New Renaissance dialogue and book launch

6 November 2010 9am - 6 November 2010 6pm

Venue: Queen Mary College, London

followed by wine reception at 6pm

This event will be launching the book A New Renaissance: Transforming Science, Spirit and Society, edited by David Lorimer and Oliver Robinson. Most speakers at the event are contributing authors to the book.

A New Renaissance diagnoses an urgent need for change and renewal in a period of crisis for philosophy, science and society. The Florentine Renaissance, some six hundred years ago, took a huge leap forward into realism, rationality and self-awareness. It was born out of the waning authority of medieval institutions and beliefs. We stand now at a similar junction in history. It is apparent to many that reductionist science with its materialist values - the worldview that has driven modern culture for the last two centuries - is losing credibility. Its objectives of growth and acquisition, and its guiding principles asserting that there is no intrinsic meaning to life or purpose in the cosmos are now widely seen as creating an unsustainable world.

The essays gathered in A New Renaissance are a cultural response to the failings of the materialist worldview. Contributions in the first part diagnose the sources of the crisis in the current worldview. The second section searches for a new understanding of consciousness and mind, based on findings in new non-materialist philosophy. The third section looks to a renewal of spirituality beyond religion, aiming to recapture the personal depth and connection to the cosmos that materialism denies or ignores. The fourth section examines possible reforms in politics, economics and education to help bring forth a society that can sustain the flourishing of human beings in the globally interconnected world of the twenty-first century.

View the full chapter listing of the book

Venue: Skeel Lecture Theatre (People’s Palace), Queen Mary College, University of London, Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS

View pdf leaflet including booking form

Cost: £55 to SMN members, £65 for non-members, £30 for undergraduate students.

includes wine reception at 6pm

Conference Programme

The day will consist of a number of panels corresponding to the four sections of the book.

Panellists will speak for 7 minutes each, and this will be followed by roundtable discussion and

an open plenary dialogue.

9:00 Registration

9:30 Introductions – Prof. Bernard Carr, David Lorimer

9:40 Crisis as Opportunity – Prof. Ervin Laszlo, Dr. Iain McGilchrist, Dr. Elisabet Sahtouris, Dr. Frank Parkinson, Dr. Oliver Robinson

11:10 Coffee

11:40 Consciousness and Mind in Science and Medicine – Prof. Chris Clarke, Paul Devereux, Dr. David Peat, Dr. David Luke

1:00 Lunch in the Octagon

2:15 Spirituality and New Understandings of the Sacred – Anne Baring, Mick Collins, Dr. James d’Angelo, Satish Kumar, Max Payne

3:45 Tea

4:15 Global and Local Transformation: Governance, Economics and Education – Dr. Peter Bowman, Prof. Ian Cunningham, Dr. Jean Hardy, Tony Hodgson, Chris Wright

5:45 Concluding observations

6:00 Wine reception

Speakers

Prof. Ervin Laszlo is Founder and President of The Club of Budapest, President of the WorldShift Network, Founder of the General Evolution Research Group, Co-Chair of the World Wisdom Council, and Editor of the international periodical World Futures: The Journal of General Evolution.

Dr. Iain McGilchrist, FRCPsych has been a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford on three occasions and is author of the acclaimed The Master and his Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World.

Dr. Elisabet Sahtouris is an evolutionary biologist and futurist who is author of EarthDance: Living Systems in Evolution and A Walk Through Time: From Stardust to Us, and Biology Revisioned with Willis Harman. www.sahtouris.com

Dr. Frank Parkinson has a special interest is in the impact of evolutionary theory on traditional theology, especially the creation story now emerging from science. He is the author of Science and Religion at the Crossroads

Dr. Oliver Robinson is Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Greenwich, and a manager of the Scientific and Medical Network.

Prof. Chris Clarke was Professor of Applied Mathematics at the University of Southampton. His books include Living in Connection, Ways of Knowing (edited) and Weaving the Cosmos. www.scispirit.com

Paul Devereux is a founding editor of the academic publication, Time & Mind – The Journal of Archaeology, Consciousness and Culture. He has written 26 books since 1979, including Re-Visioning the Earth, The Sacred Place, Spirit Roads and Sacred Geography.

Dr. David Peat is a physicist and author of many books, most recently Gentle Action and Pathways of Chance. He runs the Pari Center for New Learning in Italy (www.paricenter.com)

Dr. David Luke is Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Greenwich where he teaches an undergraduate course on the Psychology of Exceptional Human Experiences. He is currently President of the Parapsychological Association.

Anne Baring is a retired Jungian analyst — author and co-author of seven books including The Myth of the Goddess; Evolution of an Image, The Mystic Vision, The Divine Feminine and Soul Power: an Agenda for a Conscious Humanity.

Mick Collins is a lecturer in the Faculty of Health, University of East Anglia.

Dr. James d’Angelo is an educator, composer, pianist, writer, course leader and formerly lecturer/tutor in music at universities in New York and London. He is the author of Healing with the Voice and The Healing Power of the Human Voice.

Satish Kumar is editor of Resurgence and a Visiting Fellow of Schumacher College.

Max Payne is a former university lecturer in philosophy of science and religion and is a Vice-President of the Network.

Dr. Peter Bowman is science coordinator of the University Preparatory Certificate at the Language Centre of University College, London. He is a director of the Henry George Foundation of Great Britain and vice chairman of the Coalition for Economic Justice

Prof. Ian Cunningham is Visiting Professor in Organizational Capability at Middlesex University; chair of Strategic Developments International Ltd and chair of the Centre for Self Managed Learning.

Dr. Jean Hardy has been a university teacher for most of her working life, in sociology, political philosophy and, later on, in transpersonal psychology. She is author of A Psychology with a Soul.

Tony Hodgson is a management consultant, systems theorist and inventor of The World Game. He is a Member of the International Futures Forum (www.internationalfuturesforum.com)

Chris Wright is author of Your Wake Up Call, A Community Manifesto, and The Sufficient Community. He is a founder member of Action for Sustainable Living (www.afsl.org.uk)

David Lorimer is an author and lecturer who is Programme Director of the Scientific and Medical Network. He is also a Member of the International Futures Forum.