Sophia Centre for the Study of Cosmology in Culture

Conferences

23rd-24th June 2012. Astrology in Time and Place: Cross-Cultural Questions in the History of Astrology.
Location: Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution.

Full conference details here.

Keynote speakers: Charles Burnett (Warburg Institute), David Pankenier (Lehigh University), Michael York.

Astrology has been practised in some form in most cultures. In some it is rudimentary, in others complex. It may be considered magical,religious or scientific, or it may defy categorisation. There is evidence of the transmission of ideas in the near east between Egypt, Greece and Mesopotamia, and between the Near East, India and East Asia. In Mesoamerica and China technical forms arose which were entirely different to the Near Eastern tradition. Syncretism has been a major feature of astrology in India, Persia and Europe down to modern New Age culture and the globalisation of alternative spiritualities.

This conference will consider questions surrounding the exchange of astrological ideas or practice between cultures, issues arising from their transmission from one period to another, or consider comparisons between the astrologies of different cultures. Papers may focus on iconography, literature, theory, practice, philosophy or cultural context.

14th-16th October 2011. Heavenly Discourses a joint conference between the Sophia Centre and the University of Bristol: commemorating 50 years of human space flight. Location: University of Bristol

Keynote speakers: Ronald Hutton (University of Bristol) Roger Beck (Emeritus Professor, Department of Classics, University of Toronto) Gerry Gilmore ( Professor of Experimental Philosophy, Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge University) Dr Ed Krupp (Director, Griffith Observatory, CA, USA); David Malin (former Anglo-Australian Observatory), Michael Rowan Robinson (Department of Physics, Imperial College).

Full conference details here

4th-5th June 2011 Sky and Symbol: the ninth annual Sophia Centre conference, Bath UK,

Keynote speakers: Liz Greene (University of Wales Trinity Saint David and University of Bristol), Kristin Lippincott (The Exhibitions Team), Ilana Wartenburg (University College, London), Gary Wells (Ithaca College), Elliot Wolfson (New York University)

Full conference details here

13th-15th May 2011 Origins: the Babylonian and Egyptian Contribution to Western Astrology

A Promotional Conference for the MA in Cultural Astronomy and Astrology with Nick Campion and Bernadette Brady, in collaboration with Astrolabe, Mansfield, Massachusetts, USA

http://www.historyofastrology.org.uk/Events/Origins/

 

8th-10th April 2011 Maps of the Psyche

A Promotional Conference for the MA in Cultural Astronomy and Astrology with Nick Campion, Bernadette Brady and Liz Greene, in collaboration with Astrodienst, Zurich Switzerland

http://www.historyofastrology.org.uk/Events/Psyche/index.html

24th-25th July 2010 The Eighth Sophia Centre International Conference, 'Astrologies' 

Sophia Centre sponsorship

In 2010 the Sophia Centre is providing sponsorship for

The Seventh International Conference on the Inspiration of Astronomical Phenomena (INSAPVII). 25-29 October 2010. Bath, UK

Read more here

and

The European Society for Astronomy in Culture 18th Annual Meeting - SEAC 2010, ‘Astronomy and Power: How Worlds are Structured’, 29 August-5 September, 2010. Gilching (Munich).

Read more here

Sophia Centre International Intensives

The following events are open to the public and offer a chance to share in the Sophia Centre's work and an opportunity for potential students to experience the MA in Cultural Astronomy and Astrology. For details e mail Nicholas Campion

The Celestial Spheres, San Diego, 5-7 March 2010.

With Nick Campion and Bernadette Brady

Magic, Divination and Destiny, Amsterdam 22-24 May 2009

With Bernadette Brady, Nick Campion and Liz Greene

The Celestial Spheres, Cape Town, 27-29 March 2009.

With Nick Campion and Bernadette Brady

Past Sophia Centre Conferences

Sophia Centre Conference 2009, 'Cosmologies'

Saturday 6- Sunday 7 June 2009

Bath Royal Scientific and Literary Institution, 16-19 Queen Square, Bath BA1 2HN, UK.

The question which the Sophia Centre addresses is ‘how do we human beings relate to the cosmos?’ This conference addressed the problem from a variety of perspectives.

Click here to download the titles and abstracts.

Click here for the programme.

Publication: the proceedings are currently being edited for publicaton by the Sophia Centre Press

Kepler Day Research Conference 2008

November 2008, London.

A day showcasing social scientific research into astrology jointly organised with the Astrological Association and the Research Group for the Critical Study of Astrology.

Information to come.

Sophia Centre Postgraduate Research Conference 2008,
Saturday 12 to Sunday 13 July 2008
Bath Royal Scientific and Literary Institution, 16-19 Queen Square, Bath BA1 2HN, UK.

Sophia Centre Postgraduate Conference 2007

Bath Spa University Details to come.

Sophia Centre Postgraduate Conference

2006 Bath Spa University Details to come.

Sophia Centre Conference 2005: Sky and Psyche

Bath

Details to come

The proceedings were published as Sky and Psyche. Read more here.

Sophia Centre Conference 2004: Exploring Consciousness

Details to come

Sophia Centre Conference 2003

Bath Spa University: this was the Sophia Centre launch conference.

The proceedings were published as Astrology and the Academy. For details, see here.

 

Other Recommended Conferences

25-29 October 2010. Seventh International Conference on the Inspiration of Astronomical Phenomena (INSAPVII). Bath, UK.

Read more here

29 August-5 September, 2010. The European Society for Astronomy in Culture 18th Annual Meeting - SEAC 2010, ‘Astronomy and Power: How Worlds are Structured’ . Gilching (Munich).

Read more here

24-25 April 2010. 'Imagining Astrology’, Bristol UK (Bristol University),

Read more here

25-31 October 2009. SEAC Conference (Seventeenth Annual Meeting of the European Society for Astronomy in Culture), Alexandria.

Read more here

18-23 October 2009. Sixth Conference on the Inspiration of Astronomical Phenomena (INSAP 6), Venice.

Read more here

10-13 August 2009. Conference on 'Astronomy and Civilisation', Budapest.

Read more here

6-7 June 2009. American Astronomical Society Summer School on Cultural Astronomy, Pasadena.

Read more here