Harvard Divinity School|Public Events

Public Research Talk with Stuart Sarbacker: Tracing the Path of Soma: Psychoactives and Psychedelics in the History and Philosophy of Yoga

2026-03-09T15:30:00Z

Common Room, CSWR, 42 Francis Ave., Cambridge, MA
Monday, March 9, 2026, 11:30am – 1pm

Registration is required.
Please register to attend in person.
Please register to attend on Zoom.

Stuart Sarbacker, Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Philosophy at Oregon State University, will examine the relationship between Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain systems of mind-body discipline (yoga) and the use of psychoactive substances in traditional and modern cosmopolitan contexts. This will include querying Sanskrit concepts in yoga, tantra, and āyurveda, including elixirs (soma, amṛta, rasa, and dravya); psychoactive herbs and roots (oṣadhi, mūla); and substances such as cannabis (bhaṅgā), datura (dhattūra), and opium (ahiphena). He will argue for a nuanced understanding of the relationship between endogenous and exogenous models of self-transformation in yoga and for a broader understanding of the wide range of psychoactive substances—and thus psychoactive effects—in yoga’s historical and philosophical orbit.

STUART RAY SARBACKER, PhD, is Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Philosophy at Oregon State University. His work examines the relationships among the religious and philosophical traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, particularly mind-body discipline (yoga). He addresses methodological and theoretical issues of religion, focusing on religious experience and its interpretation. He conducted fieldwork in India, Nepal, Thailand, and Japan. Previously, he was a Senior Lecturer at Northwestern University, where he received the Weinberg College of Liberal Arts Alumni Teaching Award for distinguished undergraduate teaching.

Sponsor: Center for the Study of World Religions
Contact: Laurie D. Sedgwick, CSWR Events Coordinator, ldsedgwick@hds.harvard.edu
More info: cswr.hds.harvard.edu…

The Future of the Ancient Egyptian Afterlife

2026-03-11T22:00:00Z

Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA
Wednesday, March 11, 2026, 6 – 7pm

Speaker: Rune Nyord, Associate Professor and Chair, Art History Department, Emory University

Could some of our familiar ideas about the ancient Egyptian afterlife be more Christian than Egyptian? Recent studies suggest that themes we often assume to be central, such as judgment, salvation, and eternal life, were profoundly shaped by the Christian expectations of early Egyptologists. This poses a significant challenge for contemporary Egyptology: how should we think about ancient Egyptian religion when our basic framework has been shaped so strongly by Christianity rather than by Egyptian evidence? Rune Nyord proposes a new way forward that re-centers the social setting of the ancestor cult and considers funerary texts such as the Book of the Dead as ritual texts—continuous with other Egyptian ritual practices—rather than as “guidebooks” to the afterlife.

Sponsor: Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East and the Harvard Museums of Science and Culture
Contact: Faith Sutter - sutter@hmsc.harvard.edu
More info: hmsc.harvard.edu…

Hackett Lecture: The Light from the Other Shore”: The Rise of Public Christianity in Contemporary China, with Xi Lian

2026-03-24T21:30:00Z

Common Room, CSWR, 42 Francis Ave. Cambridge, MA
Tuesday, March 24, 2026, 5:30 – 7pm

Registration Required.
Please register to attend in person.
Please register to attend on zoom.

In a major historical development in China since the 1980s, amid the crisis of belief in the post-Mao era, an assertive, homegrown Christianity has emerged in the public sphere to proclaim a transcendent truth and offer a new moral compass for Chinese society. Christian beliefs and values have since inspired some of the most unconventional and innovative intellectual and artistic works, reshaping the cultural mainstream. They have also given rise to a morally charged, frequently unrealistic, and at times tragically heroic political and social activism to promote democracy and human rights.

XI LIAN is the David C. Steinmetz Distinguished Professor of World Christianity at Duke Divinity School. He is the author of The Conversion of Missionaries: Liberalism in American Protestant Missions in China, 1907-1932 (Penn State UP, 1997), Redeemed by Fire: The Rise of Popular Christianity in Modern China (Yale UP, 2010), and Blood Letters: The Untold Story of Lin Zhao, a Martyr in Mao’s China (Basic Books, 2018). He is also the co-editor of the forthcoming Highland Christianity: Modern Transformations of the China-Southeast Asia Borderlands (Penn State UP, 2026).

