Garry Trompf - Cargo Cults and The Origin of Religion

Garry W. Trompf is Emeritus Professor in the History of Ideas in the Department of Studies in Religion at the University of Sydney, where he previously held a personal chair for ten years. He was educated at the universities of Melbourne, Monash, Oxford and the Australian National University and has written over fifteen books, which embody early Christianity, the religions of Melanesia and the history of ideas, among a myriad other fields. Garry is known as the chaser of grand ideas of European history. In Melanesia, he went from village to village, mapping traditions. Garry has a great fascination for diversity and an ability to see cultural phenomena in their infinite complexity. Hour 1: Millenarianist aspects of various world religions Hour 2: The Origin of Religion; John Frum; What are conspiracy theories; Cargo cults