The Idea of the Numinous

David Tacey was born in Melbourne and his family later moved to Alice Springs, central Australia. He spent his adolescence and early adulthood living alongside Aboriginal cultures. This brought about his lifelong interest in Aboriginal religions and the spiritual relationship between land, nature and human consciousness. He studied literature, philosophy and art history in his Bachelor of Arts degree at Flinders University, and earned his PhD at Adelaide University in literature and psychoanalysis. After winning the Bentham Prize at Adelaide he was one of four Australians to be awarded a post-doctoral fellowship by the Harkness Foundation, New York.

He has published 14 books, 70 refereed essays in journals, 45 chapters in edited volumes, and 50 articles in non-refereed journals and magazines. David Tracey has maintained a commitment to public awareness in the areas of religious education, indigenous health, men's issues and environmental issues. He is currently Emeritus Professor of Literature at La Trobe University in Melbourne and Research Professor at the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture in Canberra.

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