Centre For Research Into Freemasonry And Fraternalism, University of Sheffield, UK

We Freemasons know that the Craft has plenty to offer the thinking man.  However, the philosophical and scholarly nature of Freemasonry is  often lost on the popular imagination.  To rectify this, a group of scholars interested in Freemasonry as a field of academic study created the Centre For Research Into Freemasonry And Fraternalism, University of Sheffield, UK, about ten years ago.

That a university would find enough of interest in Freemasonry to sustain an entire research facility is testament enough to the work of the Craft.  But the fact that the University of Sheffield is one of the top ranked universities in the world makes the existence of the research facility especially exciting.

Here is the kind of stuff they do:  on Thursday, October, 15th, the Centre will hold a panel discussion on Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol to examine Brown’s portrayal of Freemasonry.  Speaking to the Yorkshire Post, Dr Anreas Onnerfors, the director of the centre, explained why the book is of interest to the centre:

The traditional perception is that the Freemasons is a club for the promotion of the business interests of men who come from the upper levels of society . . . But in his book, Dan Brown, who has a great understanding of these esoteric traditions, presents quite a fair and accurate description of some aspects of Freemasonry.

The discussion will take place at 5.15pm in the Humanities Research Centre at 34 Gell Street, Sheffield. For more information call 0114 222 9891.