October 2016

 

The Forum on Religion and Ecology Newsletter
10.10 (October 2016)

Contents:

1. Overview, by Elizabeth McAnally

2. Yale University Online Classes: “Journey of the Universe: A Story for Our Times” (Open to the Public)

3. Protest at Standing Rock against the Dakota Access Pipeline

4. Job Openings and Fellowships

5. Student Internship Opportunity: “Integral Ecology in the Peruvian Upper Amazon” (July 1 – August 11, 2017 at Lamas, Department of San Martin, Peru)

6. “Environment, Religion and Culture in the Context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” (Discussion Note from Seminar in Tehran, Iran on April 23-24, 2016)

7. New Publications

8. Calls for Papers

9. New Bibliography on Buddhism and Ecology (Compiled by Chris Ives)

10. Events

11. White House Meeting with Religious Leaders regarding Climate Change (September 13, 2016)

12. Ecology and Justice Series on Integral Ecology (Orbis Books)

13. Graduate Programs

14. Worldviews: Global Religions, Culture, and Ecology


1. Overview, by Elizabeth McAnally

Hello!

Welcome to the October 2016 issue of the newsletter for the Forum on Religion and Ecology. We have much to share with you this month with regards to developments in the field of Religion and Ecology.

Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim are teaching four MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) at Yale through the online platform, Coursera. These include two courses on Journey of the Universe, one on Thomas Berry, and a capstone on Living Cosmology. See Yale's announcement: https://environment.yale.edu/news/article/fes-online-courses-on-cosmology-and-ecology-offered-as-yales-first-mooc-specialization/ To enroll in the courses go here: https://www.coursera.org/specializations/journey-of-the-universe You may audit the course free of charge. The next session starts October 24, and anyone can pre-enroll for that session now. These are the dates for all the sessions: October 24 - December 12, 2016; November 21, 2016 - January 9, 2017; December 19, 2016 - February 6, 2017; January 16 - March 6, 2017; February 13 - April 3, 2017.

We are very pleased to highlight four job openings in religion and ecology, which indicates the development of the field. These openings are at University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Clara University, Carleton College, and St. Olaf College. There is also an opening at Dartmouth College in religion and science with a possible focus in religion and ecology. See below for details.

On October 14-16, the Center for the Study of World Religions (CSWR) at Harvard Divinity School is hosting “Religion, Ecology, and Our Planetary Future.” Mary Evelyn and John have been organizing the conference with the CSWR Director, Frank Clooney and his staff. This conference marks the twentieth anniversary of the Religions of the World and Ecology Conference series and subsequent book series, and advances the work of understanding and transforming the discourse of religions and ecology for the 21st century. For the program, visit: http://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2016/8/29/religion-ecology-and-our-planetary-future?admin_panel=1

The Routledge Handbook of Religion and Ecology, edited by Willis Jenkins, Mary Evelyn Tucker, and John Grim, is now available. This volume not only provides a comprehensive overview of the state of the field of religion and ecology by leading scholars, it also relates this field for the first time to the growing area of environmental humanities. The full table of contents can be found at https://www.routledge.com/Routledge-Handbook-of-Religion-and-Ecology/Jenkins-Tucker-Grim/p/book/9781138789579. Read the introduction by Mary Evelyn and John: http://fore.yale.edu/files/Movement_of_Religion_and_Ecology.pdf We hope you will encourage your institutions to order this book.

On September 12-14, Mary Evelyn and John attended a conference at the Wissenschaftsetage in Potsdam, Germany entitled “A Letter From Rome: Laudato Si’ as a Catalyst for Societal Transformation?” It was convened under the auspices of the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS), the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), the Catholic University at Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, and the Federation of German Scientists. To see the program and more, visit: http://fore.yale.edu/calendar/item/a-letter-from-rome-laudato-si-as-a-catalyst-for-societal-transformatio/ Also, Mary Evelyn and John have an article on “Integrating Ecology and Justice: The Papal Encyclical” this September in The Quarterly Review of Biology (Vol. 91, No. 3). Read the article here: http://fore.yale.edu/files/Integrating_Ecology_and_Justice.pdf This issue is dedicated to articles on the encyclical with an introduction by Peter Raven.

