Gresham College Lectures

From symbols scratched below the floorboards, to beliefs in witchcraft, and through to James I and the Gunpowder Plot.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/ritual-protection-marks-and-witchcraft-at-knole-kent

An historic building survey at Knole, Kent enabled a very surprising revelation about the history of the house in the early 17th century. A series of symbols beneath the floorboards carved by the carpenters working at the house were intended to protect the building from possession by witches, demons and evil spirits. Further research showed that the symbols were related to James I, witch trials and the Gunpowder Plot.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/ritual-protection-marks-and-witchcraft-at-knole-kent

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 1,800 lectures free to access or download from the website.
Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

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Professor Elliott explains what happened when a top heart surgeon went to work with a F1 team and what lessons were learned: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/formula-1-and-its-contributions-to-healthcare

At first sight, there is little relationship between the high tech, high cost, high speed and highly competitive world of F1 and heart surgery for children. Yet Formula 1, with its extraordinary teamwork, rates of innovation, commitment to excellence and relentless pursuit of safety has taught us a great deal.

This lecture will consider the parallels between our activities, describe the lessons learned and consider how we, in healthcare, might benefit more from how they work and their technology. And a little of what they have learned from us!

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/formula-1-and-its-contributions-to-healthcare

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 1,800 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk

Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Professor Belinda Jack examines the power and impact of T.S. Eliot's works 'The Four Quartets': http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/poetry-and-exile-t-s-eliot-four-quartets

These poems retain a stubborn opacity and no interpretation is ever wholly satisfactory. The difficulty of Eliot's poetry is partly a function of the poems' dense allusions to so much other poetry. But by exploring the idea of exile in relation to locality and the idea of space more abstractly, the shape of Four Quartets as descriptive of a spiritual journey comes into better focus. Autobiographically it is clear that Burnt Norton, the house and its extensive gardens, East Coker, and above all the religious community at Little Gidding, matter greatly to our understanding of both Eliot's life and also his poetry. But the antithesis of place, that is the idea of exile from place, is equally important.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/poetry-and-exile-t-s-eliot-four-quartets

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 1,800 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk

Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Professor Roberts describes her work with UK police forces: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/a-body-in-the-river-the-application-of-environment-science-in-murder

The bodies of murder victims, whole or in pieces, often end up in rivers or canals. Carolyn Roberts' work as an Expert Witness with UK police forces has applied the principles of hydrology to murder investigations.

In these tragic and gruesome settings, environmental science can help to identify where bodies have come from or gone to. Drawing on macabre and fascinating case studies, the lecture will range from particular cases to general principles of tracing bodies, and the application of science in supporting the law.

Probably not for those of a nervous disposition, but of guaranteed interest to the curious.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/a-body-in-the-river-the-application-of-environment-science-in-murder

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 1,800 lectures free to access or download from the website.
Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show

A personal and intensive examination of Professor McGrath’s journey to faith: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/from-wonder-to-understanding-beginning-a-journey

This lecture considers the sense of wonder that many experience in looking at the natural world, and explores how this can lead to both science and religious faith – and sometimes both. It will examine the role of theories in science and religion, and how these can lead to a deeper appreciation of the beauty of the natural world.

The lecture will consider the general relation of science and faith, including reflecting on the current status of the “warfare” model, before moving on to consider more reliable accounts, including “multiple maps of reality” (Mary Midgley), “multiple narratives about life” (Christian Smith) and “multiple levels within reality” (Roy Bhaskar). The lecture will also consider Karl Popper’s notion of “ultimate questions” , and reflect on how these questions can be answered by science and religion. The lecture will ultimately consider the existential importance of these questions, and how human beings appear to have some inbuilt instinct or intuition that such questions are both important, and answerable – however provisionally.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/from-wonder-to-understanding-beginning-a-journey

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 1,800 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk

Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Osteologist, Don Walker, explains what archaeologists can learn from the bones found is a mass grave: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/mass-burials-from-st-mary-spital-london

The excavation of St Mary Spital in East London uncovered a large number of emergency mass burial pits. Dating places the burials in the mid-13th century and may provide the first archaeological evidence of a global catastrophic volcanic event.

Part of the Mondays at One Archaeology Series.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/mass-burials-from-st-mary-spital-london

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 1,800 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk

Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege

Professor Elliott explains what happened when a top heart surgeon went to work with a F1 team and what lessons were learned: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/formula-1-and-its-contributions-to-healthcare

At first sight, there is little relationship between the high tech, high cost, high speed and highly competitive world of F1 and heart surgery for children. Yet Formula 1, with its extraordinary teamwork, rates of innovation, commitment to excellence and relentless pursuit of safety has taught us a great deal.

This lecture will consider the parallels between our activities, describe the lessons learned and consider how we, in healthcare, might benefit more from how they work and their technology. And a little of what they have learned from us!

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/formula-1-and-its-contributions-to-healthcare

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 1,800 lectures free to access or download from the website.
Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show

At the heart of virtually all the medieval music that survives, is the human voice. This is an ancient heritage. The early Christians under the Roman Empire believed themselves to be engaged in a pilgrimage through a transitory world, where they were strangers, to their true home and an eternal liturgy ‘where my servants shall sing for joy of heart’, as St John the Divine says in Revelation. But why have singing in worship? What was to be gained, in the early Church and in its medieval descendant, by having a choir singing snippets of the Scripture, often extracted from their original context and sewn together in new patterns? We shall find that the answer lies in the breathing body.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/medieval-music-the-stations-of-the-breath

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 1,800 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk

Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege

Professor Belinda Jack examines the power and impact of T.S. Eliot's works 'The Four Quartets': http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/poetry-and-exile-t-s-eliot-four-quartets

These poems retain a stubborn opacity and no interpretation is ever wholly satisfactory. The difficulty of Eliot's poetry is partly a function of the poems' dense allusions to so much other poetry. But by exploring the idea of exile in relation to locality and the idea of space more abstractly, the shape of Four Quartets as descriptive of a spiritual journey comes into better focus. Autobiographically it is clear that Burnt Norton, the house and its extensive gardens, East Coker, and above all the religious community at Little Gidding, matter greatly to our understanding of both Eliot's life and also his poetry. But the antithesis of place, that is the idea of exile from place, is equally important.


The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/poetry-and-exile-t-s-eliot-four-quartets

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 1,800 lectures free to access or download from the website.
Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show

A personal and intensive examination of Professor McGrath's journey to faith: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/from-wonder-to-understanding-beginning-a-journey

This lecture considers the sense of wonder that many experience in looking at the natural world, and explores how this can lead to both science and religious faith - and sometimes both. It will examine the role of theories in science and religion, and how these can lead to a deeper appreciation of the beauty of the natural world.
The lecture will consider the general relation of science and faith, including reflecting on the current status of the "warfare" model, before moving on to consider more reliable accounts, including "multiple maps of reality" (Mary Midgley), "multiple narratives about life" (Christian Smith) and "multiple levels within reality" (Roy Bhaskar). The lecture will also consider Karl Popper's notion of "ultimate questions" , and reflect on how these questions can be answered by science and religion. The lecture will ultimately consider the existential importance of these questions, and how human beings appear to have some inbuilt instinct or intuition that such questions are both important, and answerable - however provisionally.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/from-wonder-to-understanding-beginning-a-journey
Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 1,800 lectures free to access or download from the website.
Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

 

Support the show