2012 ACU Simone Weil Lecture - Richard Kearney

When
21 Jun 2012
6:00 PM
Location
ACU Melbourne Campus

NARRATING PAIN: THE POWER OF CATHARSIS
Richard Kearney
Introduced by Kevin Hart

In this Lecture, Professor Kearney will explore the healing function of narrative, in both fiction and history. Starting with Aristotle's famous definition of catharsis in the Poetics, he will trace the therapeutic role of storytelling from ancient myth to the modern novel. He will also engage with recent controversies on the moral and spiritual importance of trauma testimonies.

The lecture will be given at ACU's campuses in Melbourne, North Sydney and Brisbane.

Lecture is free and open to the public, but registration is essential. To register for the lecture in your state, visit: http://www.acu.edu.au/simoneweil
For inquiries, contact Richard Colledge (richard.colledge AT acu.edu.au)

Melbourne
21 June 2012, 6pm
ACU Melbourne Campus,
Mercy Lecture Theatre
115 Victoria Parade, Fitzroy VIC 3065

Richard Kearney holds the Charles B. Seelig Chair of Philosophy at Boston College. He serves as a Visiting Professor at University College Dublin, the University of Paris (Sorbonne) and the University of Nice, and is Adjunct Professor of Philosophy at Australian Catholic University. Professor Kearney is a prolific author in the areas of European philosophy and literature, and a public intellectual particularly in his native Ireland. He has written or edited over forty books, including two novels and a volume of poetry. Some of his recent publications include the much discussed Anatheism (Columbia, 2009), Navigations (Syracuse University Press, 2007), On Paul Ricoeur: The Owl of Minerva (Ashgate, 2005), Debates in Continental Philosophy (Fordham, 2004), and Strangers, Gods, and Monsters (Routledge, 2003). He has served on Ireland's Arts Council and Higher Education Authority, chaired the Irish School of Film at University College Dublin, and was involved in drafting a number of proposals for a Northern Irish peace agreement in the 1980s and 1990s. He is a well-known contributor to European media, and has presented several series on culture and philosophy for Irish and British television.