Gross National Happiness in Bhutan

DR. CRAIG DALTON

Gross National Happiness in Bhutan
Piloting Contemplative Practice in Australian Public Health

Tuesday Seminar
15 May 3.30-5pm

Hosted in the Auchmuty Library’s Cultural Collections at the University of Newcastle.
Tea, coffee and nibbles provided from 3.30pm for a 3.45 start finishing by 5pm.

Seminar Abstract:
Eastern contemplative practices have gained increasing popularity in North American universities since their introduction in the 1960’s and are now being reintroduced from North America back into Bhutan’s universities and public service settings. Contemplative practice is viewed as a core foundation of the Gross National Happiness development philosophy in Bhutan. An AusAid grant to teach public health surveillance in Bhutan with a contemplative practice component was the inspiration to conduct a pilot program within Hunter New England Population Health from August to October of 2011. This presentation discusses a theory of “how contemplation works,” recent neuroscience research on contemplation, and the evaluation of a pilot program of a weekly one hour contemplative program for public health practitioners in Newcastle.

Dr Craig Dalton is a Public Health Physician, Hunter New England Population Health, and Conjoint Senior Lecturer in the School of Medicine and Public Health at the UoN.

All welcome.

Download the Flyer (PDF)

Adam Smith as Theologian

PROFESSOR PAUL OSLINGTON

Religion and Economics: Adam Smith as Theologian

Tuesday Seminar
17 April 3.30-5pm

Hosted in the Auchmuty Library’s Cultural Collections at the University of Newcastle.
Tea, coffee and nibbles provided from 3.30pm for a 3.45 start finishing by 5pm.

Seminar Abstract:
Adam Smith is a crucial figure in any theological engagement with economics. Contemporary theologians struggle for an entry point into the discourse of economics, but this most famous figure in economics can be shown to be thoroughly soaked with theology. Like many of his 18th century Scottish Enlightenment friends, Smith was shaped by the Calvinism of the dominant Presbyterian Kirk. Newton and the British tradition of scientific natural theology provided the framework for his economic investigations. The Continental natural law ethics of Pufendorf and others influenced his moral philosophy, far more than utilitarianism. Aristotle was always in the background. In the following paper, I will test a theological reading of Smith’s works through the invisible hand passages.

All welcome.

Download the Flyer (PDF)

Religion and politics

PROFESSOR MARION MADDOX

Religion and Politics: How Powerful is the Christian Right?

Tuesday Seminar
13 March 3.30-5pm

Hosted in the Auchmuty Library’s Cultural Collections at the University of Newcastle.
Tea, coffee and nibbles provided from 3.30pm for a 3.45 start finishing by 5pm.

Seminar Abstract:
A number of recent articles have argued that the Australian Christian right’s political influence has been overstated, pointing to the failure of signature reforms and lack of electoral pulling-power. I respond that such analyses misconstrue the kind of pressure group politics in which Australia’s Christian right engages and the purpose for which it raises iconic issues. I then draw a comparison with the way in which similar arguments have been made about the US Christian right, usually when it appeared to have reached a low ebb and often predicting its imminent demise, only to herald a resurgence. Where Australia’s Christian right is often treated as a recent phenomenon, it, like its US counterpart, rewards a long-view analysis.

All welcome.

Download the Flyer (PDF)

GRIT Seminar Program 2012

GRIT – Group for Religious and Intellectual Traditions

Semester 1, 2012
Program of Events

Seminars

13 March

• Prof. Marion Maddox
  “Religion and Politics: How Powerful Is the Christian Right?”

17 April

• Prof. Paul Oslington
  “Religion and Economics: Adam Smith as Theologian”

15 May

• Dr. Craig Dalton
  “Gross National Happiness in Bhutan: Piloting Contemplative Practice in Australian Public Health”

All seminars are hosted in the Auchmuty Library Cultural Collections.
Tea, coffee and nibbles provided on the Tuesday dates above from 3.30 for a 3.45 start finishing by 5pm

Further details at http://www.newcastle.edu.au/school/hss/research/groups/grit/

Download the Flyer (PDF)

Everyone is welcome to attend.