Programming Series: Annual Lectures
Sponsor: Center for the Study of World Religions
Contact: Laurie D. Sedgwick, CSWR Events Coordinator, ldsedgwick@hds.harvard.edu
More info: cswr.hds.harvard.edu…

Black and Jewish America: An Interwoven History: A Panel Discussion featuring Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

2026-03-25T20:30:00Z

James Room, Swartz Hall, 45 Francis Ave., Cambridge, MA
Wednesday, March 25, 2026, 4:30 – 6pm

Registration is required. Please register to attend.

Join us for a panel discussion of Black and Jewish America: An Interwoven History, a four-part PBS series written and narrated by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., tracing the rich, complex relationship between Black and Jewish Americans—defined by solidarity and strained by division. The series explores both the challenges and enduring promise of that alliance. It first aired on February 3 and is available to view on streaming platforms. Panelists include:

Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research at Harvard University
Terrence L. Johnson, Charles G. Adams Professor of African American Religious Studies, Professor of African and African American Studies (FAS), and Director of Religion and Public Life at HDS
Susannah Heschel, Joseph Engel Visiting Professor (FAS) and Visiting Professor in Jewish Studies (HDS)
Phil Bertelsen, Co-Executive Producer and Director of Black and Jewish America: An Interwoven History
Sara Wolitzky, Co-Executive Producer and Director of Black and Jewish America: An Interwoven History

Welcome remarks by Marla F. Frederick, Dean of Harvard Divinity School, John Lord O’Brian Professor of Divinity, Professor of Religion and Culture, and Professor of African and African American Studies (FAS) and Debra Adams Simmon, Editor-in-Chief of Special Editorial Projects at GBH.

Sponsor: This program is a collaboration between the Dean’s Office of HDS, GBH, Harvard’s Hutchins Center for African and African American Research, and Harvard’s Center for Jewish Studies.
Contact: Steffany Rosario - srosario@hds.harvard.edu
More info: harvard.az1.qualtrics.com…

HDS Film Fest

2026-03-26T16:00:00Z

Cader Room, Swartz Hall 117, 45 Francis Ave.
Thursday, March 26, 2026, 12 – 5pm

Founded in 2017, the Harvard Divinity School Film Fest (HDSFF) is an annual student-led festival dedicated to exploring the intersectionality of film and faith. Hosted on the historic Harvard Divinity School campus, the festival is a unique platform that delves into the themes of religion, faith, spirituality, and their relationships to social justice and community.

As the only film festival of its kind focused on the academic study of religion and film, HDSFF provides filmmakers and audiences with a rare opportunity to engage in meaningful discussions about how religious themes are represented and understood through cinema. The festival combines academic scholarship with the immersive power of film to foster dialogue, inspire creativity, and deepen understanding.

WHEN AND WHERE

HDSFF takes place over two days each spring at the Harvard Divinity School campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The 2026 festival is scheduled for Thursday March 26 and Friday March 27.

FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS
The festival features screenings across three categories—Student Films, Independent Films, and Studio Films—and invites filmmakers worldwide to submit their work.
Each day of the festival is thoughtfully curated:

• Day One: The festival opens with a feature film screening at 5 PM, accompanied by a boxed meal and a post-screening Q&A session with the filmmakers and Harvard Divinity School faculty.

• Day Two:
o Morning: Independent films are showcased.
o Noon: A studio film is screened, including a boxed meal.
o Afternoon: Student films take center stage.

Each screening is followed by an engaging Q&A session, offering a space for filmmakers, faculty, and audiences to discuss the films and their broader implications.

HDSFF is not only a space for filmmakers to showcase their work but also a year-long program of institutional support for the Harvard Divinity School community, encouraging students to create, share, and learn from films. Our vision is to increase student film submissions, audience turnout, and the integration of filmmaking into academic coursework.

For inquiries, email us at filmfest@hds.harvard.edu.

Sponsor: HDS Film Fest
Contact: filmfest@hds.harvard.edu
More info: filmfreeway.com…

Global Ayahuasca: A Book Talk with Anthropologist Alex Gearin

2026-03-26T21:30:00Z

Zoom
Thursday, March 26, 2026, 5:30 – 7pm

Registration is required.
Please register to attend on Zoom.

