Jeremy Carrette

It was a privilege this week to interview Jeremy Carrette, Dean for Europe and Professor of Philosophy, Religion and Culture at the University of Kent. We learn how Jeremy came to Canterbury because of love and why he had to demote himself in order to work here, as well as about his links to the Huguenots and the improvement in rail services over the years, and we find out what happened when Jeremy met Jarvis Cocker on the Eurostar.

Jeremy talks about how we created a new era for Religious Studies at Kent and broke up some of the former habits among the ‘old guard’ and the process involving renewing the Michael Ramsey Chair. We also discuss the difference between teaching 18-21 year olds and teaching trainee priests, and the different challenges now affecting us with respect to Europe.

Jeremy talks about the importance of seizing opportunities when they arise, and about the importance of relationship building. Great advances in knowledge have been through partnerships and Jeremy discusses how these are vital to students and the economy.

Deeply influenced by psychoanalysis, Jeremy speaks about his father who was a canon in the C of E (and one of the radical priests of the 1960s) as well as a therapist, and Jeremy talks about being influenced by R.D. Laing and about the impact of the death of his parents. He identifies the importance not just of his own past but about generational and collective pasts and we learn why he thinks the past needs to be engaged with in terms of a critical reflexivity.

We find out why Jeremy doesn’t over-romanticize the past, and he asks me why I focus on nostalgia. We talk about how we fabricate the past through contemporary emotional perspectives and Jeremy tells us why it is memory rather than nostalgia which is most important, and why forgetting is as important as remembering.

We discover that Jeremy used to listen to choral music, wild jazz, Bill Haley and The Beatles, and he explains why he prefers to listen to melancholic music. Environment and smell is as important to him as music, and Jeremy shares his thoughts on the nature of celebrity and the influence of Tony Benn.

Then, in the final part of the interview, we talk about how difficult it is to overcome grief and the strategies we develop for giving us strength. We learn what his childhood self would think about what he is doing now and how, for Jeremy, life is about holding both challenging and wonderful experiences together.

Please note: Opinions expressed are solely those of Chris Deacy and Jeremy Carrette and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of the University of Kent.