Harvard Divinity School

This discussion followed the screening of Oscar-winning filmmakers Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin's extraordinary film "Wild Life". The film is a story of love, wildness, and restoration in Chile and Argentina, recording the life of Kris Tompkins through an epic decades-spanning love story as wild as the landscapes she dedicated her life to protecting. Special guests in this conversation include Kris Tompkins and Chai Vasarhelyi, with guest curator Geralyn Dreyfous and HDS writer-in-residence Terry Tempest Williams. This event took place November 13, 2023. For more information: https://rpl.hds.harvard.edu/ Transcript: https://hds.harvard.edu/news/video/2023/11/13/wild-life-film-screening-and-discussion

In this project, Elena Guzman explored the way Black women and non-binary people through the Caribbean and its diaspora use spiritual and ritual performance within African Diasporic Religions, including Santeria, Haitian Vodou, Puerto Rican Espiritismo, 21 Divisions, and Obeah, as a means to forge interstitial geographies of the African diaspora. Elena Guzman is an Afro-Boricua filmmaker, educator, and scholar raised in the Bronx with deep roots in the LES. She received her PhD in Anthropology from Cornell University and is an Assistant Professor in the African American and African Diaspora Studies Department and Anthropology at Indiana University Bloomington. Her manuscript, "Chimera Geographies: Black Feminist Borderland Performances," focuses on the way Black women and non-binary people throughout the African diaspora use ritual performance in African diaspora religion as a means to forge Black feminist borderlands through spiritual crossings. Her work has been published in Feminist Anthropology, NACLA, and Cultural Anthropology’s Screening Room. This event took place October 31, 2023. For more information: https://wsrp.hds.harvard.edu/home Full transcript here: https://hds.harvard.edu/news/video/2023/10/31/chimera-geographies-black-spiritual-borderland-performances-caribbean

Full Title: From Ms. Marvel to the Smithsonian: A Conversation on Teaching Religious Literacy through Arts and Popular Culture with Dr. Hussein Rashid In this conversation, Dr. Rashid discussed his work and its uses in the classroom, with a particular focus on the Children’s Museum of Manhattan exhibit "America to Zanzibar: Muslim Cultures Near and Far?" Dr. Hussein Rashid is the new Assistant Dean for Religion and Public Life and brought to RPL with a wealth of experience as an educator in public and classroom settings. He has particular expertise in integrating the arts into the study of religion. From work with museums to film, documentary, and comics, Rashid has long engaged the power of images and art to highlight complexity and captivate learners when teaching religious literacy. Among other projects Dr. Rashid executive produced the Times Op-Doc "The Secret History of Muslims in the US" and co-edited a volume on Ms. Marvel, the first Muslim to have her own comic series with Marvel Comics. This event took place October, 24, 2023. For more information, https://rpl.hds.harvard.edu/home Full transcript here: https://rpl.hds.harvard.edu/news/2023/11/27/video-ms-marvel-smithsonian-teaching-religious-literacy-through-arts-and-popular-culture

Full title: Psychedelics and the Future of Religion: Panel discussion on Race and Exoticism in Global Psychedelic Spirituality with Professors Lucia and Saldanha Drawing from their respective perspectives and scholarship, Professors Lucia and Saldanha led a conversation around the racialized politics/ethics of the hallucinogenic experience (or discourses thereof) within the context of modern spiritualities. Amanda Lucia is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of California-Riverside. She is author of White Utopias: The Religious Exoticism of Transformational Festivals and is the Principal Investigator for the Religion & Sexual Abuse Project. Arun Saldahna is Professor in the Department of Geography, Environment, and Society at the University of Minnesota. He is the author of Psychedelic White: Goa Trance and the Viscosity of Race and Space After Deleuze. This event took place October 26, 2023. For more information: https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/ A transcript is forthcoming.

