Posted 12 January 2009
UCD project to examine Newman’s legacy
A new research programme, John Henry Newman: Global and Local Theologian, was launched by Dr Jimmy Devins T.D., Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation at Newman House on 18 December. The programme will explore Newman’s legacy from historical, theological and scientific perspectives.
The programme received €119,000 funding from the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences (IRCHSS) under its Project Grants scheme in Theology and Religious Studies. The work will be conducted through the UCD International Centre for Newman Studies (Newman Centre), under the direction of Dr Pádraic Conway, and will consider Newman’s work from historical, theological and scientific perspectives. It will comprise four strands.
Pictured at the launch of the research programme John Henry Newman: Global and Local Theologian were, (l-r): Dr Pádraic Conway, Director of the UCD International Centre for Newman Studies; UCD President, Dr Hugh Brady; Dr Jimmy Devins T.D., Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation; and Prof Brigid Laffan, Principal of the UCD College Of Human Sciences
The first strand will examine Newman’s Dublin writings during the period 1851-58. It will demonstrate how the Dublin period played a pivotal role in both the establishment of Newman’s distinct theological identity and in the defining of Irish religious, cultural and civil identity for the remainder of the nineteenth and into the twentieth century.
A second strand will examine the relationships between the theologies of Newman and George Tyrrell, the Dublin-born theologian, the centenary of whose death falls on 15 July 2009. Dr Andrew Pierce of the Irish School of Ecumenics, Visiting Fellow at the Newman Centre for 2008-09, will deliver a Tyrrell Centenary Lecture to mark the anniversary of his death.
Strand Three will examine Newman’s relationship to the First and Second Vatican Councils, as well as making a significant contribution to contemporary debate on the precise significance of Vatican II.
The fourth strand will examine the relationship between Newman and his contemporary, Charles Darwin, addressing key questions in the religion-science debate. This exploration will be led jointly by Dr Pádraic Conway and UCD Conway Institute neuroscientist, Professor Ciarán Regan.
John Henry Newman (1801 - 1890) was UCD’s founding rector in 1854.
- Read more about the history of UCD.
