Harvard Divinity School

Hear from Alejandra Oliva, MTS '19, Mexican-American writer, translator, and immigration-justice activist, speak about her work and her recent book, "Rivermouth: A Chronicle of Language, Faith and Migration." Héctor Tobar, author of Translation Nation, described it as "a supremely intelligent account of a translator's journey into the Kafkaesque machinery of U.S. immigration and asylum policy." This event took place October 12, 2023. For more information: https://hds.harvard.edu/ Transcript: https://hds.harvard.edu/news/video/2023/10/23/rivermouth-chronicle-language-faith-and-migration-conversation-alejandra-oliva

Full Title: Third Annual T&T Presentations Launch: Five New Researchers Present on their Scholarly Work At the beginning of the last three academic years, the HDS Center for the Study of World Religion's Transcendence and Transformation scholars come together to hear about the research of the year's new scholars. We are thrilled to introduce and share the recording from this gathering, featuring presentations from Adam Bremer-McCollum, Nicholas Low, Fabien Muller, Russ Powell, and Tara Smith. This event took place on September 21, 2023. Find more information at: https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/home Full transcript here: https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2021/10/01/video-transcendence-transformation

Convened by Ahmad Greene-Hayes, Assistant Professor of African American Religious Studies at HDS, this colloquium bridged connections between the critical study of Black religion and studies of race, gender, and sexuality in critical theory and philosophy, among many other fields. The aim of this gathering was to support research and sustained dialogue about the ways in which religion and race are co-constitutive and function as governing categories of analysis at the helm of both religious studies and Black studies, respectively. This panel discussion featured Joy James (Williams College), Keri Day (Princeton Theological Seminary), and Paul Anthony Daniels (Fordham University). This event took place on October 5, 2023. For more information: https://hds.harvard.edu/ Full transcript here: https://hds.harvard.edu/news/video/2023/10/05/black-religion-and-critical-theory-colloquium-panel-ii

Convened by Ahmad Greene-Hayes, Assistant Professor of African American Religious Studies at HDS, this colloquium bridged connections between the critical study of Black religion and studies of race, gender, and sexuality in critical theory and philosophy, among many other fields. The aim of this gathering was to support research and sustained dialogue about the ways in which religion and race are co-constitutive and function as governing categories of analysis at the helm of both religious studies and Black studies, respectively. This panel discussion featured J. Kameron Carter (Indiana University—Bloomington), Cecilio M. Cooper (Folger Shakespeare Library), and Joseph Winters (Duke University). This event took place on October 5, 2023. For more information: https://hds.harvard.edu/ Full transcript here: https://hds.harvard.edu/news/video/2023/10/05/-black-religion-and-critical-theory-colloquium-panel-i

Full title: CSWR List Lecture with Adam Afterman: Kabbalistic Neoplatonism: Divine Emanation and Mystical Integration Dr. Afterman addressed the profound impact of Neoplatonism on Kabbalah, the medieval trend of Jewish mysticism. While its impact on the development of a new form of mystical religiosity of communion and unio mystica is relatively known, he will focus on another critical development: Afterman argued that through an interpretation of Neoplatonic emanation in terms of substantive intra-divine emanation, the kabbalist developed for the first time a Jewish godhead. Dr. Adam Afterman is a Professor at the Department of Jewish Philosophy and Talmud at Tel Aviv University, specializing in Jewish philosophy and Kabbalah. He is a senior scholar and director of the John Paul II Center for Interreligious Dialogue and a senior fellow of the Kogod Center for the Renewal of Jewish Thought at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. This event took place September 28, 2023. Full transcript here: https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2023/09/28/list-lecture-jewish-studies-adam-afterman-kabbalistic-neoplatonism-divine-emanation

This panel was presented by the Women’s Studies in Religion Program (WSRP), which brings six scholars in gender from around the country each year to enrich the experience of our students. They shared their thoughts on the ethical responsibility of scholars to be engaged in the study of gender. The scholars who presented were Jessica J. Fowler, Elena Herminia Guzman, Samira K. Mehta, S. Zahara Moballegh, Z. Fareen Parvez, and Ashley M. Purpura. This event took place on August 30, 2023. Find more information for this event here: https://wsrp.hds.harvard.edu/home Transcript available here: https://wsrp.hds.harvard.edu/news/2023/10/04/video-ethical-scholarship-gender-religion-and-difference

