Christ Church Oxford invites you to the third in the series of 500th Anniversary Lectures, Humanist Learning: A Vision for Today? to be given by The Right Reverend Dr Rowan Williams.
Dr Williams will discuss faith in today’s world and uncover education’s integral role in the creation of human beliefs. The keynote lecture will be followed by responses and a Q&A with The Reverend Professor Andrew Davison and Professor Michael Symmons Roberts FRSL.
Tickets available via Eventbrite.
The Right Reverend Dr Williams was born in Swansea and after reading Theology at Christ’s College, Cambridge, came to Christ Church to begin doctoral research on Russian religious thought. After further periods of teaching and pastoral work in Yorkshire and back in Cambridge, he was Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity at the House from 1986 to 1992. From 1992 to 2002, he was Bishop of Monmouth, and Archbishop of Wales from 1989 to 1992, then Archbishop of Canterbury from 2002 to 2012, After serving as Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge from 2013 to 2020, he retired to Cardiff and continues writing and teaching. He is the author of many books on theology and spirituality, as well as studies of social and cultural questions.
Professor Michael Symmons Roberts was born in Preston, Lancashire, and read Philosophy and Theology at Oxford. His books of poetry have won many awards including the Forward Prize and the Costa Poetry Award for Drysalter and the Whitbread Poetry Prize for Corpus. His Selected Poems was published by Cape in 2016. As a librettist, his work with composers has been performed in concert halls and opera houses around the world. The Sacrifice (for Welsh National Opera) with composer James MacMillan, won an RPS Award for opera, and their Royal Opera House / Scottish Opera commission – Clemency – was nominated for an Olivier Award. Elliptics (for BBC Philharmonic) and The Anvil (for Manchester International Festival) with composer Emily Howard, were both nominated for Ivor Novello Awards. He is a regular broadcaster on literature and the arts, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and of the English Association. His latest nonfiction book – Quartet for the End of Time: On Music, Grief and Birdsong – was published by Cape in 2025, and his ninth collection of poems – Dog Star – will be published in early 2026. Michael is Professor of Poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University.
The Reverend Professor Andrew Davison first read Chemistry at the University of Oxford, followed by a DPhil in Biochemistry, and then Theology at Cambridge. After a curacy in Southeast London, he started his theological teaching and research career in Oxford, firstly as Tutor in Christian Doctrine at St Stephen’s House, followed by a similar role at Westcott House in Cambridge, before becoming the Starbridge Lecturer (later Professor) in Theology and Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge. After 10 years as Starbridge Lecturer, Andrew moved to the USA as a visiting fellow at the Center of Theological Inquiry in Princeton, New Jersey. In September 2024, he became Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford, based at Christ Church where he is also a residentiary canon of the Cathedral. Andrew is known, among other things, for his book on Theology and life beyond Earth.
