Naomi Saks, MDiv ’10, Chaplain at University of California, San Francisco Medical Center offered remarks via Zoom about her new book, "Intentionally Interprofessional Palliative Care." Naomi was joined by one of her co-authors Chaplain Paul Galchutt. Sponsored by the Office is Religious and Spiritual Life Full transcript: https://www.hds.harvard.edu/news/2024/10/30/video-interprofessional-palliative-care.
Stephanie Paulsell delivered a moving lecture about her life in scholarship before her retirement in December 2024. Paulsell has been a member of the HDS faculty since 2001. She is the author of "Religion Around Virginia Woolf" (2019), co-editor (with Davíd Carrasco and Mara Willard) of "Goodness and the Literary Imagination" (2019), and has served as a regular columnist for The Christian Century since 2007. Full transcript: https://www.hds.harvard.edu/news/2024/10/22/video-lost-mystery-god-reme...
For episode 10 of Pop Apocalypse, we welcome the musician, composer, and producer Trey Spruance. We discuss Trey’s early musical and occult explorations and how reading the philosopher Henry Corbin changed the course of his life. Trey then takes us through the esoteric dimensions of Secret Chiefs 3 and how albums like Book M and Book of Horizons are filled with correspondences to Kabbalah, astrology, Hermetic magic, and Pythagorean musicology. Along the way, we touch on Trey’s work with Jim Zorn...
In our second episode of Praxis, we meet Marisol Andrade Muñoz, a Master of Theological Studies student, graphic designer, and historian, whose archival research looks at the relationship between time and people in Central Mexico. Join us as we look deeper into the student experience at Harvard Divinity School. Full transcript: https://www.hds.harvard.edu/news/2024/11/20/from-visual-storytelling-to-historical-imagination-featuring-marisol-andrade-munoz
In this episode of the Hope Podcast, we hear from Taylon E. Lancaster, a third-year MDiv candidate at HDS and pastor at Third Baptist Church in Springfield, MA. We discuss his pursuits as a drum major for justice, the role of rest, and what hope looks like in community. Learn more about religion and spiritual life at Harvard Divinity School here: https://hds.harvard.edu/community-life/religious-and-spiritual-life Transcript: https://www.hds.harvard.edu/news/2024/11/19/hope-podcast-featuring-tayl...
In this episode of the Hope Podcast, we hear from Eve Schwartz, a third-year MDiv candidate at HDS. We discuss blending the personal and the academic, building community, and the power of ritual. Transcript: https://www.hds.harvard.edu/news/2024/11/12/hope-podcast-featuring-eve-schwartz-mdiv-candidate Learn more about religion and spiritual life at Harvard Divinity School here: https://hds.harvard.edu/community-life/religious-and-spiritual-life Transcript forthcoming.
For episode nine, we welcome to the show Diana Pasulka, professor of Religious Studies at UNC – Wilmington. Her books American Cosmic: UFOs, Religion, Technology and Encounters: Experiences with Nonhuman Intelligences are both classics in the field of Religion and Technology studies. We discuss how Pasulka’s early work on Catholic purgatory led her to the study of UFOs, the spiritual practices of experiencers, and the role of government (dis)information and popular culture in the rise of UFO rel...
In this episode of the Hope Podcast, we hear from Hiatt O'Connor, a second-year MDiv student at HDS. He discusses his journey from a Christian upbringing to Zen Buddhist practices, reading the Tao Te Ching, and his relationship with Quakerism. Learn more about religion and spiritual life at Harvard Divinity School here: https://hds.harvard.edu/community-life/religious-and-spiritual-life Transcript: https://www.hds.harvard.edu/news/2024/10/31/hope-podcast-featuring-hiatt-oconnor-mdiv-26.
Terrence Johnson, Charles G. Adams Professor of African American Religious Studies at HDS, interviews Corey Brettschneider about his new book, "The Presidents and the People: Five Leaders Who Threatened Democracy and the Citizens Who Fought To Defend It." Brettschneider is professor of political science at Brown University, where he teaches constitutional law and politics, as well as a visiting professor at Fordham Law School. Editor's note: We experienced a microphone issue during the interview...
