Harvard Divinity School

The COVID-19 pandemic offers an opportunity to explore how religion and whiteness are interconnected. Where is religion in a president refusing to wear masks in public? What of whiteness in a governor suing one of its state’s own cities to prevent mask mandates? These current events, and their asymmetrical racialized consequences, offer a view of whiteness’s historical and phenomenological role as one of religious ‘prophylaxis,’ a living theodicy, a rejection of our responsibility to one another across lines of social distance that gives way to a sanctioning of and justification for social atrocities past, present, and future. This talk explored whiteness revealed as spirit possession in moments when the efficacy of this prophylaxis is challenged, and also showed how whiteness is working to transform the occasion of pandemic response into a perverse opportunity. Full transcript here: https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2020/10/09/video-spirits-whiteness-age-covid-19

As the 2020 presidential election nears, Lauren R. Kerby and Jeff Sharlet discussed the politics of white evangelicals in the U.S. today. Kerby's book, Saving History: How White Evangelicals Tour the Nation's Capital and Redeem a Christian America, offers a starting point for this important conversation about how race, nationalism, and Christianity become entangled for many white evangelicals through what they learn from their leaders about American history. Their political commitments are baffling to many observers, but this conversation will explore how white evangelicals’ relationship to the nation offers a key to understanding their continued allegiance to Donald Trump. Lauren R. Kerby is a lecturer on religious studies at Harvard Divinity School and the education specialist for the Religious Literacy Project. She earned her PhD from Boston University. She is the author of Saving History: How White Evangelicals Tour the Nation's Capital and Redeem a Christian America (University of North Carolina Press, 2020). Jeff Sharlet is the Frederick Sessions Beebe '35 Professor in the Art of Writing at Dartmouth College. He is the author or editor of seven books including the national bestseller The Family, recently adapted into a Netflix documentary series of the same name, and This Brilliant Darkness. Sharlet is an editor at large for VQR and a contributor to publications including Vanity Fair, The New York Times Magazine, and GQ, for which his reporting on anti-LGBTQ+ crusades in Russia won the National Magazine Award. Full transcript here: https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2020/10/07/video-campaign-white-christian-america-lauren-r-kerby-conversation-jeff-sharlet

Mystical-type experiences are profound and often characterized by an authoritative sense of the unity and sacredness and sometimes interpreted as an encounter with God or Ultimate Reality. Although such experiences have been described by mystics and religious figures throughout the ages, there are few experimental studies because such experiences usually occur at low rates and often unpredictably. Psilocybin in the form the Psilocybe genus of mushrooms has been used for centuries within some cultures for religious and healing purposes. This presentation, held September 15, 2020, reviewed a series of studies investigating the effects of psilocybin administered to carefully screened and psychologically prepared volunteers who were encouraged to close their eyes and direct their attention inwards. Under such conditions, psilocybin occasions profound personally and spiritually meaningful mystical-type experiences in the majority of participants. Roland Griffiths is Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Neurosciences and Director of the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His principal research focus is on the behavioral and subjective effects of mood-altering drugs. Full transcript here: https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2020/09/29/video-psilocybin-and-mystical-experience-implications-healthy-psychological

This conversation was presented on August 27, 2020, by the HDS Women’s Studies in Religion Program, which brings five scholars in gender from around the country each year to enrich the experience of HDS students. The research associates shared their thoughts on the ethical responsibility of scholars to be engaged in the study of gender. Full transcript here: https://wsrp.hds.harvard.edu/news/2020/08/27/video-ethical-scholarship-gender-religion-and-difference

In conjunction with the HDS Committee on Racial Justice and Healing and in cooperation with the courses "Theories and Methods in the Study of Religion" (T&M) and "Introduction to Ministry Studies" (IMS), Professors David Holland and Matthew Potts hosted a two-part series of community conversations on issues of white supremacy and anti-blackness in the study of ministry and religion. On September 2, Professor Potts, Associate Professor of Religion and Literature and of Ministry Studies, moderated a discussion on white supremacy in the study and practice of ministry. Panelists included: Cheryl Giles, Francis Greenwood Peabody Senior Lecturer on Pastoral Care and Counseling; Karen King, Hollis Professor of Divinity; Ousmane Kane, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Professor of Contemporary Islamic Religion and Society, Professor of African and African American Studies (FAS), and Denominational Counselor to Muslim Students; Dan McKanan, Ralph Waldo Emerson Unitarian Universalist Association Senior Lecturer in Divinity; and Michelle Sanchez, Associate Professor of Theology. These community-wide events seek to facilitate conversations among students, staff, faculty, and alumni on essential topics. We hope all in the HDS community can join us for these critical discussions as we launch into a promising, and challenging, new academic year. Full transcript here: https://hds.harvard.edu/news/2020/09/02/video-white-supremacy-study-and-practice-ministry

