“the suburbs ought to be either glorified by romance and religion or else destroyed by fire from heaven, or even by firebrands from the earth.” – G. K. Chesterton
Home conference 2025
The place of home in our society and culture deserves critical examination. On the one hand our culture is replete with idealised, and perhaps clichéd, notions of home, on the other—particularly in an age of increasing globalism, competition, and crisis—it can often appear that homes and homelife are considered last on the list of priorities, if they are considered at all.
The disruptions caused by COVID and the new ways people were expected to use their homes has afforded us with a convenient excuse to open a discussion on home. This being the case, The Dawson Society is pleased to announce the theme of our second major conference, “HOME: Family. Place. Economics.” In doing so we are deliberately cultivating a broad approach to the idea of home from the architecture of the dwellings that shelter us, to the social structures and economies that support (or disrupt) homelife, from home as a family unit, to home as a country and place.
The conference will be held from 10-12 July, 2025 in Perth, Western Australia
Keynote Speakers:
Marc Barnes is the editor of New Polity Magazine and author of What Children Are For, forthcoming from New Polity Press. He lives in Steubenville, Ohio, USA.
Mrs Anna Krohn OAM is the Executive Director of the Thomas More Centre an Australian movement founded to form people in the principles of the common good and personal virtue and by enabling them to build supportive and intentional communities to that end.
Emeritus Professor John Kinder OSI FAHA is Emeritus Professor of Italian Studies. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, a Corresponding Fellow of the Accademia della Crusca, and a Grand Ufficiale of the Order of the Star of Italy.
FAQ
What kind of conference is this?
This is an academic conference but for more than just academics! The Dawson Society was established to encourage Christian intellectual engagement, which is something just as relevant to someone from all walks of life as it is for someone who works at a university or in academia. The Home Conference will allow attendees engage in exciting and refreshing insights into what our homes are and ought to be.
Who is this conference for?
The Home conference is for anyone who wants to challenge or engage their understandings of what our homes are, what they ought to be, and the role the home plays in society. Our goal is to inspire an ongoing conversation at the conference that begins with an intellectual assessment but can also lead to practical and spiritual changes in our own homes and communities.
The talks will be pitched towards intelligent and interested audiences but accessible without the need for specialist knowledge. While the Dawson Society seeks to engage with pertinent social and cultural questions from the standpoint of the Christian faith, we are confident that the conference will be accessible to all seeking to explore questions of the home with goodwill.
Why have a conference on the home?
Everyone has, or everyone ought to have, a home. Culturally too, the home forms a sort of touchstone that underpins much of our social and individual identity. Yet the role the home plays in society has changed significantly in the past hundred, fifty, and even twenty years. Moreover economic, political, and social forces affect and shape the home in ways that are often unacknowledged and unassessed. In this moment in history, we believe that it is appropriate and necessary to examine what the home is, and what it ought to be.
What’s included with my registration?
Conference registration includes access to all sessions across the Friday and Saturday and automatic registration for the Thursday night public lecture. Registration also includes lunch, morning, and afternoon tea as well as light refreshments during the day. The conference will conclude on Saturday with a conference dinner, this can be optionally added to your registration for an additional cost. Limited spots are available.
Can I just come to the Thursday night public lecture?
The Thursday night public lecture is free to the public (with online registration strongly encouraged). Registrations to the conference will be open on the night.
Where can I find out more information?
You can keep track of information as it is released by signing up to our mailing list