The Forum on Religion and Ecology has a Facebook page. Please show your support by “liking” us and sharing our page with your Facebook friends. Visit the page here: http://tinyurl.com/hduf35g

Journey of the Universe also has a Facebook page that we invite you to visit: http://tinyurl.com/jb8m9q4 The film is now live on Amazon.com for streaming and downloading, and via Prime as well: http://amzn.to/1PzwXuG For a list of more stores where the Journey project is available, visit: http://www.journeyoftheuniverse.org/buy/

We hope this newsletter supports your own work and helps you further your own engagements with the field of Religion and Ecology.

Take care,
Elizabeth McAnally
California Institute of Integral Studies
Forum on Religion and Ecology at Yale
Website Manager & Newsletter Editor
http://fore.yale.edu/
elizabeth.a.mcanally@gmail.com


2. Yale University Online Classes: “Journey of the Universe: A Story for Our Times” (Open to the Public)

Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim, Senior Lecturers and Research Scholars at Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, are offering four six-week online courses. These are featured as a specialization under the theme of “Journey of the Universe: A Story for Our Times.” This includes two courses on Journey of the Universe, a course on the Worldview of Thomas Berry, and an integrating capstone on Living Cosmology. Each of these courses can be taken independently.

These are MOOCS (Massive Open Online Courses) available on Coursera to anyone, anywhere on the planet. These are the first MOOC specialization for Yale and the first MOOCs for the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.

See the landing page at Yale announcing the courses:
https://environment.yale.edu/news/article/fes-online-courses-on-cosmology-and-ecology-offered-as-yales-first-mooc-specialization/

You may formally register to be a full participant in any of the classes for a fee. This means you will get some feedback. Upon completing all the courses you will receive a certificate of completion.

To enroll in the courses and to read all of the course descriptions, go here:
https://www.coursera.org/specializations/journey-of-the-universe

Alternatively you may audit the course free of charge. Go to the individual courses to enroll under audit: www.coursera.org/yale

These courses were officially launched on September 21, 2016 and will be offered throughout the academic year beginning every 4 weeks.

The next session starts October 24. Anyone can pre-enroll for that session now.

Upcoming sessions:

October 24, 2016 - December 12, 2016
November 21, 2016 - January 9, 2017
December 19, 2016 - February 6, 2017
January 16, 2017 - March 6, 2017
February 13, 2017 - April 3, 2017


3. Protest at Standing Rock against the Dakota Access Pipeline

We want to draw your attention to the historic protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline currently happening at Standing Rock in North Dakota. This is the largest gathering of Native Americans in the last 100 years and has included as many as 7000 people. This began in April and has drawn more attention in the last month, especially as a security force with dogs attacked people there in early September and military police arrested people in late September. For the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and supporters their activities have been centered on prayer, non-violence, and protection of water in this region and across the area that the pipeline would cross.

Here is a brief summary from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe:

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe (SRST) has taken a strong stand against the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), a 1,134 ¬mile long oil pipeline starting from the Bakken Oil Fields in North Dakota and ending up in refineries in Patoka, Illinois. It is proposed to transport over 570,000 barrels per day. To date, more than 300 tribes and first nations officially stand with Standing Rock by way of tribal resolutions, letters of support, or tribal delegations joining the camp.

For more, see the articles here:
http://fore.yale.edu/files/9-29-16_Standing_Rock.pdf


4. Job Openings and Fellowships

Assistant Professor in Religion and Environment
Environmental Studies Program and Department of Religious Studies
University of California (UCSB), Santa Barbara, CA, USA
Application deadline: October 31, 2016
https://recruit.ap.ucsb.edu/apply/JPF00780

Assistant Professor in Religious Studies
Department of Religious Studies
Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA, USA
Specialty: Religion and Ecology/Sustainability
Application deadline: October 15, 2016
https://jobs.scu.edu/postings/4833

Assistant Professor in Religion and Environmental Studies
The Department of Religion and the Department of Environmental Studies
St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN, USA
Review of applications will begin on October 1, 2016 and continue until the position is filled.
https://stolaf.hiretouch.com/job-details?jobID=1192&job=religion-and-environmental-studiestenure-track-2017

Assistant Professor of Religion
Department of Religion
Carleton College, Northfield, MN, USA
Specialty: religion and science, religion and the body, or religion and the environment
Application deadline: October 14, 2016
https://jobs.carleton.edu/postings/2875

