CFI UK events at Oxford Literary Festival 2015 (March)
Saturday 21 March
Christopher French
Anomalistic Psychology: Exploring Paranormal Belief and
Experience
2pm / Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre / £12
Psychology professor Christopher
French explains why some people think they have been abducted by aliens or that
they have seen a ghost. He looks at the reasons why belief in the paranormal
has been reported in every known society since the dawn of time, and wonders
whether there is any room for superstition in modern science. Reports of ghosts
and alien encounters grab the headlines, but French says the science behind
those claims can be even more fascinating.
French is professor of psychology
at Goldsmiths, University of London, and co-author of Anomalistic Psychology: Exploring Paranormal Belief and Experience
with Anna Stone, a senior psychology lecturer at the University of East London.
Sunday 22 March
Keith Ward and Stephen Law
The Evidence for God: The Case for the Existence of the
Spiritual Dimension
4pm / Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room / £12
One of the UK’s bestselling authors
on religion Professor Keith Ward talks religion and belief in God with
well-known atheist and humanist writer Stephen Law.
In his latest book, The Evidence for God, Ward argues that
there is a huge amount of evidence for a spiritual dimension to the world. He
explores the arts, morality, philosophy, science, religion and personal
experience to argue the presence of more than physical facts. Ward is regius
Professor of Divinity Emeritus, University of Oxford, and a research fellow at
Heythrop College, London. He has written many popular books on philosophy,
religion and Christian theology, including The
God Conclusion, Why There Almost
Certainly is a God, and The Big
Questions in Science and Religion.
Law is senior lecturer in
philosophy at Heythrop College, University of London. He is also a well-known
atheist and humanist writer and blogger, as well as the author of many popular
philosophy books including The Philosophy
Gym, The Great Philosophers and,
for children, The Complete Philosophy
Files. He has debated a number of Christian apologists including William
Lane Craig.
Monday 23rd March
Richard Layard and David Clark
Thrive: The Power of Evidence-Based Psychological Therapies
2pm / Corpus Christi College / £12
Two leading experts on mental
health Professors Richard Layard and David Clark argue that doing much more to
help people recover from mental ill-health and to stay well would not only
increase wellbeing but would also create massive savings for the economy.
Layard and Clark have been major contributors to Britain becoming a world
leader in psychological therapies, but they say that mental ill-health still
causes more suffering in our society than physical illness, poverty or
unemployment. They explore new effective therapies to mental illness and argue
that, while the costs of mental illness are high, the cost of effective
treatment is relatively low.
Layard is one of the world’s
leading labour economists. As a member of the House of Lords, he was worked
hard to raise the profile of mental illness. His book, Happiness, has been translated into 20 languages. Clark is
professor of psychology at the University of Oxford and one of the world’s
leading experts on cognitive behavioural therapy. Together, Layard and Clark
were the main drivers behind the UK Improving Access to Psychological Therapies
programme.
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