Cornell William Brooks, Visiting Professor of the Practice of Prophetic Religion and Public Leadership at HDS and Professor of the Practice of Public Leadership and Social Justice at Harvard Kennedy School, virtually delivered the 205th Convocation address at Harvard Divinity School. Brooks's address was entitled "George and Jesus: Policing an Insurrection of Hope." Full transcript here: https://hds.harvard.edu/news/2020/08/27/convocation-2020-george-and-jesus-policing-insurrection-hope

John Camardella’s students have learned how to go beyond the textbook and embrace the “complex ways that religions function in the human experience.” Camardella is a world religions educator at Prospect High School in Illinois. Interview Transcript: We want our students to make a difference in society and all of us in education have to examine that if our time in the classroom is preparing them to do that or not. Before they were leaving my classroom thinking they knew the answers because of some Scantron tests. And now they're leaving aware that they do have the vocabulary in the context of certain religions, but now they're leaving being comfortable with the questions. The most common shifting that students have in the class is that they are now hyper-aware that a lack of understanding about sort of these complex ways that religions function in different cultures and in different human experiences that it actually can fuel racism and prejudice and bigotry, right? And it does not lead to cooperative endeavors, you know, in local areas and national areas. That's invaluable for these young men and women who are entering our society as citizens. The program was instrumental in helping me as a person and as an educator make that shift and now it's serving the students in my classroom and I'm forever grateful for that.

Religious literacy is one of the “most urgent issues that anyone serious about social justice can undertake.” An RPL fellowship gave Greg Khalil the space to critically think about his work. Khalil is the co-founder and president of Telos Group. Interview Transcript: I do a lot of work in building social movement, including communities of faith, across lines of difference. And this work is complicated because, to build movement, you have to invite people on a journey that's theirs. That's not yours. And I think, through RLP, it gave some affirmation. But it also challenged me to think more critically about that ethical dilemma, which you feel on a day-to-day basis when you're in the trenches but you don't really examine. And so learning literacy with regards to religion is one of the most urgent issues that anyone who is serious about social justice, peacemaking, political change can undertake. There is not just a blind spot among academia and among many liberals. There is a willful disdain for religion, faith, and theology. And yet these are essential parts of the human experience that drive us as individuals, as communities, and as a body politic. What I walk away with is a great sense of hope that there are serious people doing this work and an even greater sense of drive to say, hey, so many of our friends need to be involved in this conversation. It's not a question of whether religion, faith will shape our world. It's a question of how. And if we sit back on the sidelines and if we don't learn to be literate and how to engage honestly as peers, unfortunately, fundamentalist, supremacist, extremist religious narratives will continue to gain prominence and shape our world.

Gathering Historias, an initiative of the Arnold Arboretum, envisions an outdoor landscape that fully includes and connects the stories of our expanding Latino communities. Developed by Steven Fisher, a master’s degree candidate at the Harvard Divinity School, this project recognizes that the diverse voices of Latino communities can contribute to our cultural narratives of the environment. In this recording we hear from Wendy Estrada who has lived throughout Latin America. Now living in Brookline, Mass., with her family, Wendy remembers some of her favorite sounds she experienced in her former home in Panama City. You can read the English and Spanish transcript of this recording, and listen to others, on the Gathering Historias project site: https://www.arboretum.harvard.edu/visit/gathering-historias/. You can read a story about the project for more information: https://www.arboretum.harvard.edu/gathering-historias-reveals-deep-rooted-connections-to-nature-and-community/

Casper ter Kuile, MDiv '16, MPP '16, and Angie Thurston, MDiv '16, map and convene the Millennial leaders of spiritual communities at the forefront of religious change. From CrossFit to dinner churchers, Muslim small groups, and maker spaces, their work illuminates the rapidly shifting generational patterns in American religious life today. Full transcript here: https://hds.harvard.edu/news/2020/04/02/video-religion-new-generation Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at https://hds.harvard.edu/.

This week, the HDS Episcopal/Anglican Fellowship is offering a podcast version of Noon Service on the topic “Mary’s YES, our YES!” Celebrate the Feast of the Annunciation with Anne Stetson MDiv II, Jonathan Robert Smith MDiv II, Joris Bürmann, MDiv II, Carolyn Beard MDiv I, and The Rev. Dr. Regina L. Walton, Counselor to Episcopal/Anglican Students. Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained from One License with license number A-715440.