Professor in Religion and Science
Department of Religion
Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA
Review of applications will begin November 1, 2016, and continue until the position is filled.
http://religion.dartmouth.edu/news/faculty-search

Baruch S. Blumberg NASA/Library of Congress Chair in Astrobiology
John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., USA
Religion scholars are encouraged to apply.
Application deadline: December 1, 2016
http://www.loc.gov/loc/kluge/fellowships/NASA-astrobiology.html
https://klugefellowships.fluidreview.com/

15 fellowship positions for Doctoral Researchers in animal welfare, including ethics/philosophy.
PhD program: “Animal Welfare in Intensive Livestock Production Systems - Transformation Processes within Intensive Animal Husbandry”
The University of Goettingen, Germany
The positions are available from November 1, 2016 or later.
Application deadline: October 23, 2016

http://dgphil.de/uploads/media/1474533730-Ausschreibung Promotionsprogramm_Animal Welfare _englisch.pdf

Three funded positions for doctoral candidates
DFG Emmy Noether Research Group “Hazardous Travels: Ghost Acres and the Global Waste Economy”
Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society, Munich, Germany
Positions start April 2017 or later.
Application deadline: November 15, 2016.

http://www.carsoncenter.uni-muenchen.de/about_rcc/opportunities/doctoral_candidates/index.html

Earth Institute Postdoctoral Fellowship Program in Sustainable Development
The Earth Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
Application deadline: November 1, 2016
Fellowships begin in the fall of 2017 and are a 24-month appointment.

www.earth.columbia.edu/fellows


5. Student Internship Opportunity: “Integral Ecology in the Peruvian Upper Amazon” (July 1 – August 11, 2017 at Lamas, Department of San Martin, Peru)

Summer Program with Dr. Frederique Apffel-Marglin, Professor Emerita, Dept. of Anthropology at Smith College, fmarglin@smith.edu

July 1 – August 11, 2017

August 12-26, 2017 – optional forest retreat with focus on Amazonian medicinal plants

Sachamama Center for Biocultural Regeneration (SCBR)
Lamas, Department of San Martin, Peru

Levels: Undergraduate students, MA students, and Activists

Application deadline: March 31, 2017

Testimonial by Aleena Glinski, Yale student: “This is a remarkable program where students experientially learn about the agroforestry techniques of the indigenous people of the high amazon in Lamas, Peru. One learns how to make terra preta and biochar in seminars and in the field while exploring the cosmovisions of the indigenous people who originally created this miraculous soil both in text and in conversations with Kechwa people. Throughout, there is an emphasis on deeply investigating the origins of the nature-culture dichotomy in a cross-disciplinary manner, which inevitably results in personal discovery into our connection to and role within the biosphere.”

See the flyer:
http://fore.yale.edu/files/2017_Integral_Ecology_Program.pdf


6. “Environment, Religion and Culture in the Context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” (Discussion Note from Seminar in Tehran, Iran on April 23-24, 2016)

We are happy to share with you the final document “Environment, Religion and Culture in the Context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” the discussion note that was prepared for the “Second International Seminar on Religion, Culture and Environment” that took place April 23-24, 2016 in Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran.

This discussion note is available online here:
http://fore.yale.edu/files/Environment_Religion_and_Culture_in_the_Context_of_2030_Agenda.pdf

Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim participated in this important event, and the Journey of the Universe trailer was shown with Persian subtitles at the beginning and end of the conference. This conference follows on two conferences on religion and ecology in Tehran in 2001 and 2005 that Mary Evelyn and John also participated in, sponsored by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Iranian government.

See the seminar agenda and photos here:
http://fore.yale.edu/calendar/item/second-international-seminar-on-religion-culture-and-environment/


7. New Publications

The Moth Snowstorm: Nature and Joy
By Michael McCarthy
New York Review Books, 2016
http://www.nyrb.com/products/the-moth-snowstorm

The moth snowstorm, a phenomenon Michael McCarthy remembers from his boyhood when moths “would pack a car’s headlight beams like snowflakes in a blizzard,” is a distant memory. Wildlife is being lost, not only in the wholesale extinctions of species but also in the dwindling of those species that still exist. The Moth Snowstorm is unlike any other book about climate change today; combining the personal with the polemical, it is a manifesto rooted in experience, a poignant memoir of the author’s first love: nature. Arguing that neither sustainable development nor ecosystem services have provided adequate defense against pollution, habitat destruction, species degradation, and climate change, McCarthy asks us to consider nature as an intrinsic good and an emotional and spiritual resource, capable of inspiring joy, wonder, and even love.

