CPRSE Launches the Ground Motive Forum

The Centre for Philosophy, Religion and Social Ethics is pleased to announce the launch of a new internet forum under the name Ground Motive. Ground Motive is a forum to host and foster online dialogue on subjects of relevance to the CPRSE’s mandate. It is intended for the benefit of the CPRSE and of all whose subject interests or fields of research and study intersect with those of the CPRSE and its participants.

The name Ground Motive is derived from a concept developed by the 20th century Dutch philosopher Herman Dooyeweerd. He theorized that a religious ground motive has “a central communal character and gives expression to a common spirit… It lies at the foundation of a community of thought, insofar as it guarantees ... mutual understanding, even between philosophical trends which vehemently combat each other.”

The Ground Motive forum can be accessed directly at www.groundmotive.net. We encourage everyone to visit the forum and post comments on our articles. And if you have any general feedback about the forum, please contact Lyle Clark at the CPRSE at cprse@icscanada.edu.

Next Issue of Perspective

The upcoming issue of Perspective will include a feature article by Henk Hart, special articles by Allyson Carr and Doug Blomberg, and an interview with Lambert Zuidervaart on the role of research in the post 9/11 world. The well-received "In-House Review" continues and will include reviews of Lambert's new book and a significant post 9/11 Bollywood movie, among others.

Watch for the latest issue of Perspective coming in mid-September.

CPRSE Launch Celebration in Toronto on October 24

Please join us on the evening of Monday, October 24, 2011 for the Launch Celebration of the Centre for Philosophy, Religion, and Social Ethics. The festivities will be held at the Faculty Club at the University of Toronto, commencing with a reception at 5:30 p.m. with words of welcome from Dr. Lambert Zuidervaart, Director of the CPRSE and Professor of Philosophy at ICS. This will be followed by a sumptuous banquet, featuring a performance by internationally acclaimed classical violinist Barry Shiffman, formerly a member of the St. Lawrence String Quartet, joined by musicians of the Royal Conservatory’s Young Artists Performance Academy. Tickets for this fundraising event are $125 per person; they will be available for purchase by phone or online through our website in early September.

For further information or to inquire about sponsoring a table for the banquet, please contact Lyle Clark, Assistant Director of the CPRSE at 416-979-2331 ext. 247 or by email to lclark@icscanada.edu. More information about this event will be posted at http://www.icscanada.edu/cprse.

Christian Philosophy Conference 2011 in Amsterdam

A number of Senior and Junior Members from ICS are participating in the international conference titled “The Future of Creation Order” held at the VU University on August 16-19 on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Association for Reformational Philosophy.

ICS will have a significant presence at this conference: Senior Member Bob Sweetman is presenting a paper at the Vollenhoven Symposium held before the conference and is responding to the opening lecture by Henk Geertsema. Senior Member Lambert Zuidervaart is speaking at the pre-conference seminar, a plenary session and the concluding panel. Senior Members Nik Ansell and Doug Blomberg, Junior Member Joe Kirby and former Junior Member Johnathan Weverink are speaking at workshops.

For more information about this conference, visit http://cpc.ziltsysteem.nl/

Songs of Love and Sorrow: Re-Examining the Social Ethics of Music - Video Released

ICS is pleased to be able to release to the public "Songs of Love and Sorrow: Re-Examining the Social Ethics of Music," a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada funded video documenting a half-day conference and music performance on the relation of music and ethics that was co-organized by ICS, the Toronto School of Theology and the Royal Conservatory in April of 2010. The video highlights the work of three contemporary composers who have responded in their music to some of the most pressing social issues of our era as it considers the character of music's relationship to ethics.

• Watch the video on YouTube

Congratulations, Pam Trondson!

Pam Trondson was ICS's Director of Student Services from 1999 till 2007. Hers was a demanding position, overseeing, organizing, and executing virtually everything related to the presence of Junior Members at ICS. Indeed, the presence of many was brought about by Pam's very effective recruiting. ICS also benefited from the activities she organized: parties, retreats, a work study program and chapel. She also looked after admissions, awards, and student care.

Obviously Pam's decision to embark on another career outside of ICS created a considerable vacuum. She had become a real friend and colleague who contributed significantly. However, Pam's heart was set on ordination to ministry in the church. Thus she became a student herself. On May 1 she ended the first phase and was ordained as deacon by Anglican Archbishop Colin Johnson in an impressive service and ceremony at St. Paul's in Toronto, which was filled to capacity. Ordination as priest will follow in a year.

Henk Hart attended the ordination service and, upon learning that Pam would preach her inaugural sermon three weeks later in Newmarket, close to where he lives, decided also to attend that event at St. Paul's Anglican. Rev. Trondson is now the assistant curate at the church for the next two years, preaching twice a month, doing pastoral duties, working with children, leading in contemplation gatherings, and carrying out special projects. Clearly she will be as busy with a variety of tasks as she was at ICS and in her gracious and gifted ways will enrich the life of the congregation in which she works.

Congratulations Pam. We wish you well!