College News

We are absolutely delighted that our Fellow Dr Juliet Usher-Smith - who is one of our Directors of Studies in Medicine - has been awarded one of this year's Pilkington Prizes, which are awarded by the University to recognise truly outstanding teachers. As only one of two recipients from the Clinical School, the University have recognised the excellence in Juliet's teaching and teaching leadership for medical students, postgrad taught students and postgrad research students. The Clinical Dean of the School of Clinical Medicine, Professor Paul Wilkinson said: "It is really rare for someone to be leading teaching at such a high level across all three, especially if (like Juliet) they are also conducting world-class research." She joins seven other members of our Fellowship - including four in the medical field - who are previous recipients of the Pilkington Prize.

Her world-class research is interested in how we measure, understand and use risk within the context of healthcare. Through her data analysis, she is able to estimate each person’s risk of developing, or dying from, a given disease with increasing accuracy, and gives potential to allocate healthcare resources more efficiently, and to reduce the potential harms of screening, diagnostic tests or treatment amongst those least likely to benefit. She works on stratifying care in this way, developing valid and reliable means of estimating risk, taking into consideration how it would best be implemented, including the practical, ethical, psychological and behavioural impacts.

We are greatly saddened that Professor Paul Lewis, one of our former Fellows, has recently passed away. Prof Lewis was Professor of Political Economy at King's College, London, and part of the Emmanuel community as a Research Fellow in Economics between 1997-1999. He was subsequently elected as a Bye-Fellow of the College during his time as a Newton Trust Lecturer at the University's Faculty of Economics and Politics, and Faculty of Social and Political Sciences. Our thoughts are with his family at this sad time.

It is with great sadness that we announce that the Reverend Don Cupitt, Life Fellow of Emmanuel, died on 18 January in Addenbrooke’s Hospital after a short illness. 

Don Cupitt was born in 1934 in Lancashire, England, and educated at Charterhouse, Trinity Hall Cambridge and Westcott House Cambridge. He studied, successively, Natural Sciences, Theology and the Philosophy of Religion. In 1959 he was ordained deacon in the Church of England, becoming a priest in 1960. 

After a short period as a curate in the North of England, and as Vice-Principal of Westcott House, Cupitt was elected to a Fellowship and took up office as Dean of Emmanuel College in 1966. He served as Proctor (Senior) 1967-68. In 1968 he was appointed to a University Assistant Lectureship in the Philosophy of Religion and became a University Lecturer in 1973. He resigned as Dean in 1992 and stopped officiating at public worship around the same time. Four years later he retired from the University, becoming a Life Fellow of Emmanuel.  

Don Cupitt is best known for his radical interventions in contemporary theological debates, which attracted both a devoted following and controversy. His global influence on thinking about theology, religion and ‘non-realist’ philosophy has been immense and he is rightly regarded as a key theorist of the postmodern age, embracing a radical philosophical non-realism in every field: every human construction of religion, knowledge and culture is as equally untrue as it is true. He first provoked hostile notice through his participation in the symposium The Myth of God Incarnate (1977), and then became known for his media work, especially the three BBC television projects Open to Question (1973), Who was Jesus? (1977), and the acclaimed Sea of Faith series (1984), recently re-aired on BBC4. The publication of Taking Leave of God (1980) confirmed him as a non-realist and ‘the most radical theologian in the world’ in the eyes of the press. The Archbishop of Canterbury at the time, Robert Runcie, the Bishop of Ely, Peter Walker, and the Master of Emmanuel, Derek Brewer, defended his right to put forward his ideas.  

Don Cupitt’s thinking continued to develop through a long line of further publications, including The New Religion of Life in Everyday Speech (1999), Philosophy’s Own Religion (2000), What is a Story? (2012), moving increasingly towards a new ethical vision defined by ‘solarity’ in Solar Ethics (1995) and Ethics in the Last Days of Humanity (2015). His thinking gained wide currency through the formation of the international Sea of Faith Network (https://www.sofn.uk). His legacy survives not only through his published works but also in the Sea of Faith archive at Gladstone’s Library, Hawarden (https://doncupitt.chi.ac.uk/sea-of-faith-archive/), and in the influence he has had on subsequent generations of theologians, many of whom were his students. This wide influence was recognised in an international conference to mark the 40th anniversary of the Sea of Faith series at Emmanuel College in July 2024, and in a special feature of the Church Times (28 June 2024). 

Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Susan, and children and grandchildren as they come to terms with his death. 

A book of condolence will be available in the Chapel. If you can't sign the book in person, you can leave a message of remembrance online, to be included with the physical book. 

An event to celebrate the life of The Reverend Don Cupitt was held in the Chapel at Emmanuel College on Friday 14 February at 11am, followed by a private interment. To allow as many as possible to participate, the service was also streamed live online.

A recording of the service may be viewed here.

The Order of Service can be viewed here.

• View a recording of the service

We were delighted to welcome the University of the Third Age's annual Ron Gray Conference to Emmanuel, where Ron was a fellow, as well as being a U3AC lecturer. Bill Randall, Lent Term 2024's Derek Brewer Visiting Fellow, organised the conference at the College, alongside the rest of the U3AC team.

Mark Sanderson (U3AC Council Member and Conference organiser) who is also an Emmanuel member, sent us this report of the fascinating work that the U3AC undertook during their day here: "We were very lucky to have Professor Bill Randall, Emeritus Professor of Gerontology, from St Thomas University, Canada, join us as he was a visiting fellow at Emmanuel College. Bill put together a day of talks and workshops on the subject of narrative gerontology.

Bill gave the opening talk on exploring the insights into our lives, our selves, and our relationships that can be accessed by reflecting on fables, fairy tales, and other little stories, that we first encountered as children but that, for various reasons, have stayed in our minds ever since. Such stories allow us to frame our lives and draw comparisons from.

The members then rotated around three workshops. Oddgeir Synnes,  Professor of Health Humanities, VID Specialized University, Oslo, Norway, gave us a workshop as an introduction to creative writing in later life based on the speaker’s vast experience from giving courses in creative writing for older adults in various settings. The workshop aimed to engage members through various exercises of creative writing to give an increased understanding of what the method might have to offer.

Karen Skerrett, Clinical psychologist, from University of Chicago and Northwestern University showed how telling stories shape the way we see and react to the world. While some life stories promote a positive, fulfilling life, others undermine well-being. Creating a better story for life, one characterized by a sense of purpose, meaning, caring relationships with others, and wisdom lead to a better quality of life.

David Amigoni, Professor of Victorian Literature and Director of Keele Institute of Social Inclusion, Keele University, was joined by Brenda Hennessey, Jacky Carter, and Steve Bambury from Ages and Stages Theatre Company based at the New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme. The workshop encouraged members to use theatrical techniques to explore body and spoken languages. The workshop had everyone working collectively ‘in the round’ (in a circle) and in breakout groups. The aim was to stimulate members’ creativity, mental flexibility and thinking skills by using improvisation scenarios.

The day finished with a panel discussion where presenters took questions from the floor.

I would like to thank Bill and his colleagues for presenting on the day. Thanks to Emmanuel College for hosting us, and thanks to all those members who joined us."