Philosophy and Family in our Time

Speaker: Chris & Valery Rees

Drawing on their many years of studying philosophy and raising a large family, Valery and Chris Rees will discuss the opportunities and challenges, the duties and demands of family life today, compared to former times and different cultures. How can philosophy help family life?

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Valery and Chris Rees have been married for more than 50 years and have five children and ten grandchildren. They joined the School in 1971.

Valery teaches and writes in the field of Renaissance Studies. She now leads the group in the School that has been translating the Letters of Marsilio Ficino. The study of Ficino has led her into many further topics: she was several times a panel member on Melvyn Bragg’s Radio 4 discussion programme, In Our Time, and was commissioned to write a wide-ranging history of Angels (From Gabriel to Lucifer, published in 2013). She has lectured and written widely, for universities, learned societies and festivals.

Chris retired in 2015 as a management consultant specialising in IT, and expert witness. He has been a philosophy tutor for some 25 years. He is a Trustee of the School and of the Education Renaissance Trust. He was President of the BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT in 2018-2019. He has served as Treasurer of the School since his election in 2021.