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Theological and Ethical Perspectives on Climate Engineering: Calming the Storm
Edited by Forrest Clingerman and Kevin J. O'Brien
Lexington Books, 2016
https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781498523592/Theological-and-Ethical-Perspectives-on-Climate-Engineering-Calming-the-Storm

Calming the Storm presents diverse perspectives on some of the most vital questions raised by climate engineering: Who has the right to make decisions about such global technological efforts? What have we learned from the decisions that caused the climate to change that might shed light on efforts to reverse that change? What frameworks and metaphors are helpful in thinking about climate engineering, and which are counterproductive? What religious beliefs, practices, and rituals can help people to imagine and evaluate the prospect of engineering the climate?

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Buddhist Environmentalism”
By Leslie E. Sponsel and Poranee Natadecha-Sponsel
In Teaching Buddhism: New Insights on Understanding and Presenting Traditions
Edited by Todd Lewis and Gary Delaney DeAngelis
Oxford University, 2016
https://global.oup.com/academic/product/teaching-buddhism-9780199373093?cc=us&lang=en&

This chapter broadly frames the teaching of a course on Buddhist environmentalism in relation to the life of the Buddha, his teachings, and his followers today, activism by lay people as well as monks and nuns, and from East to West. It provides a sample course syllabus, list of documentary films, and extensive bibliography.

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Journey to Earthland: The Great Transition to Planetary Civilization
By Paul Raskin
Tellus Institute, 2016
Download the PDF for free here:
http://www.greattransition.org/publication/journey-to-earthland
Paperback and Kindle versions available through Amazon.com:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0997837608/ref=cm_sw_su_dp

A global scenario pioneer charts a path to an organic planetary civilization, a vision that opens before us as both possibility and exigency in an interdependent and dangerous century. We have entered the Planetary Phase of Civilization. Strands of interdependence are weaving humanity and Earth into a single community of fate—the overarching proto-country herein christened Earthland. A Great Transition to a planetary civilization of enriched lives and a healthy planet remains possible. Journey to Earthland clarifies the world-historical challenge; explains the critical role of a global citizens movement in advancing social transformation; and paints a picture of the kind of flourishing civilization that might lie on the other side of a Great Transition. In this pivotal moment, the odyssey to a different world is underway yet the ultimate destination depends on choices and struggles yet to come. Acting to prevent the futures we dread is where our work must begin. But the larger task is to foster the finer Earthland we and our descendants deserve.

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ChurchScape: Megachurches and the Iconography of Environment
By Susan Power Bratton
Baylor University Press, 2016
http://www.baylorpress.com/Book/492/ChurchScape.html

In ChurchScape, Susan Bratton chronicles the story of the Protestant church’s transformation of landscape and building. Citing the influence of college campuses on megachurch architecture, Bratton examines the features that are a part of many megachurch complexes, including waterscapes, iconography, and outdoor art. Taking readers on a cross-country journey to over two hundred churches, Bratton traces the movement from the small parish building of the nineteenth century to the extensive complexes that form today’s churchscapes. As she moves from church to church, Bratton describes how all the church’s spaces—buildings, greens, gardens, and gateways—together shape its practices, name its beliefs, and form its life together. Bratton’s work offers the first historical and theological analysis for the megachurch and its physical planners and planters. She demands that all of us look with new eyes at the ways the church may be an innovator without being disruptive, a place of community without becoming exclusive, and a site of abundance without decadence. The church-in-place must consider how its scapes and spaces reflect its sacred life.

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World Rescue: An Economics Built on What we Build
By Richard Register
Ecocity Builders, 2016
https://www.amazon.com/World-Rescue-Economics-Built-Build/dp/0692659986/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1474840158&sr=8-2&keywords=World+Rescue+%E2%80%93+an+Economics+Built+on+What+We+Build

Richard Register’s new book takes off and goes right to the physical foundations of society, built on biology, built on planet Earth, bathed in the sun’s life-giving glare. Nature’s economics is the foundation for human economics, he says, and survival and thriving hangs in the balance. There is good and bad in both capitalism and socialism – choose the best from both. Harmonize, don’t demonize, either of them. Let nature’s economics be the guide. The economics of sunshine on chlorophyll, to food, to fossilized fuel, to our machines, to our cities defines a new economics of thriving with fresh perspectives. This book confronts our nature-suffocating numbers, our agricultural system, our built environment of cities, towns and villages. It shows how generosity and hard work can rescue pretty much everything.