We are excited to launch our new podcast Praxis, which looks deeper into the student experience at Harvard Divinity School. This episode featuring Amy Sexauer, MDiv ‘26, explores being a veteran and mother while attending HDS. More episodes are coming!
In this episode of the Hope Podcast, we hear from Jordan Ahmed, a first-year MDiv student at HDS. We discuss his relationship to Islam, community organizing, and the joy of embodied practice. Transcript: https://www.hds.harvard.edu/news/2024/10/23/hope-podcast-featuring-jordan-ahmed-mdiv-candidate
In this episode of the Hope Podcast, we hear from Nicole Marie, a third-year MDiv student at HDS. We discuss her relationship to hope, imagination, and mystery. Transcript: https://www.hds.harvard.edu/news/2024/10/23/hope-podcast-featuring-nicole-marie-mdiv-candidate
For our eighth episode, CSWR Research Associate and Pop Apocalypse host Matthew J. Dillon welcomes author Eric Wargo to the show. Eric is perhaps the world’s foremost expert on precognition. His most recent book, "From Nowhere," examines precognition in its relationship to creativity in the lives of major authors and artists. They discuss the nature of time, dreamwork, memories from the future, and the four-dimensional brain. Along the way, they discuss figures like Virginia Woolf, Philip K. Dic...
This year, HDS is hosting two Hindu Swamis, Swami Chidekananda of the Ramakrishna Order, and Swami Sachidananda of the Arsha Vidya Gurukul. Both Swamis quickly became cherished members of our community, in the classroom, in community activities, and at religious services. During this event, participants heard the two swamis talk personally about their choice for monastic life, sharing with us insights into their personal journeys as swamis, and reflecting on what it means to be a monastic in the...
Dr. Charmain Jackman (she/her), founder and CEO of InnoPsych, delivered the closing keynote at the Black Religion and Mental Health Symposium. Professor Ahmad Greene-Hayes (Harvard Divinity School) and Professor George Aumoithe (FAS, History and African and African American Studies) proposed this two-day interdisciplinary symposium, integrating mind, brain, and behavior insights into the exploration of Black religious practices and their impact on mental health. They questioned how Black religio...
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award recipient and legendary gospel artist Twinkie Clark talked about her musical journey and performed music from her catalog of over 350 songs. Scholars Charrise Barron, Assistant Professor of Music at Harvard University, and Damien Sneed, Associate Professor in the Department of Music at Howard University, facilitated the conversation with Twinkie Clark which illuminated the motivations and milestones of her music career and explored key elements of her signature ...
Each spring, the Office of Ministry Studies organizes the Billings Preaching Prize Finals, an annual preaching competition open to all HDS students who have not previously won. Congratulations to MDiv candidate Auds Jenkins, the 2024 Billings Preaching Prize Competition winner, and to finalists Nicole Marie and Eve Woldemikael for their incredible talents. The event also featured readings from Solomon Kwaghko, the Massachusetts Bible Society scripture reading winner, and Ivy Wang, the OMS readin...
Full title: Battle of Siffin: The Intrigues Against Imam Ali's Statebuilding Project & Its Legacy in the Modern Middle East This talk explores the politics and legacy of the Battle of Siffin — a foundational moment in the early political memory and history of Islam that pitted Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib against a rebellion in Syria led by Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan. As the first Shi'a Imam and fourth Sunni Caliph, the figure of Ali looms large in the consciousness of Muslims from the very early Isl...
Sahar Shahid, MDiv ’17, and the members of the HDS Alumni/Alumnae Council are pleased to invite fellow graduates and the School community to celebrate Peter J Gomes STB ’68 Distinguished Alumni Honors and our theme of Journeys of the Soul. This year, we seek to honor those who, across various systems of belief, delve into the soul's journey in this life and beyond and are committed to practices that foster connection with the transcendent. Read about this year's honorees here: https://hds.harvar...
Listen to Tibetan Buddhist master H.E. Ling Rinpoche's teachings on embodying the power of compassion and wisdom to uproot discrimination and bigotry. HDS was so honored to extend this rare opportunity to the community to experience the teachings of Buddhism from a representative of His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. Bio His Eminence the 7th Kyabjé Yongzin Ling Rinpoche is the reincarnation of the senior tutor of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He entered Drepung Monastery in India in 1990 and completed...
