Buddhist Art

The Telegraph reviews a new Gallery at the Victoria and Albert museum, devoted to Buddhist art.
The review [click HERE] raises some issues about detachment, and the nature of the images, and whether the gallery actively promotes Buddhist values - so may well be of interest...

Also see http://www.rhfamilyfoundation.org/manyfaces for the Many Faces of Buddhism webpages, for events in London at present..

D.

Blogging Nietzsche

The Guardian online has an excellent site where various experts provide infomed comment on philosophy texts. Giles Fraser has written comments on Nietzsche's Genealogy of Morals, Julian Baggini on Hume's views on religion, and currently Mary Midgeley is commenting on Hobbes' Leviathan. Check this out.

Islam Conference next week - Shi'ism: Past and Present

Just a reminder about next week's event - students (and others) are all welcome - but do register first - some details should be HERE, or contact Patricia Downes for details on attending. The programme for the day is:

SHI’ISM, PAST AND PRESENT

Programme
10.15 – 10.45 Registration and Coffee
10.45 Welcome: Dr Shelley Saguaro, Head of Department of Humanities, University of Gloucestershire

10.50 – 11.35 Rt. Rev. Prof. Kenneth Cragg (Oxford),
Why the Early Emergence of the Shi’a from within Sunni Islam?

11.40 – 12.25 Dr Arzina Lalani (Ismaili Institute, London),
The Shi’i Tradition in Islam

12.35 – 1.10 Shazim Hussayn (al Mahdi Institute, Birmingham),
The concept of the Mahdi in Shi’ism

OR

Dr Simonetta Calderini, (Roehampton University,)
Women, Wealth and Inheritance under the Fatimids

1.10 – 2.00 Lunch

2.05 – 2.50 Dr Moojan Momen (Wixamtree),
Undercurrents in Shi`i Esotericism from the Thirteenth to the Nineteenth Century
OR
Dr Theodore Gabriel, (University of Gloucestershire),
Shi’ism and Christianity

3.00 – 3.45 Saleem Khan (Pakistan & London Metropolitan University)
Accommodating Sectarian Diversity in Pakistan

3.45 Vote of thanks: Dr Theodore Gabriel

Tea

FEES: £16 (£8 for students and the unwaged; £5.00 for students of University of Gloucestershire). Tea/Coffee will be served morning and afternoon.
A sandwich lunch (to include sandwiches, crisps, cookies, fruit and coffee/tea) will be available if ordered when your booking is made. The cost for this is £5.50 and should be sent with your conference fee (or email Patricia to arrange)

Ted Honderich to speak in Cheltenham on War and Terrorism

Gloucestershire Philosophical Society, Summer Term.

Talk on Wednesday22nd. April, 2009, 7.30.p.m. FCH HC203 University of Gloucestershire
Map HERE.

Professor Ted Honderich, UCL

"Terrorisms, Terrorist Wars: A philosophical perspective."

Professor Honderich is an internationally renowned political philosopher; editor of the Oxford Companion to Philosophy, and Chair of the Royal Institute of Philosophy.

All welcome.

Artificial Intelligence debate

Some details of an interesting local event:

Café Scientifique Finale

Tuesday 12th May: (Last Debate in the current Café Scientifique Series) On Artificial Intelligence

Arrivals: from 7:15pm for 7.30pm kick off, finish around 9:30ish

Location: The Pavillion (in the gardens of The Royal Oak pub) 42, The Burgage, Prestbury, Cheltenham GL52 3DL

(plenty of parking opposite and in street)

Dr David Biggs, the University of Gloucestershire's Post Grad Director in Occupational Psychology will be discussing amid other things, the pending release of Terminator 4 which in turns sparks debate about the varying forms of artificial intelligence and expert systems writing out psychometric profile reports for people from ethnic minorities... More information to follow, but for now, please pencil this date in your diaries!

• Open to all — bring a friend/neighbour!
• Admission is free
• Bar food available
• First drink is kindly sponsored by The University of Gloucestershire.

Café Scientifique has become a regular event in the county as part of the University’s commitment to public engagement and all age learning.

To find out more about the Café Scientifique network visit www.cafescientifique.org or to join us online for regular updates and reminders join The Café Scientifique Cheltenham group on Facebook,
or for more information email Emma Heathcote-James

Philosophy Society Update

We will not meet on the first Thursday of May, but will meet on the first Thursday of June, the 4th. Gallery Room. Park Campus. 7pm.

We will be reading The Brothers Karamazov, a personal favourite. But not to fear, not the full 832 pages, only the Chapters "Rebellion" and "The Grand Inquisitor", probably about 20 pages. The link for "Rebellion": http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/d/dostoyevsky/d72b/chapter35.html and the link for "The Grand Inquisitor": http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/d/dostoyevsky/d72b/chapter36.html. If you are alert and lively you may like to read D. H. Lawrence's "The Legend of The Grand Inquisitor"; it is available in the learning centre

Look forward to seeing you in June,

Shelley

Easter reflections

Thought our readers might be interested in reading the following reflections on Easter from a Buddhist perspective:

http://www.xploreheartlinks.com/buddhism.htm#A%20Buddhist%20View%20of%20Easter

God edition..

New Statesman at http://www.newstatesman.com/religion/2009/04/richard-dawkins-hitchens has an issue focused around God and the relationship between politics and religion..
Might be of interest..
d.