Conference: The Expression of Freemasonry

The Chair for Freemasonry as an Intellectual Current and Socio-cultural European Phenomenon (The Leiden Institute of Religious Studies, Faculty of Humanities, Leiden University) has recently appointed music historian Malcolm Davies as its new professor. Professor Davies' inaugural lecture will take place on 25 November 2008 at the Leiden University. From September to December the chair will offer a series of lectures on the history of Dutch freemasonry for students, which is also open to other participants. The chair is also organizing an international conference on the theme of The Expression of Freemasonry: Its oratory, poetry, music, literature, art and architecture on 27-28 November 2008.

The event will be opened by drs. Diederik van Rossum, Grand Master of The Grand East of The Netherlands. Speakers are:

- Prof. Dr. Natalie Bayer, (Trinity University, San Antonio, USA), Masonic Influences on the Emergence of National Russian Literature: Eighteenth-Century Case Studies,
- Dr. J.K. Birksted (The Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London, UK), Le Corbusier, the Parisian Avant-Garde and Freemasonry: problems of interpretation, - Prof. Dr. David Bjelajac (George Washington University, USA), Freemasonry and the Alchemy of John Singleton Copley’s Watson and the Shark,
- Diane Clements (Library and Museum of Freemasonry, London, UK), Victorian illustrations of freemasonry,
- Dr. Giovanna Costantini (Universities of New York, Michigan, USA/American Academy of Rome), A Merry Death: Nicolai Evreinov and the Theatre of Transformation ,
- John Crow (University of Amsterdam), Duncan’s Royal Arch Ritual as a possible framework for Dan Brown’s ‘The Da Vinci Code’,
- Prof. Dr. James Stevens Curl (The Queen’s University Of Belfast, UK), Imagery associated with Mozart’s Masonic works: stage-sets and their sources,
- Prof. Dr. Malcolm Davies (Chair for the Study of Freemasonry as an Intellectual Current and a Socio-cultural European Phenomenon, Leiden University, The Netherlands), title to be announced,
- Dr. Max de Haan (Editor in Chief of Thoth, The Netherlands), Friendly Societies and Freemasonry,
- Pauline van den Heuvel (Independent Researcher, The Netherlands), Performing Artists and Freemasonry in Amsterdam, 1795-1844,
- Jimmy Koppen MA (Free University, Brussels /FREE, Interdisciplinary Research Group Freemasonry, Belgium), The Masonic Network around the Royal Flemish Theatre in Brussels from 1875,
- Drs. Andréa Kroon (University of Leiden/OVN Foundation, the Netherlands), The Origins of George Washington’s apron: Myth or Reality?,
- Leonard H. Lubitz MA (City University of New York, USA), Masonic Symbolism and Architecture in American Cities,
- Aimee E. Newell (National Heritage Museum, Lexington, Massachusetts, USA), King Solomon’s Temple Samplers: An Expression of Shared Ideals,
- Dr. Andreas Önnerfors (Centre for Research into Freemasonry, University of Sheffield, UK), title to be announced,
- Dr. Andrew Pink (UCL, London, UK), Patrons, Performers and Politics: Freemasons in Early Eighteenth-century London Theatres,
- Prof. Dr. Jeffrey Thyssens (Free University Brussels/ FREE, Interdisciplinary Research Group Freemasonry, Belgium), Masonic Tombstones.

The conference has the support of masonic organizations, such as The Order of Freemasons under the Grand East of The Netherlands, The Dutch Masonic Study Fund (MSF), and The Cultural Masonic Centre ‘Prince Frederik’ (CMC), as well as academic organizations, including The Foundation for the Advancement of Academic Research into the History of Freemasonry in The Netherlands (OVN), The Leiden Institute for the Study of Religions (LISOR) and departments in other universities.

Costs (incl. coffee/lunch/reception): two days € 110,- (students € 45,-). Conference Location: The International School of The Hague, The Netherlands. For more information and registration: f.m.conference.leiden08@gmail.com