Three Hindu monastics visiting Harvard Divinity School this year spoke on March 11, 2020, on the great tradition of the Upanisads and Vedanta, and why this wisdom is relevant in today’s global society. Featuring: Swami Sarvapriyananda (Ramakrishna Mission); Brahmacharini Shweta Chaitanya (Chinmaya Mission); Sadhak Akshar–Guru: Mahant Swami Maharaj (BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha). Moderated by Francis X. Clooney, S.J., Parkman Professor of Divinity and Professor of Comparative Theology, Harvard Divinity School. The discussant was Anantanand Rambachan, Professor of Religion, Saint Olaf College. Made possible by support from the Nagral Fund. Full transcript here: https://hds.harvard.edu/news/2020/03/19/video-vedanta-21st-century Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at https://hds.harvard.edu/.

Considerable attention has been directed to the possibility of a technological singularity when artificial intelligences “wake up” and start acting in their own self-interest. Long before then, however, humanity will confront an ethical singularity—a point at which the evaluation of values systems acquires infinite value. The computational factories and intelligence-gathering infrastructure of the global attention economy have begun to function as karmic engines, perfecting values-reinforcing feedback loops that are transforming everything from the dynamics of social interaction to geopolitics. Drawing on Buddhist resources, this talk made the case that our prospects of realizing more humane global futures depends on changing how we are present and developing both capacities for and commitments to compassionate ethical creativity. Peter D. Hershock is director of the Asian Studies Development Program at the East-West Center in Honolulu. He has authored or edited more than a dozen books on Buddhism, most recently "Philosophies of Place: An Intercultural Conversation" (edited, 2019). His current project, initiated as a 2017-18 Fellow of the Berggruen Institute in China, is a monograph on The Intelligence Revolution: The Challenges of Humane Presence in an Era of Artificial Agents and Smart Services—a reflection on the personal and societal impacts of the attention economy and artificial intelligence. Video and full transcript here: https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2020/02/19/intelligence-revolution-and-new-attention-economy-ethical-singularity Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at https://hds.harvard.edu/.

This event, held February 11 at the CSWR, is part of a year-long series titled "Theological Bioethics Within Marginalized Communities." This lecture is a womanist critique of a longstanding racist campaign of domestic terror in the United States. It investigated the intersectionality of racism, in particular the racist acts condoned by religious communities and by the health care system. It gave special attention to the 40-year Syphilis Study at Tuskegee conducted by the United States Public Health Service. The Rev. Dr. Joan R. Harrell is a womanist practical theologian and journalist committed to social justice. Her scholarship investigates the intersectionality of racism, sexism, xenophobia, religion, politics, media and public health inequities in marginalized communities. She is a Journalism Lecturer and the inaugural Diversity Coordinator for the Auburn University School of Communication and Journalism and Associate Pastor at the historic Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church in Montgomery, Al. Video and full transcript here: https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2020/02/13/video-becoming-beloved-community-midst-domestic-terror Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at https://hds.harvard.edu/.

This talk examined the forms that grief can take, in the work of Zoe Leonard, Peter Hujar, David Wojnarowicz, and John Constable. Kate Zambreno is the author of several acclaimed books, including Screen Tests, Heroines, and Green Girl. She has recently published a collection of talks and essays, Appendix Project, in the shadow of Book of Mutter, her meditation on grief. Her writing has appeared in The Paris Review, VQR, and elsewhere. A novel, Drifts, is forthcoming in May 2020. She teaches in the writing programs at Columbia University and Sarah Lawrence College. Video and full transcript here: https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2020/02/10/video-forms-grief Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at hds.harvard.edu/.

Stephanie Paulsell, HDS Susan Shallcross Swartz Professor of the Practice of Christian Studies and Interim Pusey Minister in the Memorial Church, discusses her recent publication on Virginia Woolf. Amy Hollywood (HDS) and Terry Tempest Williams (HDS) responded. Video and full transcript here: https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2019/12/02/video-religion-around-virginia-woolf-author-discussion Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at https://hds.harvard.edu/.

On November 6, 2019, Harvard Divinity School hosted its annual Theological Education Day. The day featured many panel discussions, including this one on admissions and financial aid. Full transcript here: https://hds.harvard.edu/files/hds/files/ted-financial-aid-2019.pdf Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at https://hds.harvard.edu/.

