Two weeks ago we heard from Dr Mervyn Bendle of James Cook University, who has sparked an academic row over what he says is the hijacking of Terrorism studies in our universities by Neo-Marxist postmodernism.

Susan Hawkins is an Australian composer. She is also a social worker with many years experience working with older people in London. These two worlds coincide in a rare glimpse of personal exploration into empathy and art. This Encounter also features the insights of men and women in Derby, New York and Brisbane who take the arts and compassion seriously. They join Susan in conversations about aesthetics, identity, spirituality and growing old.

The papacy of Pope Pius XII during the Nazi takeover of Europe has long been criticised by historians for its ineffective response to Hitler and its silence during the persecution of European Jews. Historian Paul O’Shea reconsiders the record of Pius XII in light of the Church’s long history of anti-Judaism and Eugenio Pacelli’s life before he became the Pope.

Per square inch, Israel would have to be one of the most archaeologically rich countries in the world, due to its layers of occupation stretching back more than three thousand years. Archaeologist Dr. David Ilan from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Jerusalem has excavated Tel Dan, the site of the Biblical city of Dan. He has some radical ideas for the future of archaeology in Israel.

Featured on The Spirit of Things on June 1st and 3rd, the Bahai Gardens in Haifa, Israel has just been named a World Heritage Site by by UNESCO.
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Compass enters the schools debate with a 3 part series on education in Australia
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