Chair in Theology & Public Issues at Otago
From the Otago University website:
New Zealand’s first research centre tackling social issues such as poverty, social welfare and the environment from a theological perspective will soon be established, thanks to the legacy of a millionaire entrepreneur.
The University of Otago today announced that the Howard Paterson Chair in Theology and Public Issues and an associated research centre will be established as part of its Leading Thinkers initiative.
The professorial appointee to the new Chair will direct a centre charged with undertaking and promoting informed theological and ethical analysis of the challenges facing contemporary New Zealand society.
The Chair and associated Centre for Theology and Public Issues are being made possible through a major gift by the Paterson Charitable Trust and substantial support from the Presbyterian Synod of Otago and Southland and a couple from Southland.
Paterson Charitable Trust spokespeople, Howard Paterson’s widow Lee Paterson and his brothers Grant and Greg Paterson and son Matthew, say that support for the initiative “signals a side of Howard that many people may not have realised – his interest in spiritual matters”.
Mr Paterson, a highly successful businessman who passed away unexpectedly in 2003, was an Otago graduate who had studied the phenomenology of religion and retained a life-long interest in the area.
Head of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies, Professor Paul Trebilco, says the new Chair and Centre will help improve the way public issues are currently debated in New Zealand by providing fresh perspectives and highlighting neglected topics of concern.
“Theology has a significant and distinctive contribution to make to a whole range of issues that are being discussed, or need to be discussed, in New Zealand today.
“These include law and order, race relations, religious conflict and terrorism, the construction of good communities, poverty, social welfare and the environment, as well as traditional religious questions.”
The Centre will engage with the best available scholarship across a range of disciplines, says Professor Trebilco.
“As well as writing parliamentary submissions and offering input to government policy documents, it will initiate conferences and publications on issues central to the well-being of New Zealand society. It will also engage with Church organisations and the media, and seek to share its research findings widely in public discussion,” he says.
The Centre, which will be based in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies, will also forge links with international researchers.
“It is increasingly recognised internationally that serious scholarship in theology has crucial things to offer society in general.
“Theology at Otago already has very good connections overseas in a number of fields; the Centre will enhance these links by contributing to cutting-edge research on matters that are of contemporary public interest in many different contexts,” he says.
In addition to the Paterson Trust’s major donation, the Presbyterian Church has also given substantial funding towards the initiative, and flagged its intention to continue to financially support it.
Clerk of the Presbyterian Synod of Otago & Southland Heather McKenzie says the Synod was involved in the foundation of the University in the 1869.
“Since then, we have maintained a strong interest in supporting tertiary education, and theological education in particular. We were excited by the proposal to found the Centre for Theology and Public Issues,” says Mrs McKenzie.
Southland businessman Ian Tulloch QSO and his wife, Annette, have also provided further significant support to the initiative.
Mr Tulloch says “for any social debate to have enduring and relevant benefit to society, it must be based on a foundational Christian viewpoint”.
As the donors’ gifts are being made as part of the University’s Leading Thinkers initiative, they will be matched under the Government’s Partnerships for Excellence scheme.
Vice-Chancellor Professor David Skegg says the University is very grateful for the donors’ generous gifts in enabling the Chair and Centre to be established.
“Their support will help the University to enhance its role as a critic and conscience of society. One of Otago’s stated aims is to contribute to national debate about the future direction of the country, and this new Centre will play an important part in this effort,” says Professor Skegg.
A similar centre at the University of Edinburgh has been operating for over 20 years, he noted.
For more information, contact:
Professor Paul Trebilco
Department of Theology and Religious Studies
Tel 03 479 8798
Email paul.trebilco@stonebow.otago.ac.nz
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