K. Healan Gaston, Harvard Divinity School Lecturer in American Religious History and Ethics, discusses her recent publication, Imagining Judeo-Christian America--Religion, Secularism, and the Redefinition of Democracy. E.J. Dionne (Harvard Divinity School) and Mark Silk (Trinity College) serve as respondents. Video and full transcript here: https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2019/11/18/video-imagining-judeo-christian-america-religion-secularism-and-redefinition-democracy Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at http://hds.harvard.edu/.

On Thursday, November 14, 2019, Kerry M. Sonia, WSRP Research Associate and Visiting Assistant Professor of Women's Studies and Hebrew Bible, gave the lecture, “Like a Woman in Labor: The Ritual and Social Dimensions of Childbirth in the Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel.” Video and full transcript here: https://wsrp.hds.harvard.edu/news/2019/11/14/video-making-babies-childbirth-and-ceramic-production-hebrew-bible-and-israelite Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at https://hds.harvard.edu/.

Artist and author Rachel Sussman shares her physical, intellectual, and spiritual journey around the world and through time-space as she discusses her epic 10-year project, "The Oldest Living Things in the World," newer mind-expanding works incubated at NASA and SETI, and, for the first time, her personal journey of spiritual awakening and transformation through her relationship with ayahuasca. Artist and author Rachel Sussman is a Guggenheim and MacDowell Colony Fellow, and two-time TED speaker. Her critically acclaimed, decade-long project "The Oldest Living Things in the World" combines art, science, and philosophy into a traveling exhibition and New York Times bestselling book. For the past five years she has been deepening her investigations of personal and cosmic time, being, and consciousness, fostered by a spiritual awakening ignited by shamanic medicine practices. Video and full transcript here: https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2019/11/14/video-all-time-world-artists-awakening-ayahuasca Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at http://hds.harvard.edu/.

What might it look like to see Jerusalem, with its cross-hatched encounters between people of diverse faiths and cultures, as a city of the book? Merav Mack and Benjamin Balint share their forays into the city's most inaccessible reaches in the making of their recently published book, Jerusalem: City of the Book. Video and full transcript here: https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2019/11/11/video-jerusalem-city-book Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at http://hds.harvard.edu/.

Graham Harvey, professor of religious studies at The Open University (UK), discusses animism and how our relations are damaged by ongoing efforts to separate (human) culture from ‘nature’ and humans from other species. Engaging with Indigenous knowledges, Harvey seeks to replace ‘nature’ with more respectful relationships with the world. Graham Harvey is professor of religious studies at The Open University, UK. His research largely concerns “the new animism,” especially in the rituals and protocols through which Indigenous and other communities engage with the larger-than-human world. His publications include Food, Sex and Strangers: Understanding Religion as Everyday Life (2013), and Animism: Respecting the Living World (2nd edition 2017). Video and full transcript here: https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2019/11/07/video-we-have-always-been-animists Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at http://hds.harvard.edu/.

On November 6, 2019, Harvard Divinity School hosted its annual Theological Education Day. Dean David N. Hempton and Angela Counts, Director of Admissions, welcomed participants. Full transcript here: https://hds.harvard.edu/files/hds/files/ted-welcome-2019.pdf Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at https://hds.harvard.edu/.

On November 6, 2019, Harvard Divinity School hosted its annual Theological Education Day. The day featured many panel discussions, including this one on ministry studies and field education program. Full transcript here: https://hds.harvard.edu/files/hds/files/ted-ministry-at-hds-2019.pdf Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at https://hds.harvard.edu/.

On November 6, 2019, Harvard Divinity School hosted its annual Theological Education Day. The day featured many panel discussions, including this one that introduced participants to the school's MDiv, MTS, ThM, and PhD degree programs. Full transcript here: https://hds.harvard.edu/files/hds/files/ted-mdiv-2019.pdf Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at https://hds.harvard.edu/.

On November 6, 2019, Harvard Divinity School hosted its annual Theological Education Day. The day featured many panel discussions, including this one with students and staff describing life at HDS. Full transcription here: https://hds.harvard.edu/files/hds/files/ted-community-2019.pdf Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at https://hds.harvard.edu/.

A conversation on Nov. 4 with the three Hindu monastics visiting HDS this year, each representing a different Hindu tradition: Swami Sarvapriyananda (Ramakrishna Mission), Brahmacharini Shweta Chaitanya (Chinmaya Mission), and Sadhak Akshar–Guru: Mahant Swami Maharaj (BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha). They introduced the traditions to which they belong, explained why they joined the traditions, and what it has meant for their lives. Francis X. Clooney, S.J., Parkman Professor of Divinity, moderated the conversation. Video and full transcription here: https://hds.harvard.edu/news/2019/11/04/video-being-hindu-monastic-personal-journeys Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at hds.harvard.edu/.