Major religious traditions call on their adherents to respond to the causes of suffering, those who suffer, and the prevention of suffering. The ways we respond and serve can take many forms including activism and holding political office. How does spiritual practice support the difficult work of speaking truth to power as well as being in positions of power without losing focus on the relief of suffering? In this book talk and conversation, Lori E. Lightfoot, Esq., 56th Mayor of Chicago, and Pamela Ayo Yetunde, J.D., Th.D., author of Casting Indra's Net: Fostering Spiritual Kinship and Community, reflected on the role of political officeholders and public theologians in the divisive social contexts we live in today. This event was live-streamed on the HDS Youtube channel, and took place October 24, 2023. Bios Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot is a graduate of the University of Michigan and the University of Chicago Law School. She was an Assistant United States Attorney who also served in other governmental positions with the Chicago Police Department and the Office of Emergency Management and later, Lightfoot was a law partner at Mayer Brown. Lightfoot served as the 56th Mayor of Chicago. She was the second woman, first African-American female and first openly gay person to ever serve as Mayor. Her tenure ran from May 2019—May 2023. Mayor Lightfoot is a 2023 Senior Leadership Fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health where she is teaching a course on leadership and key discussion-making in public health. Pamela Ayo Yetunde, J.D., Th.D., is a pastoral counselor in private practice, Community Dharma Leader, human rights advocate, and the author of Casting Indra's Net: Fostering Spiritual Kinships and Community. Along with HDS's Dr. Cheryl A. Giles, Ayo co-edited Black and Buddhist: What Buddhism Can Teach Us About Race, Resilience, Transformation and Freedom. This anthology led to Dr. Charles Stang, director of the Center for the Study of World Religions, hosting a powerful program about being Black and Buddhist. Ayo is also an associate editor with Lion's Roar and Buddhadharma and has hosted many of their podcast interviews. You can visit Ayo's website (https://www.pamelaayoyetunde.com:) for more information, including how to purchase the book. For more information: https://hds.harvard.edu/academics/ministry-studies/buddhist-ministry-initiative Full transcript: https://hds.harvard.edu/news/video/2023/10/24/call-respond-and-serve-role-spirituality-public-theology-and-politics

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 Victoria Nelson. Full transcript: https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2024/03/08/audio-pop-apocalypse-monsters-fictional-worlds-and-repressed-supernatural-talk Learn more: cswr.hds.harvard.edu/

This special event, jointly organized by CSWR and HDS Buddhist Ministry Initiative, aimed to commemorate Dhamma Chakra Day and delved into the enduring legacy of Dr. Ambedkar. His peaceful, egalitarian, grassroots movement has left an indelible mark on Indian society and politics. The event showcased three speakers whose research has deepened our understanding of Buddhism's impact and potential in fostering equality and social justice in India. Speaker List: - Dr Ambedkar: Restructuring of Indian Society towards Liberty, Fraternity, and Equality - Prof S. K. Thorat, Chairman, Indian Institute of Dalit Studies - Dr. Raja Sekhar Vundru, "Buddhism and Emancipation of oppressed classes in India," author of Gandhi, Ambedkar and Patel - Chief Secretary, Haryana State, India. - Dr. William Edelglass, Director, Barre Centre for Buddhist Studies, author of "Equality, Solidarity, and Religion: On Ambedkar’s Conversion" Buddhism made a significant comeback in India in October 1956 through a momentous mass conversion led by Dr. Ambedkar and his 500,000 followers, predominantly from the marginalized Untouchable communities. Despite enduring severe structural violence, Dr. Ambedkar eschewed the path of aggression, opting instead for the peaceful transformation of society. He believed that this transformation could only be achieved by embracing the teachings of Buddha-Dhamma. Presently, India boasts over 50 million Buddhists, many of whom found inspiration in Dr. Ambedkar. His conversion movement is a pivotal force, reshaping India's religious and social landscape to a degree not witnessed since the times of Buddha and Ashoka. This event took place on October 19, 2023. For more information: https://hds.harvard.edu/ Transcript: https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2023/11/07/video-dhamma-chakra-day-buddhism-and-emancipation-marginalized-classes-india

Through her channel, "Angela's Symposium," Dr. Puca pioneered an innovative approach to academia by utilizing popular social media platforms, aiming to bridge the gap between esoteric academic scholarship and the wider community. This talk explored the challenges and opportunities of digital scholarship, discuss the implications of bridging two worlds for academia at large, and present future avenues for scholarly engagement in the rapidly evolving landscape of digital media. Angela Puca’s research focuses on magic, witchcraft, Paganism, esotericism, shamanism, and related currents. Author of several peer-reviewed publications and co-editor of the forthcoming "Pagan Religions in Five Minutes" for Equinox, she bridged the gap between academia and the communities of magic practitioners by delivering related scholarly content on her YouTube Channel and social media project "Angela’s Symposium." This event took place October 18, 2023. For more information: https://hds.harvard.edu/ Transcript: https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2023/11/06/gnoseologies-angelas-symposium-youtube-esotericism-and-academia

This lecture was given by Jessica J. Fowler (University of Montana Western), who's an HDS Visiting Associate Professor of Women’s Studies and Catholicism on her work, "Illuminating the Empire: The Spanish Inquisition and the Spread of Global Heresy." This event took place October 11, 2023. For more information: https://hds.harvard.edu/ View transcript: https://hds.harvard.edu/news/video/2023/10/11/illuminating-empire-spanish-inquisition-and-spread-global-heresy

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