You might be interested in the Heavenly Discources conference being organised by the Sophia Centre and the University of Bristol.
This takes place from 14th – 16th October in Bristol. There are also pre and post conference events which look fabulous.
On 12 April 1961 Yuri Gagarin became the first human in outer space and the first to orbit the Earth. 2011 sees the fiftieth anniversary of that event. In almost every human culture the sky functions as a backdrop for mythical encounters, employing the celestial environment as a stage set for narratives of human and divine experience. That moment when human beings first left the planet gave us a different perspective on the sky.
This conference will bring together scholars to examine the relationship between the heavens and culture through the arts, literature, religion and philosophy, both in history and the present.
