Harvard Divinity School » Public Events

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Christianity and National Politics: N.T. Wright, Michael Lloyd, & Catherine Brekus in conversation with Matthew Ichihashi Potts

This event is free and open to the public. No registration required. In person only. You are cordially invited to “Christianity and National Politics,” a conversation featuring N.T. Wright, Michael Lloyd, and Catherine Brekus, in conversation with Matthew Ichihashi Potts. Join these scholars of theology, religion, and American history for a discussion exploring the relationship between Christianity and national politics. About the Speakers N.T. Wright N.T. Wright is Research Professor Emeritus of New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of St Andrews and Senior Research Fellow at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. He has held academic and chaplaincy posts at Oxford, Cambridge, and McGill University in Montreal. He served as Canon of Westminster before becoming Bishop of Durham, a position he held from 2003 to 2010. Michael Lloyd Dr. Michael Lloyd is Principal of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. He studied theology at Durham University while training for ordination at Cranmer Hall and completed his doctorate at… Sponsor: Harvard Divinity School. Contact: Laurie D. Sedgwick, Events Coordinator Office of Academic Affairs Harvard Divinity School LDSedgwick@hds.harvard. edu. Monday, November 9, 2026, 4:30 PM – 6:00 PM. Memorial Church 1 Harvard Yard, Cambridge, MA.

God’s Homecoming: The Early Christians and the Question of God — A Lecture by N.T. Wright

This event is free and open to the public. No registration is required. You are cordially invited to a lecture by N.T. Wright, “God’s Homecoming: The Early Christians and the Question of God.” About the Speaker N.T. Wright is Research Professor Emeritus of New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of St Andrews and Senior Research Fellow at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. He has held academic and chaplaincy posts at Oxford, Cambridge, and McGill University in Montreal. He served as Canon of Westminster before becoming Bishop of Durham, a position he held from 2003 to 2010. Sponsor: Harvard Divinity School. Contact: Laurie D. Sedgwick, Events Coordinator Office of Academic Affairs LDSedgwick@hds.harvard.edu. Tuesday, November 10, 2026, 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM. Cader Room, Swartz Hall 45 Francis Ave. Cambridge, MA.

Multifaith Collaborative Dinner

A gathering of different religious and spiritual student organizations on campus coming together to support each other's work and collaborate. Sponsor: Office of the Chaplain and Religious and Spiritual Life. Contact: rsl@hds.harvard.edu. Tuesday, November 10, 2026, 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM. Garvin Room, Swartz Hall 118, 45 Francis Ave.

OCB Master Class Lunch series with Professor Charles Hallisey: Session 3

In furtherance of the HDS Office for Community & Belonging (OCB) theme for the 2026-2027 academic year, Building a New World: From Fear to Love, OCB invites you to its fall Master Class Lunchtime series Annihilating Fear: Essential Learnings for Building a New World featuring Professor Charles (Charlie) Hallisey, Yehan Numata Senior Lecturer on Buddhist Literatures. This series includes three conversations held over lunch with Professor Hallisey exploring the promises, challenges, and prospects of restorative approaches to building better worlds together. Each session will explore themes through multiple religious lenses and will draw, in particular, on the wisdom of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and Howard Thurman. This program is open to the HDS community. Registration is required. (The registration link is forthcoming.). Sponsor: OCB. Contact: jkinnemore@hds.harvard.edu. Thursday, November 12, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM. Braun Room. For more info visit harvard.az1.qualtrics.com.

Angel Voice Song Circle!

Come sing in a big heart centered community of love! No experience necessary, we will be learning everything all together :). Sponsor: HDS Angel Voice. Contact: studentlife@hds.harvard.edu. Thursday, November 12, 2026, 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM. Williams Chapel, Swartz Hall 212, 45 Francis Ave.

Scripture in Community

All are welcome to gather in person each Friday from 12pm – 1pm ST What does the Bible say? Scripture In Community (SIC) is a weekly practice where we read and listen to passages from the Bible together. Each week we will read passages from the Psalms, the Old Testament, and the New Testament. Whether you are new to reading scripture, have studied the Bible for years, or are just curious about faith, you are welcome to come and discover if there is wisdom in it for your everyday life. Join us as we listen, learn, and discuss the timeless and eternal truths found in the pages of the Bible. Lunch is provided for those joining in person. Sponsor: HLS Program on Biblical Law and Christian Legal Studies. Contact: studentlife@hds.harvard.edu. Friday, November 13, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM. Garvin Room, Swartz Hall 118, 45 Francis Ave.