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. Opening Remarks: Given by Samirah Jaigirdar, HDSSA Academics Chair Panel 1: Conversations Across Religious Boundaries "Christian Zen: Innovative Syncretism or Cultural Approp...
Full title: RCPI Spring 2024 Book Series: Stranger in My Own Land: Palestine, Israel and One Family's Story of Home This book talk featured “Stranger in My Own Land: Palestine, Israel and One Family's Story of Home,” a memoir by Palestinian writer Fida Jiryis. “Stranger in My Own Land” chronicles a desperate, at times surreal, search for a homeland between the Galilee, the West Bank and the diaspora. The book is a tale of conflict, exodus, occupation, return, and search for belonging, narrated t...
This lecture was given by visiting Associate Professor of Women’s Studies and Islam, Z. Fareen Parvez (University of Massachusetts, Amherst). This event took place on April 4, 2024. For more information: https://hds.harvard.edu Full transcript: https://wsrp.hds.harvard.edu/news/2024/04/04/video-passions-aisha-women-trauma-and-jinn-possession-morocco
Full title: "Public Courage and the Academy: Beyond the Binaries: Depolarizing our Politics and Bridging Our World" The Rev. Dr. Deborah Johnson explored the theme of depolarizing our politics and bridging our world. She invited us to move beyond societal binaries and to embrace a more inclusive and compassionate future. Rev. Dr. Deborah Johnson (she/her) is a renowned spiritual leader and social justice activist known for her significant contributions to promoting universal spiritual principles...
Full title: "Public Courage and the Academy: The Future of the Church and the Cosmopolitan Leaders It's Calling For" Join this online conversation featuring Bishop Yvette Flunder and the Rev. Eric Ovid Donaldson. Bishop Yvette Flunder (she/her) is an American womanist, preacher, pastor, activist, and singer from San Francisco, California. She is the senior pastor of the City of Refuge United Church of Christ in Oakland, California, and the Presiding Bishop of the Fellowships of Affirming Ministr...
This is the sixth event is a six-part series. This session was a discussion among presenters reflecting upon the insights shared throughout the series. In addition to identifying themes and throughlines among sessions, they returned to the overarching questions that framed this collaboration: What can an expansive understanding of religion provide in these times of Earth crisis? What is the role of the study of religion in times of catastrophe? Panelists: Mayra Rivera, Dan McKanan, Teren Sevea, ...
This book talk featured “Decolonizing Palestine: The Land, The People, The Bible” by Mitri Raheb. “Decolonizing Palestine” challenges the weaponization of biblical texts to support the current settler-colonial state of Israel. Raheb argues that some of the most important theological concepts–Israel, the land, election, and chosen people–must be decolonized in a paradigm shift in Christian theological thinking about Palestine. “Decolonizing Palestine” is a timely book that builds on the latest re...
The Yang Visiting Scholars in World Christianity program brings distinguished senior and junior scholars of world Christianity to Harvard Divinity School each year, opening up fresh perspectives, particularly from the global south. This discussion was led by David N. Hempton, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor, and Alonzo L. McDonald, Family Professor of Evangelical Theological Studies at Harvard Divinity School. Professor Hempton led a conversation with this year’s Yang Visiting...
Organized by the HDS student group, HDS Muslims, this event began after breaking fast; guests enjoyed an hour-long performance by a group of musicians who performed examples of traditional music from Ottoman Sufi Istanbul lodges. This event featured the Istanbul Meshk Ensemble, directed by A. Eylül Valçunkaya, Ph.D., a visiting researcher at CMES. This event took place on March 26, 2024. For more information, see https://hds.harvard.edu Full transcript: https://hds.harvard.edu/news/video/2024/03...
The vast range of meditation practices in Buddhist traditions has stood the test of time. Still, we live in a culture that differs radically from Buddhist cultures of the past. Our minds and lives are fragmented, and people find even basic concentration challenging. In such circumstances, an approach grounded in inquiry at a deep level, together with non-dual acceptance, may be of special value. Tibetan teacher Tarthang Tulku, active in the West for more than five decades, has developed such an ...
