Campion Lecturer Awarded ‘Cassiodorus’ Lectureship in Philosophy
Senior philosophy academic Dr Amitavo Islam has been named the first Cassiodorus Lecturer in Philosophy at Australia’s leading liberal arts institute, Campion College.
Named after the sixth-century Roman statesman and promoter of the liberal arts, Cassiodorus, the lectureship has been awarded to Campion by the Eusebius Trust, a long-time benefactor, in recognition of the college’s outstanding philosophy program.
Dr Islam, who has been teaching at Campion since 2008, said he was deeply honoured by the award.
“I’m delighted to be named the Cassiodorus Lecturer in Philosophy. I’ve had a wonderful time teaching here and I greatly appreciate the recognition shown to Campion by the Eusebius Trust,” Dr Islam said.
The Cassiodorus Lectureship was donated to Campion for a duration of five years to support the college’s commitment to providing a traditional liberal arts education.
“Cassiodorus, in his De Anima, emphasised that knowledge of the world outside ourselves should properly be complemented by self-knowledge – knowledge of our own souls,” Dr Islam said.
“As he puts it: when we are taught by the sages, ‘know thyself,’ how far can it be tolerated that we should be thus ignorant of ourselves? Here at Campion, the philosophy program seeks to follow this lead by helping students to understand not just the technicalities of philosophical debate, but to grasp fully the meaning of the questions debated. The assistance offered by the Eusebius Trust will be invaluable in pursuing this goal.”
A lectureship is an academic rank awarded to a university lecturing position. Headed by Fr John Flynn, the Eusebius Trust has awarded the Cassiodorus Lectureship to support Campion by helping fund its philosophy program.
Campion offers a three-year Bachelor of Arts in the Liberal Arts and a one-year Diploma of Liberal Arts, specialising in philosophy, Catholic theology, literature and history.
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