Professor Morwenna Ludlow to give her inaugural lecture, 'The Workshop: Experiments in History and Theology'

Morwenna joined Exeter in 2006 and her research focuses on the complex relationship between ancient and present-day Christianity. Looking at how the beliefs of the early church ‘fathers’ have been received, interpreted and modulated by later readers her research highlights the way in which developments in modern reading practices led to changed understandings of the early church.

Professor Ludlow’s current work aims to give equal weight to the aesthetic qualities and doctrinal content of 4th century Greek Christian texts. Her research challenges the assumption taken by many modern scholars that a text either has a practical function or is ‘art for art’s sake’. Through using arts and crafts theorists from Ruskin and Morris up until those of the present-day, Morwenna is shaking up current scholarly reading practices and shedding light on ancient texts. In her inaugural lecture she will develop an off-shoot of this research by investigating the notion of the craft ‘workshop’: can it illuminate our understanding of intellectual communities, both ancient and modern?

Speaking ahead of the lecture, Professor Ludlow said: “Craft is a basic human activity: it brings people together as teachers and learners, and it unites intellectual skill with other kinds of skill. It’s a great concept to think with and in this lecture I will ask whether theological reflection on craft might help us give a bit more depth to the idea of community in a University.”

Lecture details

Date: 3 November 2016
Time: 18:00
Place: Queen’s Building LT2

Booking information: To book a place, please contact: humanities-deans-office@exeter.ac.uk or 01392 726315/4231.