Dharmic* Traditions Symposium: Scholarship as Practice, Practice as Scholarship

The 2026 Dharmic* Traditions Conference centers conversations about, across, and within “Dharmic* traditions,” which include Buddhist, Hindu, Jain, and Sikh traditions. These year’s theme, “Scholarship as Practice, Practice as Scholarship,” invites presenters and attendees to explore the relationships between wisdom, scholarship, and practice within and across these traditions. We invite scholars, artists, community leaders, practitioners, and more to attend and present. *We invoke the “dharmic*” descriptor that Edwards et al. (2024) use in their article, “Building Dharmic* Solidarity to Expand the Discourse about Religious Diversity in US Higher Education.” We understand that the concept of dharma is employed differently in the traditions we list here even as the root of the word itself is present. Furthermore, we recognize that the category of “dharmic traditions” has been used by supremacists to flatten nuances between these traditions and to consolidate a hateful movement against “a perceived threat of A… Sponsor: HDS Buddhist Community & HDS Ganga. Contact: studentlife@hds.harvard.edu. Monday, November 16, 2026, 9:00 AM – 3:15 PM. Braun Room, Swartz Hall 101, 45 Francis Ave. (registration required). For more info visit forms.cloud.microsoft.

Hindu View of Life Lecture: Special Dispensations, Sublime Realities: Keshab Chandra Sen and the Comparative Impulse in the Nineteenth Century

Registration required. Please register to attend in person. Please register to attend on Zoom. Radhakrishnan’s lectures on Hindu views of life 100 years ago emphasize how the world then, after a devastating world war, was witnessing an interchange of thought between religions through the mingling of populations. Furthermore, the spirit of the age and the need of the hour determined the emphasis in each religion. This lecture will explore how interchange of thought between religions flourished in certain circles in nineteenth-century India, through an examination of the thought and major works of Keshab Chandra Sen (1838-1884), a Bengali philosopher of religion and social reformer who pioneered a range of comparative religious projects. Through an examination of his compilations of excerpts from a diversity of religious texts as well as his relationship to religions outside of Hinduism, Sen serves as a major precursor to Radhakrishnan’s contributions to modern and contemporary views on religion in the… Programming Series: Annual Lectures. Sponsor: Center for the Study of World Religions. Contact: cswr@hds.harvard.edu. Monday, November 16, 2026, 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM. Common Room, CSWR 42 Francis Ave. Cambridge, MA.

The Practice of Wisdom: Five Quests

Please register to attend. Based on their celebrated Harvard course, The Practice of Wisdom brings together four distinguished Harvard professors in an exploration of wisdom as an ongoing practice—one cultivated through encounters with uncertainty, grief, beauty, healing, and moral challenge. Join us for a conversation with the authors. Speaker bios: Davíd Carrasco, Neil L. Rudenstine Professor of the Study of Latin America at Harvard Divinity School with Joint Appointment in the Department of Anthropology at Harvard University, is Director of the Moses Mesoamerican Archive and author of The Religions of Mesoamerica, City of Sacrifice, and Quetzalcoatl and the Irony of Empire. Arthur Kleinman has taught for over forty years in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School and in the Department of Anthropology, where he is Rabb Professor. He is the author of The Illness Narratives: Suffering, Healing, and the Human Condition and The Soul of Care: The Moral Education of a… Sponsor: Tozzer Library, Harvard University, The Raphael and Fletcher Lee Moses Mesoamerican Archive and Research Project (MMARP), Harvard University, Department of Anthropology, Harvard University, and Harvard Divinity School. Contact: Susan Gilman - sgilman@fas.harvard.edu. Tuesday, November 17, 2026, 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM. Tozzer Library 21 Divinity Ave. Cambridge, MA 02138. For more info visit libcal.library.harvard.edu.

'Temper: Practicing Freedom in an Unfree World' Book Talk with Autumn Brown (registration required)

'Temper: Practicing Freedom in an Unfree World' Book Talk with Autumn Brown, Thursday November 19th, 7-8:30pm   HDS students invite you to join Autumn Brown for a talk, reading, and discussion of her upcoming book, Temper: Practicing Freedom in an Unfree World (published 11/10/26). Drawing on the ancestral wisdom of Harriet Tubman and other fugitives, the lineage of Black Feminism, and the discipline of martial arts, Autumn Brown teaches us how to temper our bodies and spirits for this resilient practice of freedom―exactly where we are. The next day, Autumn will be running a half-day Racial Justice Institute at Harvard Divinity School, for students, staff, faculty and alumni, entitled ‘Fortified and Fugitive: A Multiracial Movement for the Win’. Register here. Event details, Date and time: Thursday November 19th, 7-8:30pm Location: Williams Chapel, Harvard Divinity School Registration: Free, please register in advance; maximum capacity 90 Access: The venue is ADA compliant, please reach out for more… Sponsor: student-initiated. Contact: studentlife@hds.harvard.edu. Thursday, November 19, 2026, 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM. Williams Chapel, Swartz Hall 212, 45 Francis Ave. For more info visit harvard.az1.qualtrics.com.