Ayahuasca originated in the Amazon jungle and is considered sacred by many Indigenous and mestizo communities across South America. Fueled by the “psychedelic renaissance” and growing interest in ayahuasca’s visionary and healing potential, groups serving the potent psychoactive brew can now be found around the world. In his latest book, Global Ayahuasca: Wondrous Visions and Modern Worlds (2024), medical anthropologist Alex Gearin charts ayahuasca’s spread through fieldwork in three countries—Peru, Australia, and China. His findings challenge universalizing narratives about the nature and uses of ayahuasca, offering readers insight into ayahuasca's prismatic forms. Gearin will be in conversation with Jeffrey Breau, program lead for psychedelics and spirituality, to discuss his book and its implications for the study of psychedelics and religion.

ALEX K. GEARIN (PhD) is a medical anthropologist specializing in the intersections of mental health, social context, and cultural beliefs. His research focuses on the bodily, narrative, and spiritual dimensions of psychedelic medicine usage in neo-shamanic and clinical contexts, exploring socio-cultural dimensions of experience. His recent book, Global Ayahuasca: Wondrous Visions and Modern Worlds (Stanford University Press, 2024) explores these themes through multi-sited ethnography in Australia, Peru, and China. He has published on psychedelic medicine in Current Anthropology, Social Science & Medicine, Neuroethics, JRAI, and other outlets. Alex serves as an Assistant Professor and Deputy Director of the Medical Ethics and Humanities Unit at the School of Clinical Medicine, The University of Hong Kong.

Programming Series: Spirituality and Psychedelics
Sponsor: Center for the Study of World Religions
Contact: Laurie D. Sedgwick, CSWR Events Coordinator, ldsedgwick@hds.harvard.edu
More info: cswr.hds.harvard.edu…

HDS Film Fest

2026-03-27T14:00:00Z

Cader Room, Swartz Hall 117, 45 Francis Ave.
Friday, March 27, 2026, 10am – 5pm

Founded in 2017, the Harvard Divinity School Film Fest (HDSFF) is an annual student-led festival dedicated to exploring the intersectionality of film and faith. Hosted on the historic Harvard Divinity School campus, the festival is a unique platform that delves into the themes of religion, faith, spirituality, and their relationships to social justice and community.

As the only film festival of its kind focused on the academic study of religion and film, HDSFF provides filmmakers and audiences with a rare opportunity to engage in meaningful discussions about how religious themes are represented and understood through cinema. The festival combines academic scholarship with the immersive power of film to foster dialogue, inspire creativity, and deepen understanding.

WHEN AND WHERE

HDSFF takes place over two days each spring at the Harvard Divinity School campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The 2026 festival is scheduled for Thursday March 26 and Friday March 27.

FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS
The festival features screenings across three categories—Student Films, Independent Films, and Studio Films—and invites filmmakers worldwide to submit their work.
Each day of the festival is thoughtfully curated:

• Day One: The festival opens with a feature film screening at 5 PM, accompanied by a boxed meal and a post-screening Q&A session with the filmmakers and Harvard Divinity School faculty.

• Day Two:
o Morning: Independent films are showcased.
o Noon: A studio film is screened, including a boxed meal.
o Afternoon: Student films take center stage.

Each screening is followed by an engaging Q&A session, offering a space for filmmakers, faculty, and audiences to discuss the films and their broader implications.

HDSFF is not only a space for filmmakers to showcase their work but also a year-long program of institutional support for the Harvard Divinity School community, encouraging students to create, share, and learn from films. Our vision is to increase student film submissions, audience turnout, and the integration of filmmaking into academic coursework.

For inquiries, email us at filmfest@hds.harvard.edu.

Sponsor: HDS Film Fest
Contact: filmfest@hds.harvard.edu
More info: filmfreeway.com…

Deep Listening Series with Peter Schmidt

2026-03-27T21:00:00Z

Multifaith Space, Swartz Hall 214, 45 Francis Ave.
Friday, March 27, 2026, 5 – 7pm

This will be the 3rd session of the Deep Listening workshop series funded by HCLIF. Peter Schmidt, Co-Founder of the Strother School for Radical Attention, will be facilitating a workshop on attention and attunement practices.

Peter Schmidt is a writer and organizer from Clayton, Missouri. His writing has appeared in Foreign Affairs, The Baffler, The Brooklyn Rail, and The New York Times. Since September of 2022 he has served as the Program Director of the Strother School of Radical Attention. You can read more about Peter’s work on his website.

