Here are some of the videos from the Stoicism Today 2014 conference, held at Queen Mary, University of London on November 29 2014. Thanks very much to all the speakers, to the QMUL Public Engagement Fund and the Centre for … Continue reading
This is a guest-post by Joanna Kempner, assistant professor of sociology at Rutgers University and the author of Not Tonight: Migraine and the Politics of Gender and Health. Are people with migraine more emotionally vulnerable? They are if we believe … Continue reading
At the end of Philosophy for Life, I asked what the Socratic-Stoic tradition of philosophy misses out, and suggested there is an alternate approach to life and to emotional healing, which I called the Dionysiac tradition: The virtues of the … Continue reading
This weekend I saw a film called The Falling, shown at the London Film Festival. It’s directed by Carol Morley, and is centred on an epidemic of fainting at an English girls’ school in the 60s. It’ll be in cinemas … Continue reading
Professor Nancy Sherman has worked with the US military for over 20 years, and has written several books on military ethics, including Stoic Warriors: The Ancient Philosophy Behind the Military Mind; and The Untold War: Inside the Hearts, Minds and … Continue reading
Norman E. Rosenthal is clinical professor of psychiatry at Georgetown University School of Medicine. He is best known for having discovered Seasonal Affective Disorder and how to treat it with light therapy. He recently visited the Centre for the History … Continue reading
Paul Burstow MP was formerly the minister of state for care services, and is head of a commission on mental health at the liberal think-tank Centre:Forum. That commission has just brought out its report, calling for various policies as part … Continue reading
This year I’ve developed and trialled an eight-part course in practical philosophy, called Philosophies for Life. The pilot was financed by the Arts and Humanities Research Council via Queen Mary, University of London. I trialled the course with three partner … Continue reading
I was reading Evelyn Underhill’s wonderful chapter on ecstasy and rapture, from her book Mysticism, and it made me want to listen to Blondie’s ‘Rapture’ (Underhill always has this effect on me). So I watched the video on YouTube, and … Continue reading
Professor Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi is one of the world’s best-known psychologists, famous for developing the concept of ‘flow’. Inspired by the creative process of artists and musicians, Csikszentmihalyi spent decades researching the ‘flow’ states of consciousness that people can achieve when … Continue reading