Harvard Divinity School

Nurhaizatul Jamil, Visiting Assistant Professor of Women's Studies and Islam and 2021-22 Women's Studies in Religion Program Research Associate, delivered the lecture, "Islamic Self-Help, Gendered Anxieties, and Racial Capitalism in Singapore." This event took place on April 12, 2022. Learn more: https://wsrp.hds.harvard.edu/

In this webinar, speakers showcased the unique impact of Divinity School alumni in the world, discussing the critical importance and need for ethical practices and religious literacy in the field of journalism today. This event took place on April 27, 2022. Learn more: https://rpl.hds.harvard.edu/

As writers and poets, we often wonder: who is this porous and gullible and hungry person writing my poems, who is feeding her and is she for real? Is it truly me who wrote this? Is that my story, my voice? Why don’t I sound like myself—or worse, why does my self sound…not quite right? These questions can be painful, discouraging, silencing. Let’s move beyond them and go deeper into the real mysteries, the useful ones, the ones that help us write and propel us further into our journey as writers. In this talk, Brenda Shaughnessy examined why some “first words” last, what trusting your voice means, and how inchoate feelings can be transformed into art. This event took place on April 19, 2022. Learn more: https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/

A yearly tradition at HDS, the Stendahl Symposium honors the memory of former professor Krister Stendahl, who tirelessly sought to repair fractions between Jews and Christians, supported the ordination of women, and pushed for the full inclusion and participation of women and minority voices in academia and interfaith work. Each year, the symposium carries Stendahl’s legacy forward by presenting student papers centered around the topic of “Conversations Across Religious Boundaries.” This year's symposium centered the political nature of Stendahl's legacy by engaging the following subtheme: "Solidarity, Resistance, and Liberation In and Through Religious Difference." This event took place on April 19, 2022.

Erik Davis’ first book, the celebrated "Techgnosis: Myth, Magic, and Mysticism in the Age of Information," was published almost twenty-five years ago. Still in print, this cult classic of media studies continues to inform conversations about technology, consciousness, and new digital expressions of religion and esotericism. In this Gnoseologies event, speakers discussed Davis’ intellectual trajectory, the relevant lessons of 1990s "cyberdelia," and how techgnostic themes continue to inform our era of AI, post-truth polarization, the simulation hypothesis, and the explosion of digital occultism, from Insta-witches to TikTok “reality shifters." This event took place on April 13, 2022. Learn more: https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/

Since the signing of Oslo, or the Declaration of Principles, in 1993, the question of Palestine has been rammed into the constricting paradigms of statehood and diplomatic negotiations. The peace process framework not only eschewed the consequential dimension of power from the question of Palestine but limited its possible futures by reducing it to a matter of, at best, equitable partitions. This conversation aimed to peel back those debilitating frameworks to consider how other approaches like anti-racism, feminism, and anti-imperialism could help overcome restrictive binaries and lead to decolonial futures. This event took place on April 6, 2022. Learn more: https://rpl.hds.harvard.edu/programs/religion-conflict-peace

Walking Through the Twilight is a photographic exploration of American Jewish activism in solidarity with Palestinians against the Israeli military occupation. The project explores the interplay between Jewish religious identity and activism, discussing issues of identity, faith, and action. This event took place on April 12, 2022. Learn more: https://rpl.hds.harvard.edu/programs/religion-conflict-peace

The resurgence of the “divine feminine” as a discursive concept and framework in religious studies and in popular practice in Europe and the United States, raises the question of the salience of the concept in African Religions. In this talk, drawing from ethnographic research with Luba women whose religious practice informs their positionality in war, Georgette Mulunda Ledgister demonstrated the African indigenous orientation towards un-gendered expressions of religion that allow practitioners to transcend the strictures and the structures of gender. This event took place on April 11, 2022. Learn more: https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/

What drives people to join hate groups? And when they decide to leave, what comes next? "Healing from Extremism" was a panel event featuring former extremists, chaplains, and current Parents for Peace staff who work on the front lines of de-radicalization work. The panel and Q&A were moderated by Susie Hayward, Associate Director of the Religious Literacy and the Professions Initiative at Harvard Divinity School. This event took place on April 11, 2022. Learn more: https://rpl.hds.harvard.edu/programs/religious-literacy-professions

For many years esoteric and occult practices in art have been sidelined as marginal and even taboo within art historical discourses. However, the recent cultural explosion of interest in esotericism and the occult is redefining the contributions of esotericism to the development of visual art, particularly from the late nineteenth century onward. In this illustrated talk and conversation, Dr. Amy Hale explored how our understanding of artists’ esoteric practice shapes the conversation between art, artists, and the audience. This event took place on March 30, 2022. Learn more: https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/