Sponsor: HDS SONAR
Contact: studentlife@hds.harvard.edu

Ecstatic Dance!

2026-03-30T22:00:00Z

Williams Chapel, Swartz Hall 212, 45 Francis Ave.
Monday, March 30, 2026, 6 – 7:30pm

The iconic HDS alum Nicole Marie will lead our ten fingers and toes in an ecstatic and beloved expression of dance! Come as you are with comfortable clothing and water and prepare for a fun, energetic, and spiritually-informed gathering. Check out this link to learn more (https://www.embodied-inquiry.org/writings/blog-post-title-one-kxtdz) or contact Paige Scanlon (paigescanlon@hds.harvard.edu) with any questions.

Sponsor: HDS Barefoot Club
Contact: studentlife@hds.harvard.edu

Reading Group: Transcendentalism

2026-04-01T14:00:00Z

Common Room, CSWR, 42 Francis Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138
Wednesday, April 1, 2026, 10am – 12pm

This group meets on Wednesdays, 10-12 pm (1/28, 2/11, 3/4, 3/11, 3/25, 4/8)
Registration is required.
Please register to attend each session.

American Transcendentalism emerged in the mid-1800s from New England Unitarianism and European Romanticism. It distinguished itself by rejecting convention, challenging traditional religious doctrines of authority and election, opposing dominant philosophies, discarding genteel literary styles, and defying political complacency regarding slavery, gender inequality, and disenfranchisement. At Harvard, Transcendentalists were seen as mystics, misfits, rogues, and dissidents. Their refusals, however, sparked a social movement based on friendship and collaboration, united by a radical spirituality promising personal renewal and social transformation. This reading group invites participants to explore both sides of that legacy. We'll focus on Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Margaret Fuller in the fall, and on figures including Bronson Alcott, Theodore Parker, Orestes Brownson, Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, and Caroline Dall in the spring.

RUSSELL C. POWELL is a research affiliate at the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard Divinity School. He has held teaching positions at Boston College, Amherst College, and Princeton University. Russell is currently completing a book manuscript focused on Ralph Waldo Emerson's relevance to modern ecological thought, particularly as an architect of the concept of “nature” and its religious and political resonances in the United States. He is also an associate editor of the Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature, & Culture. He sits on the advisory board of the Forum on Religion and Ecology at Yale University.

Programming Series: Transcendence and Transformation
Sponsor: Center for the Study of World Religions
Contact: Laurie D. Sedgwick, CSWR Events Coordinator, ldsedgwick@hds.harvard.edu

Book Talk with Lawrence Buell: Henry David Thoreau: Thinking Disobediently

2026-04-02T21:30:00Z

Common Room, CSWR, 42 Francis Ave., Cambridge & Zoom
Thursday, April 2, 2026, 5:30 – 7pm

Registration is required.
Please register to attend in person.
Please register to attend on Zoom.

As part of our Transcendentalism initiative, we are pleased to host a book talk with Lawrence Buell in celebration of the publication of Henry David Thoreau: Living Disobediently. While no single event could fully encompass the breadth and influence of Buell’s scholarship, this occasion offers an opportunity to honor his foundational contributions to the study of Transcendentalism and to American literary and cultural history more broadly.
Professor Buell will deliver a talk of approximately 35–45 minutes reflecting on the aims and arguments of his new book, followed by a conversation with CSWR Director Charles Stang and time for questions from the audience. The event invites sustained reflection on Thoreau’s legacy as well as on current and future directions in Transcendentalism studies.

LAWRENCE BUELL is Powell M. Cabot Professor of American Literature Emeritus at Harvard University. His previous books include Literary Transcendentalism (1973), The Environmental Imagination (1995), Emerson (2003), and Henry David Thoreau: Thinking Disobediently (2023). Among other prizes and awards, he has received the Christian Gauss Award for Emerson and the Modern Language Association’s Jay Hubbell Award for lifetime contributions to American Literature studies (2007). He has lectured worldwide on American Transcendentalism. He has received lifetime service awards from both the Emerson Society and the Thoreau Society. In 2007, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Programming Series: Transcendence and Transformation
Sponsor: Center for the Study of World Religions
Contact: Laurie D. Sedgwick, CSWR Events Coordinator, ldsedgwick@hds.harvard.edu
More info: cswr.hds.harvard.edu…

Ken Burns’ Henry David Thoreau: A Screening and Discussion with Directors and Scholar Panel

2026-04-03T18:00:00Z

24 Quincy St., Cambridge, MA
Friday, April 3, 2026, 2 – 4:30pm

Registration is required.
Please register to attend in person.
Please register to attend on Zoom.

