Works that Shaped the World: U2

TheHumanities Research Centre(HRC) was established in 1972 as a national and international centre for excellence in the humanities and a catalyst for innovative and interdisciplinary humanities research within the Australian National University and beyond. As one of Australia’s prime gateways to humanities scholarship throughout the world, the HRC promotes advanced research in and across the humanities through an annual Visiting Fellowship Program and a range of conferences, workshops, seminars, and public lectures.

The Humanities Research Centre

In 2022, the HRC’s Works that Shaped the World public lecture series focuses on religion.

Since forming in Dublin in 1976, U2 has often been referred to as a Christian band, with scholars finding explicit and coded Biblical references in their lyrics. Their music is often described as “spiritual” and their live shows as “religious experiences”, appealing to secular audiences with messages of faith and belief that resonate beyond the practice of any specific denomination. U2 has a body of work that spans more than 45 years, with fourteen studio albums and four decades of hit singles, including “Where the Streets Have No Name” (1987), “One” (1992), and “Beautiful Day” (2000). Since U2 performed at Live Aid in 1985, lead singer Bono has spearheaded high profile social justice campaigns such as Make Poverty History, ONE, and (Red), lobbying world leaders to help the world’s poor. This public lecture will examine the religious elements of the U2 phenomenon: from their faith inspired activism, to the signs and codes in their lyrics and performance, to the religious devotion of their followers, and the ways in which they have inspired fans to take action to change the world. PresenterNaomi Dinnen is a music journalist and fan turned academic. She is a lecturer in ANU’s School of Music where she is currently completing her PhD, “Finding the Influence of the Hebrew Bible in the Music of U2”. Naomi organised the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/oct/14/australian-u2-fans-find-what-theyre-looking-for-at-conference-to-mark-joshua-tree-tour" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">U2 Conference in Sydney in November 2019</a>, coinciding with the band’s Joshua Tree 30th Anniversary Tour, and her chapter “You Don&#x27;t See Me But You Will: Jewish Thought and U2” was published in <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/au/u2-and-the-religious-impulse-9780567690210/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">U2 and the Religious Impulse: Take Me Higher.</a>

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Works that Shaped the World: U2

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