What’s it all for? Grosseteste on the liberal arts and education, then and now.

One of Robert Grosseteste’s earliest treatises was his foundational one on the Liberal Arts, in which he laid out what he saw as the purpose of what we would call Further and Higher Education – the arts and sciences alike. He went on to become one of Oxford’s most famous lecturers and also a bishop with an energetic programme of lay education in Lincoln Diocese – and his treatise went on to have an interesting afterlife inspiring interest in lay education in the times of Wycliffe and then Chaucer. This year’s lecture will take us on that journey and then wonder with us at whether it has something to say to us too in an age when the purpose of education seems to be being hollowed out and the bigger picture is in peril.

Speaker: Bishop David Thomson, FSA, FRHistS, FRSA. David Thomson has followed Grosseteste in combining life as an academic and cleric, continuing after his doctorate at Oxford to research the English Middle Ages, while also serving a parish priest and latterly Bishop of Huntingdon from 2008-18. He has also served as Vice-Chair of the Church of England’s Board of Education, and has extensive educational experience at all levels. He is an Honorary Fellow at Durham University and is one of the contributors to the first volume of the new edition of the Scientific Writings of Robert Grosseteste which is about to be published, in which the Latin and Middle English treatises on the Seven Liberal Arts will appear.

Venue and time: Bishop Grosseteste University, Robert Hardy Building Lecture Theatre, Friday 9th October 2019. Lecture at 4.00 pm followed by refreshments.

Other info: Entry is free of charge however; you must book tickets to guarantee entry and a seat at http://www.bishopg.ac.uk/events
Book early to avoid disappointment!
RSVP Wednesday 2nd October For further details please contact the Events Office on 01522 585635 or email events@bishopg.ac.uk