Harvard Divinity School

When is peace not peace? When does pluralism only seem like pluralism from the perspective of the people in power? Christianity famously took form during the Pax Romana—an era of celebrated stability in the Roman empire—even as its message about the dawn of the messianic age and the coming of the kingdom of God resonated among those who saw the same age, instead, as a time of political oppression, cosmic upheaval, and eschatological unraveling. Likewise, to the degree that the Roman empire can be characterized by terms like ethnic “diversity” and religious “tolerance,” it was in a manner marked by massive erasures—both of knowledge and ways of knowing, pertaining to whole peoples. Arguably, a parallel dynamic marks Christian approaches to Jews and so-called “heretics” and “pagans,” with consequences for memory, forgetting, and archival amnesias especially with the empire’s Christianization—and with rippling effects that continue to shape our present. In this session of "Religion and Just Peace | A Series of Public Online Conversations," Annette Yoshiko Reed, Krister Stendahl Professor of Divinity and Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity, reflected upon the perennial questions above using examples from these ancient religions and empires. This is the second event of a five-part series of online public conversations with members of the HDS faculty to explore what an expansive understanding of religion can provide to the work of just peacebuilding. This event took place on February 3, 2025. Full transcript: https://www.hds.harvard.edu/news/2025/02/03/video-empire-and-epistemicide-historical-perspectives-rhetoric-peace-and-its-erasures

Although the sectarian labels of Sunni and Shi’a are widely used today to cover a range of identities and beliefs held by Muslims across the Islamic World, there are many foundational questions remaining over the origins of sectarian identity in Islam as well as its implications across time. The field has largely understudied theories of sectarianism and the precise applications of Sunni and Shi’a labels, including the content of their beliefs and the boundaries between them, largely remain an open debate to historians, political scientists, and others alike. This discussion covered some of the main theoretical, methodological, and thematic issues relating to the study of sectarianism, Shi’a and Sunni identities, and the challenges in understanding what these labels mean over time and in the larger field of Islamic and Middle Eastern studies. Speakers: Dr. Ahmed El Shamsy, Professor of Islamic Thought, University of Chicago Dr. Mohammad Sagha, Lecturer in the Modern Middle East, Harvard University. Moderator: Dr. Mohsen Goudarzi, Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies, Harvard Divinity School. This event took place on November 14, 2024. Full transcript: https://www.hds.harvard.edu/news/2024/11/14/exploring-sectarian-identity-islam

In this episode of the Hope Podcast, first-year Marty Martinage explains how storytelling, representation, and even silly stickers can help guide us to hope. Transcript: https://www.hds.harvard.edu/news/2025/03/03/hope-podcast-featuring-marty-matinage-mdiv-candidate

For the 12th episode of Pop Apocalypse, Matt Dillon welcomes the philosopher, artist, and musician Haela Ravenna Hunt-Hendrix. Haela is best known as the songwriter and singer for the black metal band, Liturgy, which has released six full albums and one EP. We discuss Haela’s early relationships to Christianity and metal music, her philosophical training, and her recent conversion to Orthodox Christianity. Along the way, we explore her philosophical system of Transcendental Qabalah and how it informs records such as H.A.Q.Q., Origin of the Alimonies, and 93696.

In this episode of the Hope Podcast, we sit down with second year MDiv candidate Ivy Wang. Together we talk about her journey through different Harvard schools and what it may feel like to find a new home in beauty and mystery. Transcript: https://www.hds.harvard.edu/news/2025/02/20/hope-podcast-featuring-ivy-wang-mdiv-candidate

In this episode of the Hope Podcast, we hear from Joyce Cheng, a first year MTS student. This in episode we discuss Joyce's idea of hope, her faith, and what brings her to HDS. Transcript: https://www.hds.harvard.edu/news/2025/02/20/hope-podcast-featuring-joyce-cheng-mts-candidate

Creative practice and religious experience overlap in this week’s Praxis podcast with Jack Tripp, MTS’ 25. In sharing about his artistic practice, Jack offers his perspective on the surrender required for his ceramics and his spiritual life. Full transcript: https://www.hds.harvard.edu/news/2025/03/03/ceramics-and-surrender-praxis-podcast-featuring-jack-tripp-mts-25

In this long read from Harvard Divinity Bulletin, a 'Divine Comedy' reading group with two artist friends deepens the author’s understanding of Dante’s transcendent friendship with Virgil. This is a special audio version of "On Assignment, Virgil Rescues Dante from the Wilderness," a feature written and read by Diane Mehta and appearing in the Autumn/Winter 2024 issue of Harvard Divinity Bulletin. Read or follow along on the Harvard Divinity Bulletin website: https://bulletin.hds.harvard.edu/on-assignment-virgil-rescues-dante-from-the-wilderness/

This week’s Praxis episode features Rebecca Oreskes, who recently graduated HDS with her Master of Theological Studies degree. After a 25 year career in the forest service, she decided to return to school to become a chaplain, focusing on end of life care. Full transcript: https://www.hds.harvard.edu/news/2024/10/24/intersection-of-healing-veteran-service-and-motherhood-a-praxis-podcast-with-Amy-Sexauer.

For Episode 11 of Pop Apocalypse, we welcome Jennifer Higgie. Jennifer is the author of several books, including Bedlam, a novel about the artist Richard Dadd; The Mirror and the Palette, a history of women’s self-portraits; and The Other Side: A Story of Women in Art and the Spirit World, a beautiful and personal study of the relationship between spiritual experience and art in the lives of modern women. In this career-spanning chat, Jennifer and I discuss her early career in painting, what inspired her to write Bedlam, and how the art world changed during her time at Frieze magazine. Then we dive into Jennifer’s latest book, The Other Side: A Story of Women in Art and the Spirit World. We discuss the spiritual and artistic lives of women like Georgiana Houghton, Hilma af Klint, Ithell Colquhoun, and Hildegard of Bingen. Along the way, we touch on topics like fairies, Spiritualism, gardening, Carl Jung, spiritual ecology, Theosophy, ascended masters, angels, and much else.