Lecture Series-Lecture 1: “God, Faith, and the Skeptics”

European Humanities University invites to an open lecture series hosted by the European Humanities University in cooperation with the European Institute for Theology and Society.

Lecture 1: “God, Faith, and the Skeptics”
by Dr. Shane Waugh (University of Wollongong, Australia)
Tuesday, October 25th, 18.00
Academic building of EHU
Valakupių st. 5, aud. 213

Short Bio:
Dr Shane Waugh holds a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Sydney (2009). Since 2008, he has taught at the University of Wollongong, Australia, where he also contributed to a large project concerned with intellectual virtues. In 2011, he was appointed as an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Wollongong. He has a long-standing interest in scepticism and in particular the extent to which we are unable to provide rational support for much of what we take for granted in everyday life. His most recent research interests have been on the connection between the concepts of truth and belief, examining the extent to which we can do without a strong commitment to the truth of much of what we accept and talk about. He lives in Wollongong, Australia, with his wife and their two sons.

About the open lecture series:
The various academic disciplines in the humanities strive to shape human lives by developing those human capacities necessary for thinking, communicating, and living well. Such a life cultivates not only intellectual virtues but also moral virtues for living peacefully with others. To the extent the humanities pursues these goals, certain presumptions are made about the nature of reality, human beings, and God. What does it mean, then, to live fittingly with others, to pursue “the good life,” and how might discourse on God affect these pursuits?

This open-lecture series seeks to explore these questions in light of today’s globalized world that has pushed many to “the limits of their human existence” as people struggle with forms of alienation, meaninglessness, injustices, and the like. Each lecture approaches these issues and questions from a different disciplinary angle, seeking to promote a conversation on how discourse on God might be of value, if at all, to achieving the objectives of an humanities education.

Lectures will be in English, occurring once per month beginning in October 2011 and ending in January 2012. Please make note of the dates, times, and locations for each lecture. We look forward to your active participation. If there any questions, see “Points of Contact” below.

Lecture 1: “God, Faith, and the Skeptics”
by Dr. Shane Waugh (University of Wollongong, Australia)
Tuesday, October 25th

Lecture 2: “Human Rights and the Human Quest”
by Professor Dr. Thomas K. Johnson
(International Institute for Religious Freedom, Bonn, Germany)
Tuesday, November 15th

Lecture 3: “A Public Theology?: Why Discourse Concerning God Matters for the Public Square”
by Dr. Stephen M. Garrett (Lithuania University of Education, Lithuania)
Tuesday, December 13th

Lecture 4: “God and Western Literature”
by Dr. Susan Robbins (Klaipeda University, Lithuania):
Tuesday, January 17th