Alicia Izharuddin (University of Malaya), Visiting Senior Lecturer on Women’s Studies and Islam, gives a lecture entitled “‘Bureaucratic Islam and the Romance Industry in Southeast Asia.” Video and full transcript: https://wsrp.hds.harvard.edu/news/2019/10/24/video-bureaucratic-islam-and-romance-industry-southeast-asia Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at http://hds.harvard.edu/.

Anne E. Monius, Professor of South Asian Religions at Harvard Divinity School, passed away on August 3, 2019. A distinguished scholar and engaged as well as engaging teacher, Professor Monius taught for 17 years at Harvard Divinity School, where she specialized in the religious traditions of India. Her research examined the practices and products of literary culture to reconstruct the history of religions in South Asia. HDS faculty and friends remembered Professor Monius during a memorial service on October 11, 2019. Full transcript here: https://hds.harvard.edu/news/video-anne-e-monius-memorial-service

Jyoti Puri, Visiting Professor of Women’s Studies and South Asian Religions Colorado Scholar from Simmons University, presents on “Death in Transit: Cremation, Spectacle, and Looking Off-center.” Video and full transcript here: https://wsrp.hds.harvard.edu/news/2019/09/27/video-death-transit-cremation-spectacle-and-looking-off-center Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at hds.harvard.edu/.

Marder formulates the paradox of “excessive heat” that, on the one hand, signals the ardency of faith and the love of God and, on the other, the effect of sin configured as ariditas (dryness), undoing viriditas (the greening green, a self-refreshing power of creation). The difference between the two kinds of excessive heat is folded into the material distinction between the woods and wood: while timber is dry and ready to go up in flames, living trees are anything but inert matter ready to be incinerated. Paradoxically, though, the woods themselves are ablaze; they are heat, which Hildegard associates with spirit. In them, solar energy is not only captured and detained but perpetually transformed in an ongoing elemental conversation with water, the earth, and the atmosphere. Michael Marder is IKERBASQUE Research Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of the Basque Country (UPV-EHU), Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. His writings span the fields of phenomenology, political thought, and environmental philosophy. Video and full transcript here: https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2019/09/26/ardencies-st-hidegard-blazing-plants Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at http://hds.harvard.edu/.

In this lecture, Ruth Harris examines how Vivekananda conveyed the meaning of “guru-bakhti” to his female disciples, and the spiritual lens through which he sought to mold them in a male spiritual milieu. Ruth Harris is Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford and Senior Research Fellow at All Souls’ College. She has published widely in the history of religion, science, women’s history, French history, and more recently, global history. The lecture took place at the Center for the Studies for World Religions on September 23, 2019. Full transcript here: https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2019/09/23/gurus-women-yoga Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at http://hds.harvard.edu/.

Author, activist, and farmer Leah Penniman discusses the movement for food sovereignty and building a food system based on justice, dignity, and abundance for all members of our community. The talk took place at the Center for the Center for the Study of World Religions (CSWR) at Harvard Divinity School on September 17, 2019. Leah Penniman is a Black Kreyol educator, farmer/peyizan, author, and food justice activist from Soul Fire Farm in Grafton, New York. She has been farming since 1996, and co-founded Soul Fire Farm in 2011 with the mission to end racism in our food system. Her James Beard award-winning book, Farming While Black, offers the first comprehensive manual for African-heritage people ready to reclaim their rightful place of dignified agency in our food system. Video and full transcript here: https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2019/09/17/video-farming-while-black Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at http://hds.harvard.edu/.

Professor Davíd Carrasco, Neil L. Rudenstine Professor for the Study of Latin America delivered the 2019 Convocation address "Toni Morrison Stories: Goodness and Mercy and Mexico," on September 5, 2019. Wampanoag elder Ramona Peters welcomed students to the location on the ancestral lands of the Massachuset, Nipmuc, and Wampanoag people. Actress, poet, songwriter, and educator Alexandria Danielle King performed and HDS Professor Cornel West provided a blessing. Jazz pianist Danilo Pérez performed an original tribute to Morrison. Full transcript here: https://hds.harvard.edu/news/2019/09/05/video-convocation-2019-toni-morrison-stories Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at http://hds.harvard.edu/.

