The inaugural Notre Dame London Chesterton Conference focuses on G.K. Chesterton as a man with an array of interests and gifts, and celebrates the dedication of the newly opened G.K. Chesterton Collection housed at the Notre Dame London Global Gateway.
Chesterton was a genuine polymath who wrote prolifically on philosophy, theology, Catholic social teaching, literary criticism, history, and more. He was a journalist, a writer of fiction and poetry, and was formally trained in the areas of art and design. Chesterton had a very specific connection to the University of Notre Dame in the USA: He was named a visiting professor and given an honorary degree at the home campus in South Bend, Indiana, in 1930.
Upon receiving his invitation to the University of Notre Dame, Chesterton was said to have remarked that he was not certain where it was, but with a name like that, even if it were in the mountains of the moon, he should feel at home.
Schedule of Speakers
- Martijn Cremers (University of Notre Dame)
- Hadas Elber-Aviram (University of Notre Dame (USA) in England)
- Felipe Fernandez-Armesto (University of Notre Dame)
- Michael Hurley (University of Cambridge)
- Matthew Ingleby (Queen Mary University of London)
- Mark Knight (Lancaster University)
- Rebekah Lamb (University of St. Andrews)
- Alison Milbank (University of Nottingham)
- Duncan Reyburn (University of Pretoria)
- Luke Seaber (University College London)
- Michael Shallcross (Independent Researcher)
- Michael Ward (University of Oxford)
- Judith Wolfe (University of St. Andrews)
Location
The conference will take place at the Notre Dame London Global Gateway, situated in Fischer Hall, 1-4 Suffolk Street, London, UK.
To get there, exit the Charing Cross underground station and walk down the Strand to Suffolk Street. Go North on Suffolk St; Fischer Hall is one block up on the right at the corner of Suffolk Place.
About G.K. Chesterton
Gilbert Keith Chesterton was a Catholic English author and genuine polymath who wrote prolifically on philosophy, theology, Catholic social teaching, literary criticism, history, and more. He was a journalist, a writer of fiction and poetry, and was formally trained in the areas of art and design.
He was educated at St. Paul’s, and went to art school at University College London. In 1900, he was asked to contribute a few magazine articles on art criticism, and went on to become one of the most prolific writers of all time, including a popular series featuring the priest-detective, Father Brown. His talents as an artist remains visible through his literary work, where he took abstract ideas and described them using concrete images and visuals. In spite of his literary accomplishments, he considered himself primarily a journalist. He wrote thousands of newspaper essays, including 30 years worth of weekly columns for the Illustrated London News, and 13 years of weekly columns for the Daily News.
The Chesterton collection reflects all these many talents, and is particularly remarkable for its inclusion of some of Chesterton's “design.” For example, a children’s theater set designed by Chesterton which he used to run shows for local children, as well as a plethora of his personal books that contain doodles in the margins, and sometimes right across the text.
Chesterton and Notre Dame
In 1930, Chesterton came to the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana as a visiting professor, and gave a series of lectures over the space of six weeks. In total, he gave 36 lectures in the Washington Hall auditorium with an average attendance of 500 people each. During that time, Chesterton also received an honorary degree from the University of Notre Dame
In his book Notre Dame -- 100 Years, Fr. Arthur Hope, CSC, tells the story of Chesterton's lectures at Notre Dame -- his arrival, the impression he made, and the honorary doctorate he received before he left. In his works if not in his person we can regard him not as a mere visitor but as a permanent resident of Notre Dame.