Faith and Culture: The Politics of Belief was a four-day lecture series which took place from Thursday 14 to Sunday 17 June at BMW Edge, Federation Square.

Curated by celebrated writer and moral philosopher Raimond Gaita, our speakers – philosophers and theologians, historians and writers, believers and non-believers – considered what it can mean to be religious, and what role the voice of faith may legitimately have in the conversations of citizens in a multicultural, democratic state and in the community of nations.

In his letter of invitation to speakers, Gaita wrote: ‘I have chosen people whose authority to speak on these matters strikes me as undeniable. Their authority lies not only in the fact that they “know their subject”, but also in the seriousness and authenticity of their engagement with it.’

Here, we present a record of the series — including each speaker’s full lecture notes and audio recordings of the discussions. We hope you’ll find them as engaging and valuable as we do.

This series was presented with the support of the Sidney Myer Fund.

Lecture Notes

• Raimond Gaita: The Voice of Faith and Public Reason lecture notes (PDF)
• Stanley Hauerwas: Church Matters lecture notes (PDF)
• Tariq Modood: The Voice of Faith and the Challenge of Democratic Multiculturalism lecture notes (PDF)
  
• Asma Barlas: Thinking of Muslims in ‘Morally Relevant Ways’ lecture notes (PDF)
• Susan Neiman: The Voice of Faith and the Challenge of Reason in National and International Politics lecture notes (PDF)
• Bernard Avishai: Jewish Identity, the Hebrew Republic and Democratic Faith lecture notes (PDF)