Join ten thinkers as they improvise on the theme If History is a Poem, what does it mean? Each brings their own voice to an unfolding conversation about how we interpret the past, live in the present, and imagine the future. Together, they explore the enduring philosophical questions of what is true, good, and beautiful — and how these ideas shape our understanding of history, art, and human meaning. From the philosophy of poetry and interpretation to the dilemmas of today’s changing world, this series invites you to listen, question, and think along with minds that analyse, improvise and synthesise.

DELIVERY MODE

• Face-to-Face

COURSE OUTLINE

• [What] Can history tell us about the future?" (Michael Taylor)
• If history is poetry, Vedanta is the best guide to this inexhaustible epic (Jan Scherpenhuizen)
• "I have nature, art and poetry, and if that is not enough, what is?" - Vincent van Gogh (Anne Harbers)
• Ozymandias and The Painted Veil: Shelley, illusion and the nature of life (Georgina Kenyon)
• Humankind - a hopeful history (Sandy Killick)
• Life is poetry - ambiguous, romantic, tragic. How does this shape the human condition? (Lanning Bennett)
• Redeeming History Through Art: The Ideas of Walter Benjamin (Michael Hauptman)
• History is the great leveller: it puts us in our place (Michael Pyne)
• Tennyson’s Charge of the Light Brigade (Sonya Thompson)
• Unwritten verses? Pondering the knowns and unknowns of a 'history poem' (Hugh Tranter)