Dementia with Prof. John Swinton (Podcast)

Alt txt: Image of our guest, Prof. John Swinton, and a few of our co-hosts, Dr. John Anthony Dunne, Stephanie Kate Judd, and Rev. Dr. Chris Porter.

In this episode we’re talking about Dementia with Prof. John Swinton, who is Chair of Divinity and Religious Studies and Professor of Theology at the University of Aberdeen (in Scotland). Prof. Swinton is also a Registered Mental Nurse (RMN) and a Registered Nurse for People with Learning Disabilities (RNMD), and the author of a number of books, including, Dementia: Living in the Memories of God (published by Eerdmans) and Becoming Friends of Time: Disability, Timefullness, and Gentle Discipleship (published by Baylor University Press). In our conversation we talk about what led Prof. Swinton into theological work on Dementia, and as the discussion unfolds Prof. Swinton addresses models of personhood in relation to memory. Theologically, we talk about what it means to know God, when you’ve forgotten who God is, and the importance of situating personhood in Christ and the importance of being held in God’s memory of us. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include: Dr. John Anthony Dunne, Stephanie Kate Judd, and Rev. Dr. Chris Porter.

Series Disclaimer: We know that this space is fraught, and we don’t speak for every PWD. We may inevitably get some things wrong in this series, but we ask for your patience in advance since we think it’s more important to have the conversation than shy away from it out of fear of saying the wrong thing. At the same time, this is a learning process for all of us, and we want to maintain a posture of learning throughout the series and beyond. Thanks for listening!

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