We recognise that our Section covers a wide spectrum of culture, and our events in Britain include topics in the fields of Literature, History, Language, and the Arts.  We hold Conferences, Seminars, Lectures and Study Tours on themes of Shakespeare, Parzival, Renaissance Art, The Matter of Britain, Gender Issues, Poetics, Summer Courses on The Spirit of English, and the celebration of the Festivals.  Most of our events are open to the public, but we have also held study-days for members of the School of Spiritual Science on specific Class content.

The translation of the name of this Section corresponds to the traditional French academic term Belles Lettres, and while our friends in the US have taken the title Literary Arts and Humanities Section, we are working under the title Humanities Section.  This variety and fluidity of names reflects our openness to whatever arises in the spiritual-cultural life that so often connects to more than one discrete discipline.  As is also the case with other Sections there is a certain overlap of disciplines, but unlike the other Sections, we are very aware that there is no immediately obvious single profession that this Section connects with. It is our wish to strengthen the inter-sectional work, and the Parzival conference in 2021 was an opportunity to collaborate with the Pedagogical Section at the Goetheanum. We were pursuing the connection with the Visual Arts Section for the Hilma af Klint Event in 2022.

IN  FOCUS: Moments of the year 2024

Affirming our Humanity in the Age of Digital Technology and Artificial Intelligence was the title of our conference last October. 50 participants gathered for the weekend to hear Jeremy Naydler, Paul Levy, Edwin Hubner, and Marin Starrett describing their experiences and understanding of the technological realities we face. Tom Smith from the Steiner School community in Brighton added precious pedagogical aspects of these issues, and Rebecca Paten introduced eurythmy exercises to enhance our awareness of the living human potential. The aim of the event was to characterise our conscious responsibility that can lead to positive engagement in the spirit of Manichean courage.

The encouraging response to this has led us now to plan a one day follow-up event in March with the enhanced title Undeniable Reasons For Affirming Our Humanity in this Age of Digital Technology and Artificial Intelligence.  We have invited Tom Smith to further develop the pedagogical aspects,  Ariane Eichenberg to open up the significance of this technology for our appreciation of the irreplaceably human in our literary endeavours, and Rebecca Paten to continue the eurythmy work.

In the wider context of what is relevant for our Section I would like to add two things.  During a seminar on art in Waldorf education at the Università Roma Tre in January it was possible to engage in unexpectedly fruitful dialogue about the supposed benefits and experienced effects of online course participation.   At a Shakespeare seminar for Waldorf teachers in Moscow, studying Twelfth Night gave rise to lively engagement on the themes of gender fluidity as a theatrical experience, and also as an existential reality for young people who live in an oppressive and intolerant social situation.

The Section could well take up the need to counter the negative reaction to what is popularly known as “woke” culture, and rescue the sometimes naïve and poorly expressed efforts to fight for more sensitive forms of language and more human social structures. What is spiritually inspired sometimes comes to expression in materialistic and pragmatic terms that are then easily ridiculed and marginalised.  Andrew Wolpert

CURRENTLY

Rudolf Steiner House in London

Twelfth Night – Shakespeare Week 11th – 15th August 2025

Hilma af Klint – Seminar 25th October, 2025