Today, mindfulness meditation courses can be found everywhere from schools to prisons to sports teams. The trendy fitness apparel company Lululemon is now advertising mindful clothing for men. There’s also Mindful Meats, Mindful Mints, and Sherwin-Williams sells a paint color they call Mindful Gray. There’s even Mindful Mayo, which you can buy at your local Whole Foods for $5.99. So why has mindfulness meditation suddenly become so popular? Well, for starters, recent studies show benefits against an array of conditions both physical and mental, including helping to counter stress, chronic pain, and other ailments such as anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. But are there possible downsides to mindfulness being fully embraced by capitalists? As David Gelles writes in the New York Times, “With so many mindful goods and services for sale, it can be easy to forget that mindfulness is a quality of being, not a piece of merchandise.” This is the Harvard Religion Beat, a podcast examining religion’s underestimated and often misunderstood role in society. Here, I’m speaking with Chris Berlin, mediation teacher, instructor at Harvard Divinity School, and counselor to Buddhist students at Harvard. I wanted to get his insight into this mainstreaming of mediation and what he thinks the reasons are for today’s mindfulness boom. I’ll also talk to him about the potential issues faced in our new digital mindfulness landscape, as well as how small benefits can lead to lasting positive change. The Rundown 00:01 - Jon Kabat-Zinn speaking with Bill Moyers 00:36 - Birth and rise of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction 02:03 - Mindfulness meditation gains popularity 04:25 – Intro to the episode and to guest Chris Berlin, mediation teacher and instructor at HDS 05:59 - Mindfulness as a secular approach to traditional meditation practice 10:34 – Benefits and how mindfulness meditation has/n't changed over the years 12:21 - Explosion of the digital mindfulness landscape and possible downsides 14:45 - Whatever works for you 17:20 - Anything we do, we can be mindful about it 19:23 - Credits, connect with us, and Veritalk If you don’t already, please follow us on social and subscribe to our e-newsletter! hds.harvard.edu/news/connect Full transcript: https://hds.harvard.edu/news/2019/08/13/mainstream-meditation-and-million-dollar-mindfulness-boom Music credits: Chris Zabriskie; InSpectr (Free Music Archive)

Following the award ceremony on May 2, 2019 for the Peter J. Gomes STB '68 Memorial Honors, the alumni honorees spoke on the topic of “spiritual innovation.” The panelists were: Erik Martínez Resly, MDiv ’12, founder and co-director of The Sanctuaries in Washington D.C. Salma Kazmi, MTS ’09, founding executive director of the Boston Islamic Seminary, former associate director of the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center, and co-founder of the Center for Jewish-Muslim Relations Varun Soni, MTS ’99, dean of religious life at the University of Southern California (USC) and the first Hindu to serve as the chief religious or spiritual leader of an American university. Vanessa Zoltan, MDiv ’15, a humanist chaplain, and CEO and founder of the feminist production company Not Sorry Productions, who with collaborator Casper ter Kuile, created “Harry Potter and Sacred Text” Kerry Maloney, the School’s chaplain, director of the HDS Office of Religious and Spiritual Life, and an instructor in ministry studies. Full transcript here: https://hds.harvard.edu/news/video-divinity-dialogues-2019-gomes-honorees Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at http://hds.harvard.edu/.

In Navajo worldview, thought creates the world, which is then spoken into being. This process places sacred value on the power of language. Sherwin Bitsui’s poetry attempts to connect Diné thought to a changed world by translating the present through an encoding rooted in his culture and language. In this excerpt from his talk at Harvard Divinity School, he offered insight into how Navajo thought and language can inform a poetics, thus opening possibilities for poetry. Sherwin Bitsui is the author of three collections of poetry: Dissolve, Flood Song, and Shapeshift. He is Diné of the Todí¬ch’ii’nii (Bitter Water Clan), born for the Tlizí¬laaní¬ (Many Goats Clan), and has received the Whiting Award, the American Book Award, and the PEN Book Award. Full transcript here: https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2019/03/07/song-thinking-outwardly Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at http://hds.harvard.edu/.

Award-winning American poet Susan Howe visited Harvard Divinity School on April 24 to speak about the binding together of freedom and law, spontaneity and habit, as occasions for awakening a reader to the exaltation of spirit in process. Crossing the guarded borders between image and word, individual and community, history and the present, poetry provides an opening to the transcendent order that chance makes possible. Susan Howe's collection of poems, That This, won the Bollingen Prize in 2011. In 2017 she received the Robert Frost award for distinguished lifetime achievement in American poetry. Full transcript here: https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2019/04/24/concordance-susan-howe Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at http://hds.harvard.edu/.