The Center for the Study of World Religions’ Transcendentalism Initiative will host a special screening of Episode 2 of Henry David Thoreau, a new documentary directed by Erik Ewers and Christopher Loren Ewers and produced by Ken Burns. The film is narrated by George Clooney and features voice performances by Jeff Goldblum and Meryl Streep. Director Erik Ewers will introduce the film.

The documentary offers a vivid, integrated portrait of Thoreau, bringing together the contemplative naturalist of Walden and the political thinker behind “Civil Disobedience.” It traces a life in which attention to the natural world and a commitment to social justice are presented as intertwined expressions of a single moral vision.

Following the screening, scholars Jeffrey S. Cramer (independent scholar), Rebecca Kneale Gould (Middlebury College), and John Kucich (Bridgewater State University and President of the Thoreau Society) will share brief insights from the vantage of their research. They will then join Erik Ewers, Christopher Loren Ewers, and producer Susan Shumaker for a panel discussion, followed by questions and a conversation with the audience.

Sponsor: Center for the Study of World Religions
Contact: Laurie D. Sedgwick, CSWR Events Coordinator, ldsedgwick@hds.harvard.edu

Soup and Hope with Shaul Magid - Spring Faculty Speaker Lunch Series

2026-04-06T16:00:00Z

Braun Room, Swartz Hall 101, 45 Francis Ave.
Monday, April 6, 2026, 12 – 1pm

Join the HDS community for soup and bread as we hear from HDS faculty sharing their intellectual and spiritual autobiographies. Each speaker will particularly focus on what sustains their sense of hope at this time in history. No registration is necessary.

Sponsor: HDS Office of Religious and Spiritual Life
Contact: Kerry A. Maloney, kmaloney@hds.harvard.edu

God After Atheism: Lecture One, God in the Dirt

2026-04-07T17:00:00Z

Multifaith Space, Swartz Hall 214, 45 Francis Ave.
Tuesday, April 7, 2026, 1 – 2:30pm

New atheism promised clarity. By removing God from the world, it offered an account of reality free from faith and superstition. But in doing so, it left us without an explanation of the universe’s origin, objective morality, or our ultimate purpose.

In response, many have been drawn back to religions they once rejected – traditions that offered meaning and structure, yet continue to face unresolved problems of evil, hiddenness, and dogma.

We are caught between exhausted alternatives. The old stories – of God and atheism – no longer fit the scale and strangeness of the reality we have come to understand.

The difficulty lies with the pictures we have inherited: rigid ways of thinking that force a choice between dirt and divinity. But this is a false choice. Recent work in philosophy suggests more expansive ways of understanding God – ways that do not place divinity outside the world, nor reduce existence to something unexplained and meaningless.

This lecture series explores one such framework: a new story of the world where God is not confined to a single universe, but encompasses the full space of what is possible. On this view, reality is far larger than we once imagined. We exist in one of an uncountable number of universes, all unified by a single, fundamental mind.

There is purpose, value, and even an afterlife – not because God stands outside the world, but because God is the world: God of the dirt, encompassed by scientific reality.

Lecture 1: God in the Dirt

This lecture sets out a new approach to God, arguing that the most plausible account of existence is neither a God beyond the world nor a world without God, but divinity as woven into reality itself. It examines the strengths and limits of both religion and atheism, before defending an ancient conception of God that accommodates the findings of contemporary philosophy and physics.

Speaker

Dr Jack Symes is a philosopher at Durham University. His books include Philosophers on Consciousness, Philosophers on God, and Defeating the Evil-God Challenge. Jack regularly appears on major public platforms, such as The Joe Rogan Experience, BBC Two, and Piers Morgan Uncensored. He was awarded the BBC New Generation Thinker Prize in 2024.

