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Distinguished journalist Stan Grant to deliver 2025 Simone Weil Lecture

Renowned journalist, public intellectual and proud Wiradjuri man, Professor Stan Grant, will deliver the 2025 Simone Weil Lecture in Human Value, exploring the possibility of a language of the soul in an increasingly disjointed world.

Now in its 25^th year, theannual lecture series, hosted by the ACU School of Philosophy, honours one of the most influential twentieth-century thinkers on philosophy, religion, spirituality and politics, Simone Weil.

This year’s lecture series is inspired by Weil’s essay, Human Personality, written in the final year of her life. Professor Grant, whose public opinions and interviews are heavily influenced by Weil’s writing, will draw on the essay in responding to the rise of populist politics and the dehumanising effects of technology in our lives.

At the Brisbane lecture on 12 August, Professor Grant will explore how the current political context constricts our ability to speak. At the Melbourne lecture on 20 August, the focus is on how we might together reclaim a higher order of humanity, and the crucial role that is played in that by faith.

“Simone Weil is my lodestar, she warms my soul and fires my mind. More than any other thinker it is to her I turn to weigh the truth,” Professor Grant said.

As well as having more than 30 years’ experience in broadcast news and current affairs, Professor Grant also holds a doctorate in theology and has held academic appointments at Griffith University and Charles Sturt University.

Professor Grant was recently featured in a new documentary for ABC TV’s Compass talking about his Wiradjuri spirituality, his doctoral studies in theology, and the challenges of being a public media figure.

He is a leading voice on issues of identity, belonging, and justice in Australia. He has published eight books contributing to the national conversation on race, reconciliation and national identity, and is working on his ninth.

“Language is our enemy: identity, history, rights, democracy, we brandish these words as weapons and lay claim to morality that diminishes the human soul,” Professor Grant said.

“Simone Weil inspires me to reach for more dangerous words like love and God, words only the afflicted truly know.”

Executive Dean of the Faculty of Theology and Philosophy Professor Richard Colledge said the Simone Weil Lecture offered scholars of international stature an opportunity to think aloud about issues of human dignity and public ethics.

“Since 2000, the Simone Weil Lecture series has captivated long-standing and new admirers to the rich philosophical contributions of this phenomenal young French activist,” Professor Colledge said.

“This year we welcome Professor Stan Grant to deliver the lecture, who shares Weil’s commitment to advancing and understanding the human person’s need for belonging and purpose.”

The Simone Weil Lecture series was launched in 2000 by then ACU Professor of Philosophy Raimond Gaita.

For more information including full details of the lectures in Brisbane and Melbourne, visit the Simone Weil Lecture page on the ACU website.