# Backhouse Lecture

The Backhouse Lecture series has been given annually since 1964 as a presentation at Quakers Yearly Meeting in Australia. It is similar in themes and structure to the Swarthmore Lecture series in Britain. Also known as the James Backhouse Lecture, as it is named for James Backhouse.

## Past Lectures

| Year | Venue | Presenter | Topic | Link |
| 2024 | Adelaide, South Australia (and on-line) | Jackie Leach-Scully | (60th anniversary) God’s ways, not our ways: A dissident Quaker response to disability | book» |
| 2023 | Hobart, Tasmania (and on-line) | Jon Watts | Quakers, the Internet, and What’s Next | video» |
| 2022 | on-line | Yarrow Goodley | Creating hope: Working for justice in catastrophic times | video» |
| 2021 | on-line | (Panel discussion) | The 2021 Australian Backhouse Panel Discussion: Searching for Truth: Friends in a 'post-truth' - world | video» transcript» resources» |
| 2020 | on-line | Fiona Gardner | Seeking Union with Spirit: Experiences of Spiritual Journeys | video» |
| 2019 | Hobart, Tasmania | Jason MacLeod | Animating Freedom: Accompanying Indigenous struggles for self-determination | video» |
| 2018 | Cooranbong, NSW | Cho-Nyon Kim | An Encounter between Quaker Mysticism and Taoism in Everyday Life | video» transcript» |
| 2017 | Adelaide, South Australia | David Carline | Reflections on the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Referendum in the context of two Aboriginal life stories | video» |
| 2016 | | Margery Post Abbott | Everyday Prophets | video» |
| 2015 | | Sally Herzfeld and Alternatives to Violence Project Members | This We Can Do: Quaker faith in action through the Alternatives to Violence Project | |
| 2014 | | Tracy Bourne | Our life is love, and peace, and tenderness; Bringing children into the centre of Quaker life and worship | |
| 2013 | | Jocelyn Bell Burnell | A Quaker astronomer reflects: Can a scientist also be religious | |
| 2012 | | David Atwood | From the inside out: Observations on Quaker work at the United Nations | jstor» |
| 2011 | | Rosemary (Rowe) Morrow | A demanding and uncertain adventure: Exploration of a concern for Earth restoration and how we must live to pass on to our children - and their children, and all living things - an Earth restored | jstor» |
| 2010 | | (54 contributors) | Finding our voice Our truth, community and journey as Australian Young Friends | jstor» |
| 2009 | | Helen Gould | The Quaking Meeting Transforming our selves, our meetings and the more-than-human world | audio» jstor» |
| 2008 | | George Ellis | Faith, hope and doubt in times of uncertainty Combining the realms of scientific and spiritual inquiry | audio» jstor» |
| 2007 | | Jenny Spinks | Support for our true selves - Nurturing the space where leadings flow | audio» jstor» |
| 2006 | | Polly O. (Daksi) Walker | One Heart and a Wrong Spirit: The Religious Society of Friends and Colonial Racism | jstor» |
| 2005 | | David Johnson | Peace is a Struggle | |
| 2004 | Armadale North, Victoria | Ute Caspers | Growing a Fruitful Friendship - A Garden Walk | audio» au-nla» jstor» ouevre» bio»(German) |
| 2003 | | Helen Bayes | Respecting the Rights of Children and Young People: A New Perspective on Quaker Faith and Practice | audio» jstor» jstor» |
| 2002 | | Mark Deasey | To Do Justly, And To Love Mercy: learning from Quaker service | audio» jstor» |
| 2001 | | Hendrik W van der Merwe | Reconciling Opposites: Reflections on peacemaking in South Africa | audio» jstor» |
| 2000 | Armadale North, Victoria | Susannah Kay Brindle | To Learn A New Song: A Quaker Contribution Towards Real Reconciliation with the Earth and its Peoples | audio» jstor» |
| 1999 | | Norman Talbot | Myth and Stories, Lies and Truth | |
