A Day with Jean Vanier and Stanley Hauerwas
Conversations on disability, friendship and being human
Artwork reprinted by permission of Martha Perske from PERSKE: PENCIL PORTRAITS 1971-1990 (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1998)
Tuesday 12th September 2006
King's College Conference Centre,
University of Aberdeen, Scotland, United Kingdom
To become fully human "is not a question of following what everyone else does, of conforming to social norms, or of being admired and honoured in a hierarchical society; it is to become free to be more fully oneself, to follow one's deepest conscience, to seek truth, and to love people as they are."
Jean Vanier
About the conference
The conference will initiate a unique meeting of minds between two theologians who have had a deep impact on the field of disability theology. The aim of the day will be to highlight and develop challenging perspectives on issues that are vital not only for our understanding of disability, but for our ability to develop communities of peace that can transform the future.
Who is the conference for?
This conference will be of relevance to ministers and priests, theologians, the caring professions, management and administrators and anyone interested in pastoral ministry.
About the speakers
Jean Vanier
Jean Vanier is the founder of the L’Arche communities; an international network of communities within which people with learning disabilities and people who do not share that life experience live together, not as carer and cared for, but as fellow human beings who share a mutuality of care and need. The L’Arche communities provide a unique model of inclusive community which is underpinned by a profound spirituality and theology about which Vanier has written extensively. His work on the theology of disability and the spirituality of community and friendship is widely recognized as being of profound significance for disability theology and the practice of community.
Stanley Hauerwas
Stanley Hauerwas (named America’s best theologian by Time Magazine 2001) is the only mainstream theologian to have written consistently about the significance of disability for theology. Over a forty year period he has produced vital and deeply insightful work reflecting on the lives of people with disability, the political significance of community and the importance of taking the experience of disability as a vital critical principle when addressing the weaknesses and failures of liberal society. Hauerwas’ sometimes radical focus on disability, friendship and community as primary dimensions of what it means to be human and to live humanly parallels the work of Jean Vanier in important ways.
In bringing these two great thinkers and practitioners together to engage them in a unique conversation we will be given the opportunity to both share knowledge and experience, and to think through new ways in which the possibility of developing peaceable communities can become a reality.
Conference costs:
- £40
- Students and unwaged - £25 (limited places)
(These prices include tea, coffee and lunch)
Timing:
The conference will run from 10am-1700. (Registration and coffee 0900-0945)
Page last modified: Monday, 28-Jan-2013 09:53:27 GMT
School of Divinity with Religious Studies and Philosophy
King's College · University of Aberdeen · Aberdeen ·
AB24 3UB · United Kingdom
Tel: Int code+44 (0)1224273224 · Fax: Int code +44 (0) 1224-273750
Email: j.swinton@abdn.ac.uk
