The year 2016 has been important in many regards, and it also marks a special event that is much less current than most evening news topics: the anniversary of a significant historical work that has special connections to the University of Saskatchewan.

From September 22-24, St. Thomas More College at the U of S will host Utopia for 500 Years, a conference in celebration of the 500th anniversary of the publication of Sir Thomas More’s most famous work, Utopia.

Sir Thomas More was an English lawyer, writer and renaissance philosopher who lived during the 15th and 16th centuries and worked for Henry VIII. A devout Catholic, More was opposed to the Protestant Reformation and the creation of the Church of England. In Utopia, originally published in 1516, More uses the description of a fictional island nation to outline his philosophies about politics and morality.

The U of S not only has connections to the book through STM  — named after Utopia’s author — but also through the ownership of a rare edition of the book.

For conference organizer Sharon Hubbs Wright, head of the history department at STM, Utopia for 500 Years offers a chance to discuss the importance of both Utopia and its historical context.

“It was a time of incredible ferment in terms of changing of the guard in history — right before Martin Luther broke with the Catholic Church and many other reformers broke with the Catholic Church, so this is a time in history, kind of like today, where there’s radical change right on the horizon,” Wright said. “It’s a book that’s still incredibly relevant for today. The kind of struggles Thomas More was having himself, our politicians continue to have.”

The conference will feature presentations from scholars from all over the world. Topics include the use of utopias and dystopias in literature, Utopia and magic, utopias and communism and Indigenous perspectives on More’s writing. A free public lecture will take place on Sept. 23 at 7:30 p.m. in the STM auditorium.

In the same location, on Sept. 24 at 3 p.m., one lecture will even be featured on CBC Radio’s Ideas, a program that presents lectures and documentaries on a wide variety of topics.

Being featured on a national radio program like Ideas is no small achievement for a conference at the U of S, but Wright was sure to emphasize the significance in relation to Utopia’s anniversary.

“We contacted [Ideas] and helped them to understand how important Utopia is, especially for all kinds of movements, like feminism, like the Idle No More movement … and how important Utopia has been for shaping the [Western] literary canon … We’re working with their executive producer Greg Smith and he’s been fabulous,” Wright said.

U of S students are invited to take part in the conference for $20. Registration will take place in person, beginning Sept. 23 at 8 a.m. at the Graduate Students’ Association Commons, and online. Not only will students be in attendance, but they also have had an important role in the planning and execution of the conference.

“Lots of students are involved … At the Museum of Antiquities, [students are] doing a display around the 1516 copy of Thomas More’s Utopia, which STM owns,” Wright said. “I have a graduate student co-coordinator who’s helping me every step of the way. We’re trying to involve people at all levels at the university.”

For a book that is half a millennium old, Wright insists that Utopia is more important than ever in today’s society.

“I don’t think there’s a book more relevant right now, in many respects, than More’s Utopia, because, I think, thinking people — students, continuing life-long learners — are confronted in this book with the same kinds of decisions we have to make today,” Wright said.

An example of such a decision, she says, is the complicated ethical choice of driving vehicles, even though evidence shows that fossil fuels are strong contributors to climate change.

“Students should be interested in this book for historical reasons, but also for immediate and personal reasons. Things have not changed that much and the question is: why?”

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Emily Klatt

Graphic: Lesia Karalsh / Graphics Editor