished international speakers will engage with the global potential of early Christian thought from various angles, predominantly focusing on human freedom and dignity, in order to shed light on crucial aspects of the overall project.

Theme: Origen on Human Freedom and Dignity in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages

Where: Canterbury Cathedral Lodge, Canterbury, England

When: February 25 - March 1, 2017.

Participants (optional): all Senior Researchers (Beneficiaries), all ESRs on the project, invited experts and partners, other partners if they wish, other senior researchers and students

ECTS-credits: 2 for the workshop, 1 for the conference

Registration: Sign up for the course by writing to Ilaria Scarponi (ilaria.scarponi@reading.ac.uk) or Claire Trillot (claire.trillot@reading.ac.uk)

Deadline for registration: January 4, 2017

PROGRAM:

Saturday 25 February 2017 Arrival by 18 h00 the latest (of ITN ESRs, others on Sunday)

18 h 30 Dinner

19 h30  Welcome (Karla Pollmann, Reading)

19 h 45  Seminar Origen and Augustine: a Comparison (György Heidl, Pecs)

Sunday 26 February 2017 Common Room

Morning   Various church services (optional)

12 h 30   Lunch

14 h 00   Welcome

14 h 15   Origen in the Eastern and the Western Parts of the Roman Empire in Late Antiquity (Anna Usacheva, Aarhus/Ilaria Scarponi, Reading)

16 h 00   Coffee break

16 h 30   Origen in the Western Middle Ages II (Carmen Cvetkovic/Claire Trillot) until 18 h 15

19 h 00   Dinner

Monday 27 February 2017 Kentish Barn

09 h 00   Canterbury Cathedral Archives I (Cressida Williams)

10 h 30   Coffee break

11 h 00   Canterbury Cathedral Archives II (Cressida Williams) until 12 h 30

12 h 45   Lunch

14 h 45  Values in Global Contexts: Questions and Critical Insights from Post-Colonial Theory (Jörg Haustein, SOAS) + discussion

16 h 15   Coffee break

16 h 45   Early Christian Thinkers and Their Global Potential (Lenka Karfikova, Prague/Karla Pollmann, Reading) + discussion (until 18 h 15)

19 h 00   Dinner

Tuesday 28 February 2017 Kentish Barn

09 h 00  BRAZIL: What a Black Brazilian Medea from the Fifties can tell us about Freedom and Dignity (Maria Cecília de Miranda Coelho, Federal University of Minas Gerais); Transatlantic Utopias: Plato's Republic and the Guarani Missions in South America (Gabriele Cornelli, University of Brasilia) + discussion

10 h 30  Coffee break

11 h 00  CHINA: The Shaping of Christianity in its Encounter with Chinese Culture (Chiara Tommasi, Pisa); Western Classics in China (Fritz-Heiner Mutschler, Dresden) + discussion (until 12 h 30)

12 h 45  Lunch

14 h 45  JAPAN: Suicide and Self-Sacrifice in Homer and in the Tale of the Heike (Naoko Yamagata, Open University); The reception and (dis-)assimilation of patristic literature in early modern Japan (Naoki Kamimura, Tokyo Gakugei University) + discussion

16 h 15  Coffee break

16 h 45  Concluding discussion and Outlook (until 18 h 15)

19 h 00  Dinner

Wednesday March 01, 2017 Departure