How we live and how we might live
A symposium at the Swedenborgian Church, San Francisco
Given the present divisive social and political climate in the US, we believed it was important to consider what we might learn from an exploration of the sort of society Ruskin proposes. George Monbiot recently wrote in a Guardian article that "Those who tell the stories run the world. Politics has failed through a lack of competing narratives. The key task now is to tell a new story of what it is to be a human in the 21st century.” Our objective of this symposium was to show that Ruskin offers us a narrative--not "a new story", but perhaps an eternal story, that might lead us to a better place. Speakers included Clive Wilmer, Jim Spates, and Sara Atwood. Thanks are due to Companion Junchol Lee, who generously offered to work with us in organizing this event.
June 3, 2017, 10.00-16.00
'Hand, head, and heart': Ruskin, Morris and Craftsmanship Today
A symposium at the University of Toronto, Canada (St George Campus)
Hosted in conjunction with the William Morris Society of Canada
Organised by Companions Sara Atwood and Ann Gagne.
This symposium focused on the influence of John Ruskin and William Morris on craftsmanship in their own time and on those who continue to honour that legacy in their work today. Speakers were David Latham (editor, Journal of Pre-Raphaelite Studies), Rachel Dickinson (Guild of St. George/Manchester Metropolitan University), Kateri Ewing (Guild of St George, artist and teacher), Ann Gagne (Guild of St George, George Brown College), and Sara Atwood (Guild of St George, Portland State University).
The symposium took place during the annual Canadian Congress of Humanities and Social Sciences, Canada’s largest academic gathering, hosted this year by Ryerson University, Toronto.