News and Events
The latest news and forthcoming events in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies
Forthcoming research events
Seminars
The Centre for the Study of Theology and Religion Studies Research Seminar Series 2011-12
Conferences
Other events
10 May 2012: The Winchester Pilgrimage
For thousands of years peopled have travelled to places of worship and sites of religious significance, in the hope that they might find salvation or reward in the afterlife. The University of Winchester, in conjunction with the Leprosy Mission, is proud to present a charity pilgrimage from the centre of the historic city of Winchester to the site of Britain’s oldest known hospital, on St Magdalen's Hill on the outskirts of Winchester.
Find out more about the Winchester Pilgrimage and how you can take part.
24 May 2012: Foundation Lecture Good and Bad Religion by Dr Peter Vardy
In this lecture, Dr Vardy, one of the leading moral educators in the UK, seeks to provide criteria to separate good and bad manifestations of religion.
Find out more about the Foundation Lecture Good and Bad Religion
Latest News
29 March 2012
The Big Green Believers Agreement
In November 2011, Dr Christina Welch signed the Big Green Believers Agreement on behalf of the University. A local interfaith initiative with the intention of helping to protect the earth, the Big Green Believers was founded by Rabbi Neil Amswych.
With a vision to enable signatories to become more sustainable and help create a flourishing and just world for all to cherish, Dr Welch, who teaches about the connections between religions, the natural world and sustainability, explains: "The agreement not only recognises the need for us to live sustainably, but does so by drawing on the underlying ecological messages inherent in the worlds faiths. By encouraging the sharing of knowledge and resources between local faith groups, this agreement extends interfaith dialogue into interfaith action, and aims to provide practical grassroots support to those with a faith-based desire to live more sustainably for the good of all".
23 June 2011
AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Award funding for Department of TRS
Dr Neil Messer, Head of Theology and Religious Studies, was recently awarded funding for an AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Award on ‘Bioethics, Public Policy and the Church of England’. The project is a collaboration between the Department and the Church of England’s Mission and Public Affairs Division. Kathryn Pritchard has been awarded the studentship and will be supervised by Dr Messer, Dr Angus Paddison (Department of TRS) and the Revd Dr Malcolm Brown (Mission and Public Affairs Division).
The role of faith traditions in public ethical and policy debates in contemporary western societies attracts considerable controversy, and is much discussed in the academic literature in both political theory and public theology. Less attention, however, has been paid to the ways in which religious groups have actually engaged with public debates, how their modes of engagement compare with the various possibilities set out in the academic literature and what effects their involvement has had on policy outcomes. The aim of this project is to offer a focussed case study of religious involvement in public debates, namely the Church of England’s engagement with selected public policy debates in relation to biomedical ethics since the 1960s.
Recent books by TRS staff
 |
Neil Messer, Respecting Life: Theology and Bioethics. (SCM)
Dr Messer, a leading author on theology and bioethics who has also worked in biomedical research, develops a Reformed Protestant theological approach to bioethics and argues that this approach allows a critical and constructive engagement with public debates beyond the walls of the churches. He offers theological treatments of a range of bioethical issues, including assisted dying, healthcare rationing, human cloning, stem cell research and human-animal hybrid embryos.
|
 |
Paul Hedges, Controversies in Interreligious Dialogue and Theologies of Religion (SCM)
Drawing inspiration from many sources including intercultural and feminist theologies and postcolonial identity theory, this book provides an introduction to the current state of the field as well as providing insights and new concepts that will be of interest to specialists.
|
 |
Andreas Andreopoulos, This is my beloved son: the Transfiguration of Christ (Paraclete Press)
This book explains common threads in the event of the Transfiguration (the revelation of the full divinity of Christ in front of his disciples) and other parts of the gospels. It is a book that bridges East and West in its pursuit of understanding the power and meaning of what transfiguration meant, then and now.
|
Recent conferences