International Steiner Symposium

Rudolf Steiner wrote and spoke prolifically about a wide range of areas, from social and political theory to philosophy, from spirituality to ethics, and from education to biodynamics. A common thread in this vast corpus of work was Steiner himself pointing out that everything he wrote and said was contextually bound by his experiences and surroundings. 

This invites the question: What can be learnt from Steiner’s works which can help us understand today’s society and our role within it?

This online symposium seeks to address this question through an interdisciplinary collection of papers and contributions dealing critically and constructively with Steiner’s work. As such, it sits within the Institute for Education and Social Innovation’s (ibugi) broader research project of the same title: The Actuality of Rudolf Steiner.

What’s it about? 

The symposium is part of the broader ibugi project which opens a dialogue with Steiner’s ideas and discourses and investigates where and whether approaches to the topics such as Consciousness and Reality, Gender and diversity, Social justice and social innovation and Ethics can be found in his works. 

As part of an interdisciplinary research symposium, the presenters do not claim to provide final interpretations and readings of Steiner. Rather, they are interested multifaceted, individual and creative perspectives in order to promote academic examination of research questions that seem relevant to today. 

Local speakers

The symposium is international, with speakers and researchers from round the Anthroposophical world presenting on this theme, through the lens of their own fields of expertise. From our local region, Dr Neil Boland who is well known for his research into Steiner Education in New Zealand has a prerecorded paper titled The actuality of anthroposophy in the 21^st century academy, concerning anthroposophy as a path of knowledge which seeks to lead what is spiritual in the human being to what is spiritual in the cosmos, and its visibility and status in the academy; and Dr Fiona Campbell, who researches cognition and creativity, is speaking about Goethean phenomenology as a cultural therapeutic for our times. 

Who is it for? 

The symposium is for anyone who seeks to understand the challenges that are coming to meet us from the future, for anyone who is open to new ideas, to thinking freely and working together interactively in the fields of education and social innovation.

The symposium is also free and online so accessible to anyone.

When: Oct 9, 2021 – Oct 11. The symposium runs on Central European Summer Time (CET), so the opening lectures on the Friday night are in the middle of the night AEDT but the Saturday and Sunday lectures are accessible in the evenings. E.g. Fiona’s paper will be given at 11pm AEDT.

Where: Online. Holding the symposium online enables international contributions and participation. Recordings of some sessions will be available. 

Cost: Free

Registrations now open. 

Click here to register