DCM Christianity & the life of the mind, An Introduction
Friday 30 - Saturday 31 January 2026
Hosted at Jesus College, Cheng Kar Shun Digital Hub, Oxford
What does our calling to be disciples of Christ mean for our academic life, whether temporary as students or longer term as a career? What are some of the promises and pitfalls of the scholarly life? How can academics and postgraduate students serve and relate to the wider body of Christ, the church? Christianity and the Life of the Mind examines these questions and more.
Join other Oxford postgrads, postdocs, and faculty as we explore integrating our faith with our academic life through this conference. The event will include lectures by academics including N.T. Wright, Elaine Storkey, Ard Louis, Simeon Zahl, Katherine and Stephen Blundell, and more. There is also plenty of time for discipline based discussion. Registration includes discussion group dinners hosted by faculty around Oxford on the Friday evening.
The conference is open to University of Oxford & Oxford Brookes postgraduates, postdocs and academic staff. If you are a DCM alumna/us or do not match these criteria please complete this application form and we will consider your application.
*Early-bird Registration closes Friday 16th January 2026: £20 with meals included
*General Registration closes Friday 23rd January 2026: £30 with meals included
The real cost for each attendee is £80, so all our tickets are offered at a significant discount.
All registration closes on Friday 23rd January 2026.
Please note the programme is provisional and subject to change
PROGRAMME
FRIDAY
1:00 p.m. Registration, coffee & tea
1:20 p.m. Welcome & introduction
1:30 p.m. Vision Talk - N. T. Wright (Biblical Studies)
2:30 p.m. The calling of Christian postgrad students and academics - Ard Louis (Theoretical Physics)
What does our calling to be disciples of Christ mean for our academic vocation (whether temporary as students or longer term as a career)? What are some of the promises and pitfalls of the scholarly life? How can academics and postgraduate students serve and relate to the wider body of Christ (the Church)?
3:35 p.m. Discussion
4:15 p.m. Coffee & tea
4:45 p.m. Panel Discussion: Faith and scholarship
6:00 p.m. Prayer
6:35 p.m. Travel to dinner
7:00 p.m. Dinner and discussion of panel with faculty hosts
Dinner will be with your discussion group and will be hosted by various faculty members within their homes or colleges throughout Oxford.
SATURDAY
10:00 a.m. Light breakfast, coffee & tea
10:30 a.m. Creation Talk - Katherine Blundell (Astrophysics) and Stephen Blundell (Physics)
In this talk Katherine and Stephen Blundell examine the differences between Biblical language and literature, on the one hand, and scientific language and literature, on the other. Situating the Biblical creation narratives in their ancient cultural context and within the wider context of the Biblical canon, they develop a nuanced and literarily sophisticated account of what those narratives were and were not designed to convey. They suggest that the Bible was never intended to be a technical scientific monograph, but rather that Scripture employs a wide range of literary genres—poetry, proverbs, prophecies, and parables to name just a few—in order to powerfully communicate vital theological truths to a wider audience than a technically precise scientific textbook could ever hope to reach.
11:30 a.m. What does it mean to be human? - Elaine Storkey (Philosophy & Sociology)
This lecture discusses the various assumptions of what it is to be human that lie beneath the social sciences, and how they have fed into the development of disciplines. We will see how a Christian understanding of the human does not get trapped in the old dichotomies between individualism and collectivism, fatalism and personal freedom, or materialism and ‘idealism’, but is grounded instead in a biblical understanding of our creaturehood and the Trinitarian God.
12:25 p.m. Lunch
1:15 p.m. Discussion
1:55 p.m. Seeking knowledge in a fallen world - Simeon Zahl (Theology)
In this talk Professor Zahl will reflect on what it means for a Christian to seek academic knowledge in the modern research university. He will present a Christian case for academic rigour in light of the Christian belief that human beings are fallen creatures who struggle to see the world as it really is.
2:45 p.m. Coffee & tea
3:00 p.m. Understanding Christian Eschatology
3:55 Discussion
4:35 Prayer
5:10 p.m. Drinks reception
6:00 p.m. Day closing