Summer Institute Colloquium will examine religion, spirituality and culture

Professor Patrick Slattery of Texas A&M University will discuss the challenge of global and local controversies surrounding religion, democracy and public education at the 2008 Summer Institute Colloquium at York on Thursday, May 22.

Hosted by the Graduate Program in Language, Culture & Teaching in York’s Faculty of Education, Slattery’s talk, titled "Curriculum and Theological Text", will take place from 2:30 to 4pm in the Senior Common Room, 021 Winters College, Keele campus.

Right: Patrick Slattery

A Regents Scholar in the College of Education & Human Development at Texas A&M University, Slattery will explore the topic of religion, spirituality and culture from a postmodern theological perspective with particular emphasis on hermeneutics and curriculum theory. He will also discuss how these topics challenge educators, political leaders, church leaders and citizens.

The subject matter is also addressed in two of Slattery’s books – Understanding Curriculum: An Introduction to the Study of Historical and Contemporary Curriculum Discourses (Counterpoints: Studies in the Postmode, Peter Lang Pub Inc., 1995) with William Pinar, William Reynolds and Peter Taubman; and Curriculum Development in the Postmodern Era (Routledge, Second Edition, 2006).

Slattery teaches courses on philosophy of education, curriculum theory, social foundations of education and arts-based research and has published research articles in Harvard Educational Review, Journal of Curriculum Studies, Educational Theory, Qualitative Inquiry, Journal of Curriculum & Pedagogy and Curriculum Inquiry. He is also an artist, lecturer and activist for social justice issues in organizations such as the Lesbian and Gay Rights Lobby of Texas, Queer Studies SIG of AERA, Campaign to End the Death Penalty and Human Rights Campaign in his hometown of Austin, Texas.

The central theme of Slattery’s work is the promotion of a just, compassionate and ecologically sustainable global culture through holistic and reconceptualized approaches to curriculum, constructive postmodern understandings of education, queer studies in gender and sexuality, and process philosophical visions of creativity and change.

A reception will follow the presentation. For more information contact Jacqueline Lynch, chair of the Visiting Scholar’s Committee, at ext. 77361 or by e-mail at jlynch@edu.yorku.ca.