Backhouse Lectures


James Backhouse

The James Backhouse Lecture, commonly known as the Backhouse Lecture, is a public lecture on contemporary issues delivered annually at the national gathering of Quakers in Australia. The lecture is recorded and published, and is available for purchase as a booklet from Friends Booksales, PO Box 181, Glen Osmond SA 5064 or ORDER BY EMAIL.

Any Friend can nominate a proposed Backhouse Lecturer, download the Backhouse Lecturer nomination form.

The lecture is given in memory of James Backhouse (pictured right), who walked around a great deal of eastern and southern Australia to enquire into the condition of the penal settlements in Australia and the welfare of the Aborigines and the free settlers. He had as his travelling companion George Washington Walker, and there is no doubt that the visit of these two Friends marked the beginning of the history of Friends in Australia.

James Backhouse Lectures, 1964 to date

Click on the items in blue to open a pdf version of the lecture for reading on screen or printing out. We hope to be able to provide a full range of Backhouse Lectures in this format within the near future.

 

Date Lecturer Lecture .pdf size Audio
1964 Kenneth Boulding The evolutionary potential of Quakerism 54 kb
1965 Clive Sansom The shaping Spirit  
1966 Rudolph Lemberg Seeking in an age of imbalance  
1967 Douglas V. Steere On being present where you are  
1968 William N. Oats In the spirit of the family 123 kb
1969 A. Barrie Pittock Toward a multi-racial society 122 kb
1970 Keith A. W. Crook Security for Australia? 117 kb
1972 L. Hugh Doncaster The Quaker message 85 kb
1973 Otto van der Sprenkel Friends and other faiths 102 kb
1974 Yukio Irie Pilgrimage toward the fountainhead: Quakerism and Zen Buddhism today  
1975 W. A. McNaughton A time to reap, a time to sow: retirement 120 kb
1976 Charlotte and
Stewart Meacham
Imperialism without invading armies 106 kb
1977 Mary Woodward Papua New Guinea: third world on our doorstep 85 kb
1978 Margaret Wilkinson Wisdom: the inward teacher 91 kb
1979 J. Duncan Wood Quakers in the modern world: the relevance of Quaker beliefs to problems of the modern world 69 kb
1980 (not published)  
1981 Roger C. Wilson What Jesus means to me: Jesus as the liberator  
1982 Ormerod Greenwood Celebration: a missing element in Quaker worship  
1983 Sabine Willis An adventure into feminism with Friends  
1984 Peter Jones Pilgrims for justice and peace  
1985 Gerald Priestland For all the saints  
1986 Susumu Ishitani Looking for meanings of my A-bomb experience in Nagasaki  
1987 Carol and Dougald McLean The vision that connects 193kb
1988 David Purnell Creative conflict  
1989 Erica Fisher A new-born sense of dignity and freedom 102 kb
1990 Jo Vallentine and Peter Jones Quakers in Politics: Pragmatisn or Principle 255 kb
1991 David James and Jillian Wychel Loving the distances between: racism, culture and spirituality  
1993 Ursula Jane O'Shea Living the way: Quaker spirituality and community, 197 kb
1994 Di Bretherton As the mirror burns: making a film about Vietnam  
1995 Donna Kyle Anderton and
Barbara Baker Bird
Emerging currents in the Asia-Pacific  
mp3
1996 Elise Boulding Our children, our partners - a new vision for social action in the 21st century  
1997 Richard G. Meredith. Learning of one another. The Quaker encounter with other cultures and religions 424 kb
mp3
    Colour version 1 mb  
1998 Charles Stevenson Embraced by other selves. enriching personal nature through group interaction 192 kb
mp3
1999 Norman Talbot Myths and stories, truth and lies  
2000 Susannah Kay Brindle To learn a new song. A Quaker contribution to real reconciliation with the earth and its peoples  
mp3
2001 Hendrik W. van der Merwe Reconciling opposites: Reflections on peacemaking in South Africa  
mp3
2002 Mark Deasey To do justly, and to love mercy: learning from Quaker service  
mp3
2003 Helen Bayes Respecting the rights of children and young people: a new perspective on Quaker faith and practice 298.kb
mp3
2004 Ute Caspers A friendship garden 273 kb
mp3
2005 David Johnson Peace is a struggle 137 kb  
2006 Polly Walker One heart and a wrong spirit
2007 Jenny Spinks Support for our true selves, nurturing the space where leadings flow  
mp3
 2008 George Ellis Faith, hope & doubt in times of uncertainty,
combining the realms of scientific and spiritual enquiry
208 kb
mp3
 
 2009  Helen Gould  The Quaker Meeting 467 kb
mp3
    colour Version 3 mb  
 2010  Young Friends Finding Our Voice,Our Truth, Community and journey as Australian Young Friends 541 kb
mp3

All materials on this page are Copyright to Australia Yearly Meeting, including the pdf documents.

To buy any of the above Backhouse Lectures, email Friends Booksales or write to PO Box 181, Glen Osmond SA 5064.

Current Backhouse Lectures in print form
Cost: AU$15.00 + p & p
Cost: CD-ROM AU $15.00 + p & p
Past Backhouse Lectures
Cost: AU$5.00 + p & p

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Fax 07 3374 0317

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