Press Releases17 Nov 14

Spirit Radio Interview with Prof. Nigel Biggar ahead of ‘Ethics of War’ Event on 19 November

Ahead of the ‘Ethics of War’ event to be held this Wednesday evening, Prof. Nigel Biggar (pictured right) spoke to Spirit Radio earlier today.

To listen to the podcast of the interview visit http://podcasts.spiritradio.ie/prof-nigel-biggar-university-of-oxford-ethics-of-war/

The open event on the theme of ‘The Ethics of War’ aims to be a distinctive Church of Ireland contribution to the commemoration of the one hundredth anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War.

Professor Nigel Biggar of the University of Oxford will speak on the theme based on his recent book In Defence of War, to which Professor Keith Jeffery of Queen’s University, Belfast will respond referring to his recent historical research. The event will be chaired by the historian Professor David Hayton who will open up debate and discussion to the audience.

Organised by the Church of Ireland’s Historical Centenaries Working Group, the event will take place in the Music Room of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin at 7.30pm on Wednesday 19 November 2014.

While people are welcome to attend this free event without pre–registering, if you are planning to attend it would be helpful to indicate this in advance by emailing [email protected]

Professor Biggar is Regious Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology at Christ Church, Oxford. He is also director of the McDonald Centre for Theology, Ethics and Public Life. After reading Modern History at Worcester College, Oxford, Nigel Biggar proceeded to study religion, theology, and ethics in Canada and the USA. On his return to Oxford in 1985 he became Librarian and Research Fellow at Latimer House, and then for most of the 1990s he was Chaplain and Fellow of Oriel College. In 1999 he took the Chair of Theology at the University of Leeds; and in 2004 he moved to the Chair of Theology and Ethics at Trinity College Dublin. He arrived in Christ Church in the autumn of 2007. In Defence of War was published in 2013.

Professor Keith Jeffery is Professor of British History at Queen’s University, Belfast. He was educated in Ireland, the USA and Cambridge (St John’s College), where he won the Prince Consort Prize and Seeley Medal. In 2005 he went to Queen’s, after teaching at the Ulster Polytechnic and the University of Ulster for over 20 years. From 1988 to 1997 he was joint–editor of Irish Historical Studies, and is currently chair of the journal’s board of directors. In 1997–98 he was a visiting fellow at the Australian National University and the Australian Defence Force Academy, University of New South Wales. In 1998 he was Lees Knowles Lecturer in Military Science at Trinity College Cambridge, and in 2003–04 Parnell Fellow in Irish Studies at Magdalene College, Cambridge. In 2004 he was also a visiting research fellow at Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia. He was awarded the Templer Medal from the Society for Army Historical Research in 2007 for the best book of the year (his biography of Sir Henry Wilson) on British Military History. In 2009 he was elected a Member of the Royal Irish Academy.