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Ecocities Illustrated: The Easily Built Visionary Future of Richard Register
By Richard Register
Ecocity Builders, 2016
https://www.amazon.com/Ecocities-Illustrated-visionary-Richard-Register/dp/0692747524/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1474840363&sr=8-1&keywords=Ecocities+Illustrated

Richard Register has been pioneering city design in easily accessible imagery for over forty years and it’s all here in his collection of imagery produced over all that time. Ecocities Illustrated represents the very early yet most advanced visual interpretations of “green” or “eco”-cities around. Reader/viewers can see in colorful imagery how cities can be laid out and designed, connected to transport, energy, food and nature here, probably better than anywhere else, in playful drawings that are in dead earnest about the future of cities and the health of the planet.

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To Care for Creation: The Emergence of the Religious Environmental Movement
By Stephen Ellingson
University of Chicago Press, 2016
http://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/T/bo23467761.html

Controversial megachurch pastor Mark Driscoll proclaimed from a conference stage in 2013, “I know who made the environment and he’s coming back and going to burn it all up. So yes, I drive an SUV.” The comment, which Driscoll later explained away as a joke, highlights what has been a long history of religious anti-environmentalism. Given how firmly entrenched this sentiment has been, surprising inroads have been made by a new movement with few financial resources, which is deeply committed to promoting green religious traditions and creating a new environmental ethic. To Care for Creation chronicles this movement and explains how it has emerged despite institutional and cultural barriers, as well as the hurdles posed by logic and practices that set religious environmental organizations apart from the secular movement. Ellingson takes a deep dive into the ways entrepreneurial activists tap into and improvise on a variety of theological, ethical, and symbolic traditions in order to issue a compelling call to arms that mobilizes religious audiences.

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Religion and Ecological Crisis: The “Lynn White Thesis” at Fifty
Edited by Todd LeVasseur and Anna Peterson
Routledge, 2016
https://www.routledge.com/Religion-and-Ecological-Crisis-The-Lynn-White-Thesis-at-Fifty/LeVasseur-Peterson/p/book/9781138644120

In 1967, Lynn White, Jr.’s seminal article “The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis” was published, essentially establishing the academic study of religion and nature. White argues that religions—particularly Western Christianity—are a major cause of worldwide ecological crises. He then asserts that if we are to halt, let alone revert, anthropogenic damages to the environment, we need to radically transform religious cosmologies. Religion and Ecological Crisis considers the impact of White’s arguments, offering constructive criticism as well as reflections on the ongoing, ever-changing scholarly debate about the way religion and culture contribute to both environmental crises and to their possible solutions. This collection of original essays addresses a wide range of topics related to White’s thesis, including its significance for environmental ethics and philosophy, the response from conservative Christians and evangelicals, its importance for Asian religious traditions, ecofeminist interpretations of the article, and which perspectives might have, ultimately, been left out of his analysis.


8. Calls for Papers

Mountains and Sacred Landscapes”
The New School, New York City, NY, USA
April 20-23, 2017
Submission deadline: October 10, 2016 by 5pm EST
http://www.indiachinainstitute.org/2017conference/

An Ecotopian Toolkit for Anthropocene Challenges”
Penn Program in Environmental Humanities, University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA
April 13-15, 2017
Submission deadline: October 10, 2016
https://ecotopiantoolkit.wordpress.com/
http://www.ppehlab.org/toolkit/

American Academy of Religion Western Region 2017 Annual Conference
University of the West, Rosemead, CA, USA
Conference Theme: “Religion, Race, and Racism”
March 17-19, 2017
Submission deadline: October 15, 2016
See the call for papers for the Ecology and Religion unit here:
http://www.aarwr.com/call-for-papers.html

Early American Environmental Histories”
William and Mary Quarterly-EMSI workshop
The Omohundro Institute and the University of Southern California-Huntington Library Early Modern Studies Institute
Huntington Library, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
May 19-20, 2017
Submission deadline: October 25, 2016
https://oieahc.wm.edu/workshops/callpaper.cfm

