THE ACADEMY 2024
CIVILISATION UNDER SIEGE?
SAT 17 AND SUN 18 AUGUST
WYBOSTON LAKES RESORT
The Academy is a weekend residential event run annually by Ideas Matter, with lectures and discussions aimed to engage and inspire all enquiring minds. This year’s programme centres on the theme ‘Civilisation under Siege?’, and will range from the origin of the concept of civilisation, to its role in shaping Western history, to the ways it is being challenged and defended in the current day.
ABOUT THE EVENT
The problems of the current moment are frequently described as ‘civilisational’ in their importance. Some say the culture wars pose a threat to the building blocks of civilisation: family life, privacy, or civility. Others would argue the real threat to civilisation is from ‘global challenges’ like climate change or AI. In the wars in Gaza or Ukraine, some repose arguments about the ‘clash of civilisations’. But in many quarters, especially in academia, the very idea of civilisation is dismissed or treated as a dirty word. Wherever we look, there is a sense that civilisation itself is under siege from hostile forces.
But what is civilisation? How does it emerge? At the origin of the Western tradition, the distinction between civilised and barbarian formed a crucial part of our self-understanding. For the Greeks or Romans, certain customs and ways of life marked them off from their “barbarian” neighbours. Throughout the West, the idea of civilisation formed a key part of the motor of history, from the Renaissance through to the Enlightenment and beyond. But now such distinctions are viewed with suspicion – just one more piece of baggage associated with colonialism.
As ever, The Academy will bring together people from all walks of life who are committed to rethinking some of the basic building blocks of political life. This summer, we will look at what civilisation is, whether it is under threat, and why it might be worth defending.
PROGRAMME OUTLINE
From Decolonisation to Islamism: Civilisation under siege?
Professor Frank Furedi, executive director, MCC Brussels
The Clash of Civilisations Revisited
Tim Black, books and essays editor, Spiked
What is Western Civilisation – and how should we defend it?
Bruno Waterfield, Brussels Correspondent, The Times
Civilising mankind: The distinction between human and animal
Ann Furedi, PhD candidate in Philosophy, VUB; author, The Moral Case for Abortion
The Rise and Fall of Industrial Civilisation
Dr Ashley Frawley, columnist, Compact Magazine; sociologist, University of Kent
&
Dr Nikos Sotirakopoulos, visiting fellow, Ayn Rand Institute
TICKET INFO
You can choose to buy day tickets without accommodation, or tickets that include accommodation at Wyboston Lakes Resort. Day tickets only include lunch.
Tickets with accommodation include:
- Brilliant food: a quality breakfast (including continental and cooked options), an extensive lunch, and a three-course dinner
• Excellent facilities: access to the Wyboston Lakes gym, swimming pool and other amenities during your stay
• Social opportunities: staying the night means you’ll experience the full, collegiate atmosphere of the event and get the chance to carry on discussions over dinner and in the bar.
Have a friend who is also interested? You can save over £50 each by doubling up with a friend. Select ‘double occupancy’ and let us know you’d like a twin room.
All tickets can be bought via Eventbrite.
Weekend Tickets with Accommodation
- One night, single occupancy £255
- One night, double occupancy £420
- Two nights, single occupancy £360
- Two nights, double occupancy £570
Day rate (charge per day, no accommodation)
- Saturday and Sunday £135
- Saturday only £70
- Sunday only £70
If you would like to pay a concession rate (for full time students, senior citizens and unwaged), or pay in instalments, please email geoff@ideasmatter.org.uk for further details.
INITIAL READING
The Civilizing Process, Norbert Elias
Clash of Civilisations, Samuel Huntington
Inventing Western Civilization, Thomas C. Patterson
Civilisation and its Discontents, Sigmund Freud
Gibbon: Making History, Roy Porter
Suggested supplement:
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Vol. 1), Edward Gibbon
Civilisation, Kenneth Clark – watch the whole series via YouTube
Articles:
Why is the BBC censuring Kenneth Clark’s ‘Civilisation’?, William Atkinson, Spectator, 24/04/24
How the World Made the West by Josephine Quinn review – rethinking ‘civilisation’, Steven Poole, Guardian, 28/02/24
What the world gets wrong about ‘civilisation’, Josephine Quinn, Financial Times, 03/02/24
The unholy alliance between wokeism and barbarism, Brendan O’Neil, Spiked, 29/11/23
It’s time to take a stand for civilisation, Allison Pearson, The Telegraph, 22/10/23
Note: this is a fee-paying event run by an organisation which is not affiliated to, or funded by, the Classical Association