Hook Lecture by Prof Linda Woodhead

The 2017 hook lecture will be given on 14 November by Prof. Linda Woodhead, Professor of Sociology of Religion in the Department of Politics, Philosophy and Religion at Lancaster University. She is best known for her work on religious change since the 1980s, and for initiating public debates about faith. She has been described by Matthew Taylor, head of the Royal Society of Arts, as "one of the world’s leading experts on religion".

The lecture will be themed around 'Remembering The Dead: Changing Public and Private Practices', and will explore how those who say they are 'no religion' on surveys make sense of life and death, how we are reinventing rituals, how 'no religion' is being institutionalized, and how all this relates to our Christian past.

The Hook Lecture is an annual event, which aims to stimulate debate around an issue of faith in the context of the city, shaping discussion and dialogue throughout the coming year. High profile speakers launch the conversation, drawing different communities together in Leeds Minster. The event is organised jointly by Leeds Church Institute, Leeds Minster and Theology & Religious Studies at the University of Leeds. Click here to register for the event.