Environmental Justice in the Anthropocene”
April 24-25, 2017
Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
Submission deadline: November 1, 2016
http://environmentaljustice.colostate.edu
https://www.facebook.com/Environmental-Justice-CSU-396181650536809/

Reimagining Ethics and Politics of Space for the Anthropocene”
The 2nd Peaceful Coexistence Colloquium
Pyhä, Finnish Lapland
June 6-9, 2017
Submission deadline: December 15, 2016
www.ulapland.fi/peacefulcoexistence

Creativity and Diversity: 11th International Conference on Daoist Studies”
Nanterre, Paris, France
May 17-20, 2017
Deadline for abstracts: April 1, 2017
Deadline for scholarship applications: January 1, 2017
http://www.daoiststudies.org/node/16410


9. New Bibliography on Buddhism and Ecology (Compiled by Chris Ives)

We are delighted to let you know that Chris Ives, professor of Asian religions at Stonehill College in Easton, MA, USA, has recently updated the Buddhism and Ecology bibliography on our Forum website.

You can find the new bibliography here:
http://fore.yale.edu/religion/buddhism/bibliography/

Please send corrections and additions to Chris Ives at cives@stonehill.edu


10. Events

Launch of New Haven/Yale Citizens’ Climate Lobby Chapter & Film Screening of Facing the Surge
Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, Burke Auditorium, New Haven, CT, USA
October 11, 2016 at 6pm-7:30pm
Please email eric.fine@yale.edu to RSVP
http://fore.yale.edu/calendar/item/launch-of-new-haven-yale-citizenss-climate-lobby-chapter-film-screenin/

Religion, Ecology, and Our Planetary Future”
Center for the Study of World Religions, Harvard Divinity School, Cambridge, MA, USA
October 14-16, 2016
http://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2016/8/29/religion-ecology-and-our-planetary-future?admin_panel=1

Online EcoSattva Training: Practicing with Climate Change”
October 16 – December 11, 2016
https://oneearthsangha.org/ecosattva

The Regenerative Sabbath: Sabbath, Sunday, and Renewal”
Old South Church, Boston, MA, USA
October 27, 2016
http://fore.yale.edu/calendar/item/the-regenerative-sabbath-sabbath-sunday-and-renewal/

Ecological Spirituality and Laudato Si’”
October 29, 2016
Iona College, New Rochelle, NY, USA
http://us7.campaign-archive2.com/?u=7dfebad9f521329c5f304bcbe&id=f96817d8c1&e=8ef2cb6901

International Conference on Building Human Resilience for Climate Change”
The Capital View Conference Center, Washington D.C., USA
This conference includes a special session on how communities of faith can build personal and psychosocial resilience.
November 3-4, 2016
http://www.theresourceinnovationgroup.org/building-human-resilience/

Earth to Earth: Natural Burial as Spiritual Practice”
Lutheran School of Theology, Chicago, IL, USA
November 4-5, 2016
http://www.lstc.edu/events/conferences/earth/

Science, Public Policy and Faith Traditions in Environmental Relationships”
5th Annual Interdisciplinary Sustainability Conference
Chestnut Hill College, Philadelphia, PA, USA
November 4-5, 2016
https://www.chc.edu/sustainability

Haiti’s Eco-systems: Focus on Environmental Realities and Hopes”
A Multi-disciplinary Approach to Environment
28th Annual Conference of the Haitian Studies Association at the University of Massachusetts Boston
Université Publique du Nord au Cap Haitien (UPNCH), Cap Haitien, Haiti
November 10-12, 2016
https://www.umb.edu/haitianstudies/conference

Engaging with Faith Organisations and Communities for Sustainable Development”
UNSSC Knowledge Centre for Sustainable Development, Bonn, Germany
November 15-17, 2016
http://fore.yale.edu/calendar/item/engaging-with-faith-organisations-and-communities-for-sustainable-developme/

American Academy of Religion (AAR) Annual Meeting
San Antonio, TX, USA
November 19-22, 2016
https://www.aarweb.org/
For a preview of events happening at the AAR that may be of interest to the AAR Religion and Ecology Group, visit:
http://us12.campaign-archive1.com/?u=a109ea54c81301f132c114483&id=d92c607aeb&e=d7e491aa01


11. White House Meeting with Religious Leaders regarding Climate Change (September 13, 2016)

On September 13, 2016, twenty representatives from America’s leading religious groups concerned about the increasing threat of global climate change met with White House officials. The purpose was to present religious perspectives on U.S. climate policy and to emphasize the increasing impacts that rising levels of carbon dioxide are having on the oceans and climate generally. This event was coordinated by the National Religious Coalition on Creation Care.