How is our lived experience of religion and spirituality changing? Where are the boundaries of religion being tested and transformed? How will scholars and practitioners define and understand religion in the future? A multi-generational panel conversation of scholars and practitioners explored the shifting structures of religious practice and identity, and shared insights about the emerging landscape of spiritual community. Panelists: Dr. Nancy Ammerman, Boston University Dr. Christopher White, Vassar University Dr. Anna Sun, Harvard Divinity School and Kenyon College Casper Ter Kuile, Harvard Divinity School Angie Thurston, Harvard Divinity School Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at http://hds.harvard.edu/. Full transcript here: https://hds.harvard.edu/news/2019/04/23/video-lived-religion-spirituality-2019

In November of 2018, the FBI released its report on hate crimes in the U.S. for 2017. It wasn’t good news. Hate crimes on the basis of religious identity surged 23 percent, the biggest annual increase since 2001, the year of the 9/11 terror attacks. And one of the most startling statistics is that the number of hate crimes targeting Jewish people increased 37 percent from the previous year. So, why are hate crimes on the rise? Many have placed blame at the foot of political leaders and specifically President Trump for emboldening anti-Semites and white supremacists—very fine people, he’s called them—but yet, there’s another, equally troubling side to the story—one that calls into question the validity of the FBI’s own hate crime statistics and gives us more questions than answers. I’m Jonathan Beasley, and this is the Harvard Religion Beat, a podcast examining religion’s underestimated and often misunderstood role in society. The Rundown 00:01 - Phone call and defacing of synagogue library 01:19 - Violence against religious minorities is on the rise 02:56 - Responsibility of politics leaders and President Trump 04:41 - Rabbi Gerson on what it's like to lead worshipers in unsettling times 06:13 - The FBI's misleading hate crime statistics 10:21 - Emboldening of white supremacists 13:41 - White nationalism's global rise 14:47 - Hope for the future 15:54 - International response needed 16:36 - Golf clap + other ways to connect If you don’t already, please follow us on social and subscribe to our e-newsletter! And listen to our other pod “Ministry of Ideas!” hds.harvard.edu/news/connect www.ministryofideas.org/ Full transcript: https://hds.harvard.edu/news/2019/04/23/podcast-why-hate-crimes-are-rise

How do you measure and govern for happiness? Harvard Divinity School hosted an international conference on April 13, 2019, inspired by the Gross National Happiness policies of the Kingdom of Bhutan. During this conference, academics, practitioners, politicians, corporate leaders and spiritual leaders sought answers to the question of universal happiness. This panel's topic was the Happiness Movement: Mobilizing Individuals, Communities and Hacking Happiness from Artificial to Heartificial Intelligence. Panelists included Mr. John C. Havens, Prof. Rhonda Phillips, Mr. Namgyal Lhendup, Mr. Arnaud Collery, and Professor Neil Gershenfeld. Full transcript here: https://hds.harvard.edu/files/hds/files/panel-two.pdf?m=1600910905 Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at http://hds.harvard.edu/.

How do you measure and govern for happiness? Harvard Divinity School hosted an international conference on April 13, 2019, inspired by the Gross National Happiness policies of the Kingdom of Bhutan. During this conference, academics, practitioners, politicians, corporate leaders and spiritual leaders sought answers to the question of universal happiness. The event was kicked off with a Keynote Address by Her Excellency, Doma Tshering, Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Bhutan to the United Nations, New York. Full transcript here: https://hds.harvard.edu/files/hds/files/keynote.pdf?m=1600910847 Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at http://hds.harvard.edu/.

How do you measure and govern for happiness? Harvard Divinity School hosted an international conference on April 13, 2019, inspired by the Gross National Happiness policies of the Kingdom of Bhutan. During this conference, academics, practitioners, politicians, corporate leaders and spiritual leaders sought answers to the question of universal happiness. The closing included the following: Documentary on Portraits of Bhutan gg by Robert X. Fogarty and Ben Reece of Dear World, USA Bhutanese Cultural Program by The Bhutanese Community from New York City Thangka and Buddhist Paintings by Joseph T. La. Torre Full transcript here: https://hds.harvard.edu/files/hds/files/conference-wrap.pdf?m=1600910952 Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at http://hds.harvard.edu/.

How do you measure and govern for happiness? Harvard Divinity School hosted an international conference on April 13, 2019, inspired by the Gross National Happiness policies of the Kingdom of Bhutan. During this conference, academics, practitioners, politicians, corporate leaders and spiritual leaders sought answers to the question of universal happiness. This panel's topic was Scaling Happiness and Health: Translating Science to Application. Panelists included Kasisomayajula “Vish” Viswanath, Dr. Alejandro Adler, Eric Coles, and Kaka. Full transcript here: https://hds.harvard.edu/files/hds/files/panel-three.pdf?m=1600910930 Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at http://hds.harvard.edu/.

