CentreNews
May 11, 2009 Mark Your Calendars, Make your Plans -- Hill Lecture Coming Soon Speaker: Dr. Leah Bradshaw, Professor of Political Science, Brock University Topic: Ties of Friendship and Citizenship in a Globalized World Date & Location: Tuesday, May 26, 2009, 7:30 PM - Room 308, West Block, Parliament Hill, Ottawa, Ontario
For many years the Centre for Cultural Renewal has been hosting the Hill Lecture -- this year is no exception, but it will be exceptional. Dr. Leah Bradshaw, a political science scholar interested in Aristotle and George Grant (to name but two) will speak on the continuing relevance of the idea of "civic friendship" and will explore the relevance of that concept to a society such as Canada at a time of increasing globalization. Those who remember the Centre's hosting of philosopher Roger Scruton's presentation a few years ago ("Morality and the Idea of Public Virtue") will remember Dr. Bradshaw's elegant and learned response to Dr. Scruton. We are delighted that one of the Centre's first lecturers (on the topic of "what a meaningful pluralism is NOT", University of Toronto, 1995) will address us as the 2009 Hill Lecturer on a theme as important as "civic friendship." Admission is by voluntary donation. A charitable tax receipt will be issued for donations of $20.00 or more. Please come and bring a friend, but for security reasons you must register in advance! To do so, email or call the Centre's Ottawa office at info@culturalrenewal.ca or 613-567-9010 with your full name and contact information. It will be a fascinating lecture! For more information, please see following link: 2008/2009 Hill Lecture. The annual Hill Lectures in Ottawa were established by the Centre for Cultural Renewal as a means of furthering public discussion of the connections between ethics and the foundations of culture. Each year, the Centre will host a public lecture bringing a leading thinker of the day to address an important topic related to politics and the common good. As such, the focus will not be on a particular partisan political platform or perspective, but on themes which ought to be considered publicly on a broad basis. The Hill Lectures are named in honour of the late Frederick Walter Hill D.F.C. (US), C.M., S.O.M., B.A., M.B.A., who was a distinguished Canadian businessman and philanthropist, Member of the Order of Canada, and long-time advocate of serious cultural analysis and engagement.
A Little Knowledge is a Dangerous Thing? Examining Whether or Not Moral and Religious Stories Should Be Used in Public Education Classrooms.
Various educators have lamented what they believe to be a startling decrease in general knowledge amongst college and university students. Some have commented as well on the extraordinary lack of biblical knowledge on the part of most students -- where such things as the parable of "The Good Samaritan" or "The Prodigal Son" appear no longer to be widely recognized. In this setting, what principles ought to govern how we think about introducing religious and non-religious stories to educate students in what might be called "civic virtues" -- those principles (moral and ethical) that relate to citizenship? In this article, Iain Benson looks at these questions and distils three possible approaches to the teaching (or not) of religious or other ethical and moral stories as illustrations in public education. He suggests there are three contexts and key principles which can be of great assistance in deciding how to improve education in this area. We hope you will circulate this article widely, print it off and reflect upon it if this is a topic that is of interest to you. CentreArticle Vol.171 Renewing the Centre Development and change are signs of life for projects that have been going on as long as the Centre for Cultural Renewal. We have changed over the years and are always open to good ideas. For some time we have wanted to ask our donors and supporters for suggestions about the Centre's work and direction. We've put a questionnaire up on the website and have been receiving encouraging and helpful responses and we'd like more of them. In addition, we've been calling and asking people their views. Please have a look at the questions now on the website at [Centre Renewal Survey] and if you'd like to have your say about the Centre, it's work and the future, please contact us. A Further Note On the Difficulty of Determining the Bona Fides of Groups from other Ethnic and Religious Traditions In a recent CentreNews, we included an article by Farzana Hassan, former President of the Muslim Congress of Canada, in which she took to task the Centre for Faith and Media. Her primary accusation was that CFM had inadvertently been working with an organization with links to terrorism. She claimed that CAIR-CAN individuals who have participated in CFM events were Islamists with suspicious connections. She also complained that more Muslim voices and groups were not represented at CFM events. Iain Benson wrote a response to that article pointing out the great difficulty of determining which groups are and are not linked to terrorism given a series of realities in dealing across the barriers of language and culture. Richelle Wiseman, Executive Director, of the Centre for Faith and Media had written a response to this article with which we were not familiar at the time of our posting and has asked that we include a link to it now. We are happy to do so. The CFM's link in response may be found at:
http://blogs.faithandmedia.org/wiseman/2009/04/02/on-the-vapour-trails-of-rumour/ Support the Centre for Cultural Renewal Today A donation made today will enable us to carry out the worthwhile events and publications we have planned for 2009. An investment in the Centre for Cultural Renewal is a true investment in the future of Canada.
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The Board of Directors of the Centre for Cultural Renewal (CCR) is pleased to announce a revitalized focus on the future with the appointment this month of veteran journalist Peter Stockland as Executive Director. 