Early Registration for ‘Heavenly Discourses: Myth, Astronomy and Culture’
http://heavenlydiscourses.org/ closes on 31st July.
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This Interdisciplinary Conference has been organised jointly by Nicholas
Campion (School of Archaeology, History and Anthropology, Sophia Centre for
the Study of Cosmology in Culture, University of Wales Trinity Saint David)
and Darrelyn Gunzburg (Department of History of Art, University of Bristol)
Wills Memorial Building
University of Bristol
14-16 October 2011
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
* Professor Ronald Hutton, University of Bristol.
* Gillian Clarke, Poet Laureate of Wales.
* Professor Roger Beck, Emeritus Professor, Department of Classics,
University of Toronto.
* Professor Gerry Gilmore, Professor of Experimental Philosophy, Institute
of Astronomy, Cambridge University.
* Adjunct Professor David Malin, British-Australian astronomer and
photographer, former Anglo-Australian Observatory.
* Dr Ed Krupp, Director, Griffith Observatory, CA, USA.
* Professor Michael Rowan-Robinson, Department of Physics, Imperial
College, London.
CONFERENCE THEME
On 12 April 1961 Yuri Gagarin became the first human in outer space and the
first to orbit the Earth. 2011 sees the fiftieth anniversary of that event.
In almost every human culture the sky functions as a backdrop for mythical
encounters, employing the celestial environment as a stage set for
narratives of human and divine experience. That moment when human beings
first left the planet gave us a different perspective on the sky.
THE EVENT
This conference will bring together scholars through keynote addresses (60
minutes), plenary session (30 minutes) and concurrent panel sessions (3 x
20 minutes) to examine the relationship between the heavens and culture
through the arts, literature, religion and philosophy, both in history and
the present. We have accepted proposals from 80 academics in the arts,
humanities, social sciences and sciences. Topics include astronomy and
music, literature, painting and the visual arts, architecture, religion,
history and society. A selection of papers from the Conference proceedings
will be published by the Sophia Centre Press in 2012.
THE EXHIBITION
The conference is proud to present an exhibition of David Malin’s
extraordinary and beautiful pioneering space photography. The exhibition,
Visions of Heaven, will be curated by Darrelyn Gunzburg and held at The
Bristol Gallery. The exhibition will be launched with a champagne reception
(included in the conference registration) on Friday evening 14th October.
You will be able to buy art works signed by David at the launch.
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Born in 1941 in Summerseat, Lancashire, UK, Malin explored photography from
an early age, trained as a chemist and worked as microscopist. When he
moved to Sydney, Australia, and joined the Anglo-Australian Observatory as
its photographic scientist in 1975, he shifted from exploring the
infinitely small to the infinitely far away. Malin was a pioneer in making
true-color astronomical photographs from black and white plates taken in
three separate colors. The novel image enhancement techniques were all
incorporated into creating unique three-color photographs of previously
unseen deep space objects. These new ways of extracting information from
astronomical photographs, known as ‘Malinisation’, revolutionized our
cultural relationship with the sky.
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PRE- AND POST-CONFERENCE TOURS:
* Half-day walking tour of Bristol Cathedral and St Mary Redcliffe Church
with Jon Cannon (Thursday 13th October).
* Full day coach tour of Glastonbury Abbey, Wells Cathedral and the
Bishop’s Palace with Jon Cannon (Monday 17th October). Due to the need to
travel by coach, this tour has limited numbers.
REGISTRATION
Student rate (undergraduate or postgraduate): £90
Early payment up to 30th June 2011: £195
Late payment from 1st July: £225
Day passes: £75
STUDENT BURSARIES
Available for students of The University of Bristol and The University of
Wales Trinity Saint David.
‘Heavenly Discourses’ is proudly supported by the University of Bristol
Alumni Fund and thus is able to offer bursaries entitling full or part-time
students of The University of Bristol and The University of Wales Trinity
Saint David to a registration fee of £15/day. (This price does not include
the champagne reception and tickets for this can be purchased separately on
the website).
Further information or enquiries:
hadrg@bristol.ac.uk
