News

Durham University public lecture series continues

(3 February 2006)

Antony Gormley and P.D. James among the guest lecturers this term

A fascinating series of evening talks continues this term with a guest lecture from Angel of the North creator, Antony Gormley, at 6.15pm on Monday 6 February at Durham University. The series, entitled ‘Flesh and Blood: the Body and the Arts’ explores how the body is represented in, and has influenced literature, fine art, opera, dance and film, as well as a number of arts disciplines, such as philosophy and theology. The talks are free and open to the public. Co-organiser Dr Corinne Saunders, Reader in the Department of English Studies at Durham University, said: “We are thoroughly delighted with the range of speakers who have agreed to contribute to this fascinating series, and with the wide range of their subjects. People throughout history have been fixated by the human body – as is demonstrated by the current obsession in popular culture with youthful and ‘perfect’ bodies – and this fixation has been expressed in many art forms over time such as painting, writing, opera and dance. This series of lectures will shed new light on the representation of the body with interesting and original perspectives from contributors from a diverse range of backgrounds, from medicine to crime writing and sculpture.” Sponsored by the Wellcome Trust, the talks are a joint collaboration between the Department of English Studies and Centre for Arts and Humanities in Health and Medicine (CAHHM) at Durham University. Other guest lecturers include crime writer P. D. James on 6 March 2006 and York University expert Dr Judith Buchanan on the Body in Film on 13 March 2006. Following the series the lectures will be published as a collection of essays on the subject. The lectures all take place on Mondays at 6.15pm at Elvet Riverside, Durham University at dates stated below. Details Date: Monday 6 February 2006 Venue: Lecture theatre 201, Elvet Riverside, New Elvet, Durham University DH1 3JT Time: 6.15pm (lecture should last an hour) Cost: Free Lecture title: Sculpting the Body Other lectures in February: • 13 February: Writing with the Body: Dance, Text and Twentieth-Century Modernisms – Dr Susan Jones (Oxford) • 20 February 2006: Opera and the Body: From Castrato to Orgy – Professor David Fuller (Durham) • 27 February 2006: lecture by Dr Martin Postle, Head of British Art to 1900 at Tate Britain – title tbc