‘Jack Symes guides us charmingly and authoritatively, with a wit and freshness that enlivens without trivializing.’ – Stephen Fry

‘Jack Symes faces eminent thinkers with exactly the sort of questions we’d put forward ourselves if we could think clearly enough.’ – Philip Pullman

‘The UK’s leading philosophy presenter.’ – The Institute of Art and Ideas

Sponsor: student-initiated
Contact: studentlife@hds.harvard.edu

CSWR Poetry Series: The Invisible Sun: Poetry, Translation, and the Mystical Imagination with Sholeh Wolpé

2026-04-07T21:00:00Z

Common Room, CSWR
42 Francis Ave., Cambridge, MA
Tuesday, April 7, 2026, 5 – 6:30pm

Registration is encouraged.
Please register to attend in person.
Please register to attend on Zoom.

The Invisible Sun is the first comprehensive English collection of poetry by the twelfth-century Persian mystic Attar, revered by Rumi as his master. Translated by award-winning poet Sholeh Wolpé, this luminous selection introduces Attar’s timeless Sufi wisdom—poetry that speaks to the soul’s inward journey, self-knowledge, and spiritual awakening. About the Author & Translator Attar (1145–1221), a Persian Sufi poet from Nishapur, profoundly influenced Rumi and remains one of the most important mystic poets of the Islamic world.

SHOLEH WOLPÉ is an Iranian-born poet, playwright, and acclaimed translator of Persian literature.

Programming Series: Poetry
Sponsor: Center for the Study of World Religions
Contact: Laurie D. Sedgwick, CSWR Events Coordinator, ldsedgwick@hds.harvard.edu
More info: cswr.hds.harvard.edu…

God After Atheism: Lecture Two, The World As It Really Is

2026-04-08T17:00:00Z

Multifaith Space, Swartz Hall 214, 45 Francis Ave.
Wednesday, April 8, 2026, 1 – 2:30pm

In response, many have been drawn back to religions they once rejected – traditions that offered meaning and structure, yet continue to face unresolved problems of evil, hiddenness, and dogma.

We are caught between exhausted alternatives. The old stories – of God and atheism – no longer fit the scale and strangeness of the reality we have come to understand.

There is purpose, value, and even an afterlife – not because God stands outside the world, but because God is the world: God of the dirt, encompassed by scientific reality.

Lecture 2: The World As It Really Is

This lecture articulates the picture of reality implied by this framework – drawing on cosmology, multiverse theory, and philosophy of mind, it offers a unified account of reality. The view that emerges is one where the world is far richer and more expansive than on traditional models.

Speaker

‘Jack Symes guides us charmingly and authoritatively, with a wit and freshness that enlivens without trivializing.’ – Stephen Fry

‘Jack Symes faces eminent thinkers with exactly the sort of questions we’d put forward ourselves if we could think clearly enough.’ – Philip Pullman

‘The UK’s leading philosophy presenter.’ – The Institute of Art and Ideas

Sponsor: student-initiated
Contact: studentlife@hds.harvard.edu

God After Atheism: Lecture Three, Everything Matters

2026-04-09T17:00:00Z

James Room East, Swartz Hall 122, 45 Francis Ave.
Thursday, April 9, 2026, 1 – 2:30pm

In response, many have been drawn back to religions they once rejected – traditions that offered meaning and structure, yet continue to face unresolved problems of evil, hiddenness, and dogma.

We are caught between exhausted alternatives. The old stories – of God and atheism – no longer fit the scale and strangeness of the reality we have come to understand.

There is purpose, value, and even an afterlife – not because God stands outside the world, but because God is the world: God of the dirt, encompassed by scientific reality.

Lecture 3: Everything Matters

The final lecture explores the ethical and existential consequences of this framework. It asks what morality, purpose, and personal identity look like if God encompasses every possible world – and considers what this means for the future of science, religion, and self-understanding.

Speaker

‘Jack Symes guides us charmingly and authoritatively, with a wit and freshness that enlivens without trivializing.’ – Stephen Fry

‘Jack Symes faces eminent thinkers with exactly the sort of questions we’d put forward ourselves if we could think clearly enough.’ – Philip Pullman

‘The UK’s leading philosophy presenter.’ – The Institute of Art and Ideas

Sponsor: student-initiated
Contact: studentlife@hds.harvard.edu

Holding Liat Screening and Discussion

2026-04-14T21:00:00Z

Cader Room, Swartz Hall 117, 45 Francis Ave.
Tuesday, April 14, 2026, 5 – 8:30pm

Join the HDS Film Fest for a screening of the Oscar shortlisted film "Holding Liat"

The film will be followed by a panel and discussion about the role of public media, religious literacy, and the emotional/political rifts in the film.