| 1998 | | Charles Stevenson | Embraced by Other Selves: Enriching personal nature through group interaction | audio» jstor» |
| 1997 | | Richard G. Meredith | Learning of one another The Quaker encounter with other cultures and religions | audio» jstor» |
| 1996 | | Elise Boulding | Our Children, our Partners A new vision for social action in the 21st century | jstor» |
| 1995 | (from Bangkok, Thailand) | Donna Kyle Anderton & Barbara Baker Bird | Emerging Currents in the Asia-Pacific | audio» |
| 1994 | | Di Bretherton | As the Mirror Burns Making a Film about Vietnam | |
| 1993 | | Ursula Jane O'Shea | Living the Way Quaker spirituality and community | jstor» |
| 1992 | No Backhouse Lecture given. | No Backhouse Lecture given. | No Backhouse Lecture given. | No Backhouse Lecture given. |
| 1991 | | David James and Jillian Wychel | Loving the Distances Between: Racism, Culture and Spirituality | jstor» |
| 1990 | | Jo Vallentine and Peter D. Jones | Quakers in Politics: Pragmatism or Principle? | jstor» |
| 1989 | | Erica Fisher | A New-Born Sense of Dignity and Freedom | |
| 1988 | | David Purnell | Creative Conflict | |
| 1987 | | Carol and Dougald McLean | The Vision That Connects - Building The Future We Choose | |
| 1986 | | Susumu Ishitani | Looking for Meanings of My A-Bomb Experience in Nagasaki | |
| 1985 | | Gerald Priestland | For All The Saints | |
| 1984 | | Peter D. Jones | Pilgrims for Justice and Peace | |
| 1983 | | Sabine Willis | An Adventure into Feminism with Friends | |
| 1982 | | John Ormerod Greenwood | Celebration: A Missing Element in Quaker Worship | |
| 1981 | | Roger C. Wilson | What Jesus Means To Me: Jesus the Liberator | |
| 1980 | | Hector Kinloch | Quakers and Sacramental History: Reflections on Quaker Saints by a Quaker Sinner | |
| 1979 | | J. Duncan Wood | Quakers in the Modern World: The Relevance of Quaker Beliefs to the Problems of the Modern World | |
| 1978 | | Margaret Wilkinson | Wisdom: The Inner Teacher | |
| 1977 | Naarmaroo, NSW | Mary Woodward | Papua New Guinea: Third World on our doorstep | transcript» jstor» |
| 1976 | | Stewart and Charlotte Meacham | Imperialism Without Invading Armies: peace, justice and the multinationals in Southeast Asia | |
| 1975 | | Winifred A. M McNaughton | A Time To Reap, A Time To Sow: Retirement | |
| 1973 (Aug) | | Yukio Irie | Pilgrimage Toward The Fountainhead: Quakerism and Zen Buddhism Today | oeuvre» (date falls in FY 1974) |
| 1973 | | Otto B. Van Sprenkel | Friends and Other Faiths | |
| 1972 | | L. Hugh Doncaster | The Quaker Message: a Personal Affirmation | oeuvre» |
| 1971 | No Backhouse Lecture was given this year; instead, David Hodgkin gave an address under the title "Quakerism-A Mature Religion for Today", which was printed but not as a James Backhouse Lecture. | No Backhouse Lecture was given this year; instead, David Hodgkin gave an address under the title "Quakerism-A Mature Religion for Today", which was printed but not as a James Backhouse Lecture. | No Backhouse Lecture was given this year; instead, David Hodgkin gave an address under the title "Quakerism-A Mature Religion for Today", which was printed but not as a James Backhouse Lecture. | subsequent revision» |
| 1970 | Melbourne, Vic | Keith A. W. Crook | Security for Australia? | transcript» |
| 1969 | Pymble, NSW | A. Barrie Pittock | Toward a Multi-Racial Society | transcript» jstor» bio» |
| 1968 | | William N. Oats | In The Spirit of the Family | bio» |
| 1967 | | Douglas V. Steere | On Being Present Where You Are | |
| 1966 | | Rudolf Lemberg | Seeking In An Age Of Imbalance | jstor» |
| 1965 | | Clive Sansom | The Shaping Spirit | |
| 1964 | | Kenneth E. Boulding | The Evolutionary Potential Of Quakerism | |
Further details on Quakers Australia's website.