Excitement is building as months of planning, hard work, and preparations are about to come to fruition. The programme for the upcoming conference Science, Wonder, and Imagination – Robert Grosseteste and His Legacy is now very close to being finalized. The conference, organised by The Ordered Universe Project in association with the International Grosseteste Society, will take place at Pembroke College, Oxford, on April 3rd to 6th, and we are very excited about the range of topics covered by our line-up of speakers. The works of Robert Grosseteste will form points of departure for scholars from a great variety of disciplines, including philosophy, theology, cutting-edge science as well as history of science, education studies, and broader historical disciplines; but also for explorations of the aesthetic inspirations to which Grosseteste’s works can give rise. Judging from the titles and abstracts, speakers are eager and willing to look beyond their own disciplines and communicate across disciplinary boundaries, and we are very much looking forward to the discussions and conversations that such a wide variety of approaches can engender.
The conference programme has been constructed around the pillars of four keynote papers, to be delivered by
Professor Simon Oliver, Van Mildert Professor of Divinity, Durham University and Residentiary Canon of Durham Cathedral;
Professor Suzanne Conklin Akbari, Professor of English and Medieval Studies and Director of the Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto;
Professor Jim Al-Khalili OBE, Professor of Physics and Professor of Public Engagement in Science, University of Surrey;
and Professor John Milbank, Professor in Religion, Politics, and Ethics, University of Nottingham.
We are very grateful to our keynote speakers for accepting our invitation, and we look forward to having our horizons broadened by their unique perspectives.
The Ordered Universe teams at Oxford and Durham have worked very hard to make this conference possible, and we are deeply grateful for their labours. Watch this space for more updates and reports!