History of Emotions Seminars

ACU’s Node of the ARC Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions hosts academic events at the intersection of emotions research, religion and theology, philosophy, politics, health humanities, and history of Christianity from the New Testament to the Renaissance.

Upcoming seminars

Emotions and Clinical Communication in Antiquity 

28 October 2020 
Symposium Discussion
8:00—9:00am Melbourne (ADST)

29 October 2020
Special session in conjunction with the Biblical and Early Christian Studies Seminar
9:00—10:00am Melbourne (ADST)

30 October 2020
Symposium Discussion
8:00—9:00am Melbourne (ADST)

Learn more

Contact: jonthan.zecher@acu.edu.au 

Emotions of Isolation

The world is experiencing unprecedented isolation, with millions of people living under enforced restrictions of movement. Along with this isolation comes a range of negative emotions, such as loneliness, depression and lethargy. But isolation has been actively chosen by many different types of people of past ages to enhance, rather than detract, from the fullness of their lives. The Emotions of Isolation Project brings together Australian and International humanities experts to explore the positive potential and limitations of emotional experience in isolation.

View the Emotions of Isolation Symposium where you may engage with researchers by commenting on video Symposium contributions.

Contact: dawn.lavallenorman@acu.edu.au

Flourishing and Wellbeing: Measurement, Meaning and Mindfulness in Health, Education, and Work

Postponed due to COVID. Rescheduled for 7–9 September 2021.

The Symposium explores the quest and desire for ‘the good life’—wellbeing or life in its fullness—from multiple perspectives. It aims to clarify the concept of human flourishing and connect it to emotions history, engaging with scholarship from mathematics and epidemiology (measurement), philosophy and theology (meaning), and spiritual, affective and psychological habits (mindfulness).

Keynote Speaker: Tyler VanderWeele (John L. Loeb and Frances Lehman Loeb Professor of Epidemiology, Harvard University)

View Symposium Flyer

Past seminars

Affect and the History of Emotions in Religion, Philosophy, and Politics

August 2019

A Symposium focusing on affect theory and its application in religion, history, politics, and philosophy. The Symposium explores how affect theory intersects with epistemology and embodiment across diverse areas of human experience.

Keynote Speaker: Donovan Schaefer (Pennsylvania), author of Religious Affects: Animality, Evolution, and Power (Duke 2015) and The Evolution of Affect Theory: The Humanities, the Sciences, and the Study of Power (Cambridge 2019).

Download programme

Download public lecture abstract