The role of religion within the humanities is the focus of an international conference being hosted by Queen’s University from Oct. 1-3.

Starting Thursday, Queen’s will host Religion Across the Humanities: A Matariki Humanities Colloquium, bringing together scholars from the seven member institutions of the Matariki Network of Universities.

The highlight of the event is the keynote presentation by Queen’s own Gauvin Bailey (Art History), the Bader Chair in Southern Baroque Art. Dr. Bailey will offer up an engaging talk, that is open to the public, entitled “The Spiritual Rococo: Décor and Divinity from the Salons of Paris to the Missions of Patagonia” on Thursday, from 6-6:45 pm in Speaker’s Corner, Stauffer Library.

In his presentation, Dr. Bailey will address some “fundamental conundrums” that impede the understanding of 18th-Century aesthetics, culture, and religion, including why Rococo, a profane, self-consciously private manner of ornamenting the French aristocratic home turned into one of the world’s most popular manifestations of the sacred and why is Rococo still treated as a decadent nemesis of the Enlightenment when the two had fundamental characteristics in common?

“I seek to answer these questions by treating Rococo as a global phenomenon and by exploring its moral and spiritual dimensions through the lens of populist French religious literature of the day—a body of work I call the ‘Spiritual Rococo,’” Dr. Bailey says. “I will trace Rococo’s development from France through Central Europe, Portugal, Brazil, and Spanish South America by considering the parallel diffusion of the style itself and the literature of the Spiritual Rococo in these same regions. One of my ultimate goals is to acknowledge Rococo’s essential modernity.”

He adds that such events hosted by the MNU are important because they bring together scholars from a variety of disciplines but with key interests in common.

“In this case the colloquium is focussed on religion, a critical aspect of research and teaching in many fields,” he says. “The opportunity for cross-disciplinary dialogue made possible by the Matariki Humanities Colloquium make these connections happen.”

The MNU is an international group of leading, like-minded universities. Along with Queen’s, member institutions include: Dartmouth College (US); Durham University (England); Uppsala University (Sweden; University of Tubingen (Germany); University of Western Australia; and University of Otago (New Zealand).

Dr. Bailey also is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and Correspondent Étranger, Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, Institut de France.

The prospect of making some valuable connections with potential employers and post-secondary institutions drew crowds of students to the Queen’s Career Fair on Tuesday.

Held at the Athletics and Recreation Centre’s main gym, the event brought together more than 100 recruiter booths from organizations in both the public and private sectors. Visitors were also able to get some help in polishing up their resume as well as a quality headshot for their LinkedIn profile.

New this year, Career Services partnered with the Queen’s University International Centre (QUIC) to help students interested in working or studying outside of Canada.

A new partnership between Enrichment Studies Unit (ESU) and the Department of French Studies at Queen’s University has created a one-day French Language course for adults and parents of French Immersion students.

This course, being offered Saturday, Oct. 3 or Saturday, Oct. 17 from 9 am-5 pm, provides participants with introductory language skills and vocabulary that will assist with communicating in and understanding basic French.

The course will be taught by Marianne Pivot, a professional French language instructor with experience working with both adults and children. She created this course for families of French immersion students who want to better understand and communicate in French or for those interested basic French skills.

The course fee is $125 for seven hours of instruction, course materials, a catered lunch and parking. All participants will receive a certificate of completion. Call the ESU Office at 613-533-3181 to register. Space is limited.

FOOTBALL

The Queen's Gaels (3-2) got a breakout game from quarterback Nate Hobbs as they scored a 37-18 road win over the Toronto Varsity Blues (1-3) on Saturday.

Hobbs threw for 401 yards and two touchdowns while adding 14 yards on the ground and another touchdown as he faced his older brother Marcus, the backup pivot for Toronto.

MEN’S SOCCER

The Queen's Gaels men's soccer team (5-1-2) stretched their win streak to five games with a pair of victories at home on the weekend. On Sunday at Miklas-McCarney Field, the Gaels topped the Trent Excalibur 4-2. On Saturday dispatched the UOIT Ridgebacks (3-3-1) by a score of 1-0.

WOMEN’S SOCCER

The Queen’s Gaels women’s soccer team (4-2-3) earned a weekend split after beating the Trent Excalibur 4-1 on Sunday at Miklas-McCarney Field. On Saturday the Gaels (0-7-0) lost 1-0 to the UOIT Ridgebacks (4-2-0).

WOMEN’S RUGBY

Emma Chown had a big night for the Queen’s Gaels women’s rugby team (3-0) scoring five tries in a 106-3 win over the Toronto Varsity Blues (0-3) Saturday at Nixon Field.  The Gaels scored a pair of tries in the first five minutes and held a 64-3 lead at the half.
 
MEN’S RUGBY

The Queen’s Gaels men’s rugby team (3-1) battled to a 33-19 win over the RMC Paladins on Saturday, relying on a dominant second half. The Paladins led 14-12 at halftime.

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL

The Queen’s Gaels men's volleyball team began their preparation for the 2015-16 season with their first exhibition action this weekend in Toronto at the Ryerson National Bank Invitational Tournament, finishing with a 2-1 round-robin record. That was enough to get the Gaels into the final but they fell to the Western Mustangs on Sunday in four sets (17-25, 20-25, 25-21 and 19-25).

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

The Queen’s Gaels women's volleyball team participated in their second exhibition tournament in Saskatchewan this weekend at the University of Regina Invitational tournament. Queen's went 1-2 in the round robin and claimed fifth place with a four-set win over Brandon on Sunday (32-34, 25-17, 25-21, 25-17).

Have you stretched today?

Flexibility, which is the ability to move a joint through its complete range of motion, is one of the most neglected components of a workout for most people. Flexibility is important for completing everyday activities like getting up out of bed, lifting groceries and vacuuming the floor. If not done regularly, your flexibility will deteriorate with age. 

Here are some stretches you can do at your desk.