Read the meeting notes here:

http://fore.yale.edu/files/White_House_meeting_notes_2016.pdf

During the meeting, an open letter to President Obama was submitted. Read the letter here:

http://fore.yale.edu/files/Open_Letter_to_Obama_9-13-16.pdf


12. Ecology and Justice Series on Integral Ecology (Orbis Books)

Published by Orbis Books, the Ecology and Justice Series on Integral Ecology seeks to integrate an understanding of Earth’s interconnected life systems with sustainable social, political, and economic systems that enhance the Earth community. To see the flyer for this Orbis series, visit: http://thomasberry.org/assets/uploads/Orbis_Ecology_and_Justice_3-24-16.pdf

This month we are featuring the following book from this series:

Earth Ethics: A Case Method Approach
By James Martin-Schramm, Daniel Spencer, and Laura Stivers
Orbis Books, 2015
http://www.orbisbooks.com/earth-ethics.html

A revision of the highly successful textbook Christian Environmental Ethics: A Case Method Approach, this volume introduces new topics in environmental ethics, including hydraulic fracturing, greenhouse gases, food consumption, and resource stewardship, and revisits traditional topics in environmental ethics, while expanding beyond a specifically Christian hermeneutic. Employing a tried-and-true method first used at Harvard Business School, the authors present material both old and new in a clear and pertinent fashion. In addition, the structure of the book allows teachers (both high school and university) to separate out discrete issues for study and discussion.


13. Graduate Programs

Joint MA in Religion and Ecology

Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (FES) and Yale Divinity School (YDS), New Haven, CT, USA

This graduate program is aimed at students who wish to integrate the study of environmental issues and religious communities in their professional careers and for those who wish to study the cultural and ethical dimensions of environmental problems.

Faculty members: Mary Evelyn Tucker, John Grim, and Matthew Riley

http://fore.yale.edu/yale-ma/

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MA and PhD in Philosophy and Religion, concentration in Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness

California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, CA, USA

This graduate program is dedicated to re-imagining the human species as a mutually enhancing member of the Earth community.

Faculty members: Brian Thomas Swimme, Elizabeth Allison, Sean Kelly, Richard Tarnas, and Robert McDermott

http://www.ciis.edu/Academics/Graduate_Programs/Philosophy_Cosmology_and_Consciousness.html

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For more educational programs related to religion and ecology, visit:
http://fore.yale.edu/education/resources/links/


14. Worldviews: Global Religions, Culture, and Ecology

Worldviews: Global Religions, Culture, and Ecology has as its focus the relationships between religion, culture and ecology world-wide. Articles discuss major world religious traditions, such as Islam, Buddhism or Christianity; the traditions of indigenous peoples; new religious movements; and philosophical belief systems, such as pantheism, nature spiritualities, and other religious and cultural worldviews in relation to the cultural and ecological systems. Focusing on a range of disciplinary areas including Anthropology, Environmental Studies, Geography, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Sociology and Theology, the journal also presents special issues that center around one theme.

For more information, visit: brill.com/wo

For the online edition, visit:
http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/15685357/20/2

Table of Contents for Volume 20, Issue 3 (2016)

Special Issue: “Spatial Turns”

• Introduction (Sigurd Bergmann)
• Place and the Hermeneutics of the Anthropocene (Forrest Clingerman)
• Hybrid Encounters in Reconciliation Ecology (Jeremy Kidwell)
• Impacts of Religious Beliefs on Environmental Indicators (Emilio Chuvieco; Mario Burgui and Isabel Gallego-Álvarez)
• Shepherds, Rituals, and the Sacred (Fabrizio Frascaroli)
• Peacemaking Rituals in the Context of Natural Disaster (Urte Undine Frömming)
• Indigenising in a Globalised World (Graham Harvey)
• Comparative Methods in Spatial Approaches to Religion (Whitney A. Bauman)


For the archive of previous Forum newsletters, visit:
http://fore.yale.edu/publications/newsletters/

To download this newsletter as a PDF, visit:
http://fore.research.yale.edu/files/October_2016_Newsletter.pdf


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