How do you measure and govern for happiness? Harvard Divinity School hosted an international conference on April 13, 2019, inspired by the Gross National Happiness policies of the Kingdom of Bhutan. During this conference, academics, practitioners, politicians, corporate leaders and spiritual leaders sought answers to the question of universal happiness. This panel covered the Bhutanese statecraft on Economics and the Spirit of GNH. Panelists included Dasho Karma Tshiteem, Professor Sophus Reinert, Professor Wolfgang Drechsler, and Professor John Helliwell. Full transcript here: https://hds.harvard.edu/files/hds/files/panel-one.pdf?m=1600910876 Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at http://hds.harvard.edu/.

This monthly public series, convened by Dean David N. Hempton of HDS, brings together a cross-disciplinary RPP Working Group of faculty, experts, students, and alumni from across Harvard University and the local area to explore topics and cases in religions and the practice of peace. This meeting concerned indigenous guardianship and culture with intersections of nature and peace. Speakers • Margarita Mora, Director of Partnerships, Nia Tero • Indira S. Raimberdy, Executive Director, Peace Building Center Moderator • Professor Dan McKanan, Ralph Waldo Emerson Unitarian Universalist Association Senior Lecturer in Divinity, Harvard Divinity School For more info, please see: https://tinyurl.com/y4g89cxo https://hds.harvard.edu/news/2019/04/11/video-indigenous-guardianship-nature-peace Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at http://hds.harvard.edu/.

The ongoing destruction of Earth’s natural systems is the result of decisions, made daily, by billions of people. These decisions are voluntary and involuntary at once, collective and personal. The question must be asked: what is driving our actions? How do we reignite and reimagine a spiritual relationship with this beautiful planet we call home? From traditions around the world, and from within ourselves, how might we create different narratives that honor nature and acknowledge the sacred? Two indigenous leaders—Nainoa Thompson and Angaangaq Angakkorsuaq (Uncle)—have both been identified by their communities as messengers who are sharing their wisdom with us as we try to heal this broken world together, and they will guide us through these challenging questions as they reflect on their traditions and spiritual practices. Storytelling is a form of bearing witness to change as we contemplate what it means to be responsible citizens in the Anthropocene. Full transcript here: https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2019/04/04/video-indigenous-views-climate-change Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at hds.harvard.edu/.

This talk contradicts the longstanding reading of Emerson as invested in idealism and instead charts his obsession with matter both organic and inorganic, organized and unorganized. By attending to his interest in sciences of life, Branka Arsić reconstructs the geological and botanical theories that led him to formulate a genuinely vitalist ontology; and by outlining his vitalism through readings of both early and late essays and lectures, Arsić will ultimately be asking what the ethical and political consequences of his vitalism are. Branka Arsić specializes in literatures of the 19th century Americas and their scientific, philosophical, and religious contexts. She is the author, most recently, of Bird Relics: Grief and Vitalism in Thoreau (Harvard University Press, 2016). Full transcript here: https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2019/04/03/video-all-one-stuff-emersons-materialism Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at hds.harvard.edu/.

Damaris S. Parsitau, 2018-19 WSRP Visiting Associate Professor, delivers the lecture “The Kingdom of Holy Women: Pentecostalism, Sex and Women’s Bodies in an African Church,” which is based on five years of ethnographic research carried out at the Ministry of Repentance and Holiness, a new and controversial Pentecostal church based in Kenya. Her book-in-progress explores the Ministry’s aims to control, discipline and objectify women’s bodies as sites of tensions and erotic desires that make women responsible for the sins of others and their supposed failure to enter the anticipated Kingdom of God. Full transcript here: https://wsrp.hds.harvard.edu/news/2019/04/03/video-kingdom-holy-women-african-church Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at hds.harvard.edu/.

The Harvard Divinity School Buddhist Community (HBC) hosted the Fifth Annual Buddhism and Race Conference: Centering Intersectionalities, on March 8, 2019 at Harvard Divinity School, Cambridge, MA. During this conference, scholars, sangha leaders, activists, and students from diverse backgrounds joined together to engage in conversations about issues at the intersection of Buddhism, race, and beyond. This panel discussed the intersections of Buddhism, Race, and Multiple Religious Belongings. Full transcript here: https://hds.harvard.edu/files/hds/files/buddhism-panel-2.pdf Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at http://hds.harvard.edu/.