Amid ongoing ecological collapse, calls for more intense activists are on the rise. What is the role of civil disruption in addressing ecological catastrophe? How can spiritual practice inform direct action? How does taking such actions deeply impact those who dare to act? In this talk, Tim Ream explores these questions as he reflects on decades of direct action and Zen practice. Tim is an organizer, campaigner, writer, film maker, and environmental attorney. He has alternated between outlaw, lawyer, and monk. He’s blocked roads, occupied corporate and government offices, and been jailed a number of times. He has also engaged in frequent, intensive residential Zen practice since 1993, and led Zen retreats for environmental leaders. His activism spans everything from direct action to successful lawsuits to protect wolves and other species. This event took place March 23, 2023. It was organized by Rachael Petersen, MDiv III and co-leader of the HDS Plant Consciousness Reading Group, Interspecies Dialogue, the Harvard Buddhist Community, and Ecotheology Fellowship. A full transcript is forthcoming. Learn more: https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/research-programming/transcendence-transformation/reading-groups

This webinar is the first in a series offered by the Buddhist Ministry Initiative at Harvard Divinity School. It featured a panel discussion of contributors to part I of Refuge in the Storm: Buddhist Voices in Crisis Care, edited by Nathan Jishin Michon. The panel included Dr. Victor Gabriel, Chun Fai (Jeffrey) Ng, and Dr. g (Claudelle R. Glasgow, Psy.D., SEP, and will be co-moderated by Rev. Dr. Nathan Jishin Michon and Rev. Dr. Monica Sanford. This event took place on September 20, 2023. Find more info: https://hds.harvard.edu/academics/ministry-studies/buddhist-ministry-initiative Read transcript here: https://hds.harvard.edu/news/9/20/2023/video-refuge-storm-webinar-series-part-i-buddhist-approaches-large-scale-and-community

Full Title: The Ziyārat of Imām al-Ḥusayn as Liturgical Text in Early Shī‘ī Ḥadīth and its Role in the Promulgation of Shī‘ī Piety The intention of this lecture and study is to investigate the intricacies and substance of a genre of devotional literature and liturgical practice in Twelver Shī‘īsm, namely the Ziyārat (visitational eulogy) of Imam al-Ḥusayn. In doing so, this talk presented a historical and close philological-thematic study of this ziyāra, a text that is consistently found throughout classical and contemporary Shi‘ī prayer manuals and formative hadith works such as al-Kāfī. The ziyāra has been ascribed by Twelver Shī‘īs to the sixth Imām, Ja‘far al-Ṣādiq (d. 148/765). Unlike most studies dealing with the topic of Shī‘ī devotion, this lecture shall focus on the textual history, Qur’ānic, and mystical-theological themes which imbue this liturgy. The speakers were Vinay Khetia, Academic Director, Shia Research Institute, Toronto Furthermore, the numerous statements of esoteric or gnostic provenance found throughout this text sheds further light upon the development and promulgation of the non-rationalist stream of Shī‘īsm by authorities such as al-Kulaynī, Ibn Qawlawayh, and Ibn Babawayh al-Qummī who place the ontological function of Imāms knowledge and walāya (charismatic persona and authority) at the very centre of any notion of acceptable religiosity. It is the author's contention that this ziyāra text is part and parcel of the broader venture of early esoteric Shī‘īsm thus, a text of this genre would be most appropriately analyzed within this context. Sponsored by the Jaffer Family Foundation of NY. This event took place on September 15, 2023. Find more information for this event here: https://shiism.hds.harvard.edu/ Transcript: https://hds.harvard.edu/news/2023/09/15/video-ziyarat-imam-al-husayn-liturgical-text-early-shii-hadeth-and-its-role-promulgation?admin_panel=1

As part of the Transcendence and Transformation initiative, the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard Divinity School is proud to announce its first ever podcast. Pop Apocalypse explores the mystical and the mythic, the paranormal and the psychedelic in popular culture. The show features interviews with musicians, artists, and writers about how their spiritual experiences and practices inform their work. We also explore the mythological universes in film and fiction with show-runners, writers, and directors. These candid, first-person reflections will be complemented by interviews with scholars who situate these artistic products in the study of mysticism and esotericism. Together, the podcast offers descriptive, interpretive, and theoretical scholarship on religion and popular culture in real-time that will be of interest to scholars and laypersons alike. Hosted by Matthew J. Dillon, postdoctoral fellow at the CSWR, in conversation with Whitley Strieber. Full transcript: https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2024/03/07/audio-pop-apocalypse-aliens-eros-and-life-after-death-interview-whitley-strieber Learn more: cswr.hds.harvard.edu/