Sponsor: HDS Film Fest
Contact: studentlife@hds.harvard.edu

CANCELLED - Reading Group: Transcendentalism

2026-04-15T14:00:00Z

Wednesday, April 15, 2026, 10am – 12pm

This group meets on Wednesdays, 10-12 pm (1/28, 2/11, 3/4, 3/11, 3/25, 4/8)
Registration is required.
Please register to attend each session.

American Transcendentalism emerged in the mid-1800s from New England Unitarianism and European Romanticism. It distinguished itself by rejecting convention, challenging traditional religious doctrines of authority and election, opposing dominant philosophies, discarding genteel literary styles, and defying political complacency regarding slavery, gender inequality, and disenfranchisement. At Harvard, Transcendentalists were seen as mystics, misfits, rogues, and dissidents. Their refusals, however, sparked a social movement based on friendship and collaboration, united by a radical spirituality promising personal renewal and social transformation. This reading group invites participants to explore both sides of that legacy. We'll focus on Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Margaret Fuller in the fall, and on figures including Bronson Alcott, Theodore Parker, Orestes Brownson, Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, and Caroline Dall in the spring.

RUSSELL C. POWELL is a research affiliate at the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard Divinity School. He has held teaching positions at Boston College, Amherst College, and Princeton University. Russell is currently completing a book manuscript focused on Ralph Waldo Emerson's relevance to modern ecological thought, particularly as an architect of the concept of “nature” and its religious and political resonances in the United States. He is also an associate editor of the Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature, & Culture. He sits on the advisory board of the Forum on Religion and Ecology at Yale University.

Programming Series: Transcendence and Transformation
Sponsor: Center for the Study of World Religions
Contact: Laurie D. Sedgwick, CSWR Events Coordinator, ldsedgwick@hds.harvard.edu

The Ambiguity of the Vow: Law, Kinship, and Gender in Pathologizing the Jain Fast Until Death

2026-04-23T16:00:00Z

Braun Room
Thursday, April 23, 2026, 12 – 1:30pm

Miki Chase, Visiting Assistant Professor of South Asian Religions

In contemporary urban India, Jain laywomen comprise the majority of those who undertake sallekhanā or santhāra, the Jain fast until death. This project examines the everyday relational and ethical labor through which the fast is enacted within the domestic sphere, tracing how doctrinal ideals of asceticism are translated into embodied practice and how women’s ascetic agency is rendered both morally precarious and intelligible within kinship configurations and the evolving Indian legal and political landscape.

Lunch provided

Sponsor: WSRP
Contact: Tracy Wall twall@hds.harvard.edu

Reading Group: Transcendentalism

2026-04-29T14:00:00Z

Common Room, CSWR, 42 Francis Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138
Wednesday, April 29, 2026, 10am – 12pm

This group meets on Wednesdays, 10-12 pm (1/28, 2/11, 3/4, 3/11, 3/25, 4/8)
Registration is required.
Please register to attend each session.

American Transcendentalism emerged in the mid-1800s from New England Unitarianism and European Romanticism. It distinguished itself by rejecting convention, challenging traditional religious doctrines of authority and election, opposing dominant philosophies, discarding genteel literary styles, and defying political complacency regarding slavery, gender inequality, and disenfranchisement. At Harvard, Transcendentalists were seen as mystics, misfits, rogues, and dissidents. Their refusals, however, sparked a social movement based on friendship and collaboration, united by a radical spirituality promising personal renewal and social transformation. This reading group invites participants to explore both sides of that legacy. We'll focus on Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Margaret Fuller in the fall, and on figures including Bronson Alcott, Theodore Parker, Orestes Brownson, Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, and Caroline Dall in the spring.

RUSSELL C. POWELL is a research affiliate at the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard Divinity School. He has held teaching positions at Boston College, Amherst College, and Princeton University. Russell is currently completing a book manuscript focused on Ralph Waldo Emerson's relevance to modern ecological thought, particularly as an architect of the concept of “nature” and its religious and political resonances in the United States. He is also an associate editor of the Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature, & Culture. He sits on the advisory board of the Forum on Religion and Ecology at Yale University.

Programming Series: Transcendence and Transformation
Sponsor: Center for the Study of World Religions
Contact: Laurie D. Sedgwick, CSWR Events Coordinator, ldsedgwick@hds.harvard.edu