Scripture in Community

All are welcome to gather in person each Friday from 12pm – 1pm ST What does the Bible say? Scripture In Community (SIC) is a weekly practice where we read and listen to passages from the Bible together. Each week we will read passages from the Psalms, the Old Testament, and the New Testament. Whether you are new to reading scripture, have studied the Bible for years, or are just curious about faith, you are welcome to come and discover if there is wisdom in it for your everyday life. Join us as we listen, learn, and discuss the timeless and eternal truths found in the pages of the Bible. Lunch is provided for those joining in person. Sponsor: HLS Program on Biblical Law and Christian Legal Studies. Contact: studentlife@hds.harvard.edu. Friday, November 20, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM. Garvin Room, Swartz Hall 118, 45 Francis Ave.

Seasons of Light

The Office of the Chaplain and Religious and Spiritual Life invites the entire HDS community to Seasons of Light. In the days of growing darkness, we gather together to honor the many different faith traditions represented at HDS that celebrate the interplay of light and dark through instrumental music, readings by students, and communal prayers. Sponsor: Office of the Chaplain and Religious and Spiritual Life. Contact: rsl@hds.harvard.edu. Tuesday, December 1, 2026, 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM. James Room, Swartz Hall 120/122, 45 Francis Ave.

The Mevlevi Sufi World in Sound: History, Music, and the Sema Ceremony. Commemorating Rumi (1207-1273). Part 1: Afternoon Panel: Rumi and the Mevlevi Sema

The Mevlevi Sufi World in Sound: History, Music, and the Sema Ceremony, Commemorating Rumi (1207–1273) This program brings together an afternoon scholarly panel and an evening Mevlevi sema ceremony to explore the history, poetry, music, and spiritual life of the Mevlevi Sufi tradition. Featuring Dede Efendi’s Ferahfeza ayin, the evening offers an encounter with a living tradition of sacred music and movement, bringing historical scholarship into dialogue with artistic and spiritual practice. Sponsor: student-initiated. Contact: studentlife@hds.harvard.edu. Thursday, December 3, 2026, 1:00 PM – 3:30 PM. Williams Chapel, Swartz Hall 212, 45 Francis Ave.

The Mevlevi Sufi World in Sound: History, Music, and the Sema Ceremony. Commemorating Rumi (1207-1273). Part 2: Evening Ceremony: Dede Efendi’s Ferahfeza Ayin

The Mevlevi Sufi World in Sound: History, Music, and the Sema Ceremony, Commemorating Rumi (1207–1273) This program brings together an afternoon scholarly panel and an evening Mevlevi sema ceremony to explore the history, poetry, music, and spiritual life of the Mevlevi Sufi tradition. Featuring Dede Efendi’s Ferahfeza ayin, the evening offers an encounter with a living tradition of sacred music and movement, bringing historical scholarship into dialogue with artistic and spiritual practice. Sponsor: student-initiated. Contact: studentlife@hds.harvard.edu. Thursday, December 3, 2026, 6:30 PM – 9:00 PM. Williams Chapel, Swartz Hall 212, 45 Francis Ave.

Scripture in Community

All are welcome to gather in person each Friday from 12pm – 1pm ST What does the Bible say? Scripture In Community (SIC) is a weekly practice where we read and listen to passages from the Bible together. Each week we will read passages from the Psalms, the Old Testament, and the New Testament. Whether you are new to reading scripture, have studied the Bible for years, or are just curious about faith, you are welcome to come and discover if there is wisdom in it for your everyday life. Join us as we listen, learn, and discuss the timeless and eternal truths found in the pages of the Bible. Lunch is provided for those joining in person. Sponsor: HLS Program on Biblical Law and Christian Legal Studies. Contact: studentlife@hds.harvard.edu. Friday, December 4, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM. Garvin Room, Swartz Hall 118, 45 Francis Ave.

Insight Into Compassion

Apply now. This experiential 2-day intensive focuses on compassion for mental health providers, social workers, and other clinical care professionals. This training seeks to answer the question of how we can develop compassion as part of our professional practice in a way that best impacts our clients, ourselves, and our communities. We will draw from Buddhist traditions that have long centered the cultivation and understanding of compassion as a practical technology, profound intervention, and skillful approach for our work and lives. This intensive will emphasize teachings, guided meditations, and small group processing. Participants will develop skills in compassion meditation and learn about the ethical and philosophical foundations of compassion within a caring community atmosphere. Cost of Attendance: $1,000 Some partial scholarships are available Application: Apply online. Application deadline: December 11, 2026. Sponsor: Office of Ministry Studies. Contact: jmakransky@hds.harvard.edu. Monday, January 11, 2027 – Tuesday, January 12, 2027. Harvard Divinity School. For more info visit www.hds.harvard.edu.

Devised Ritual: Embodying Inner and Outer Landscapes with Amy Brenneman

Devised Ritual: Embodying Inner and Outer Landscapes, January 20–22, 2027 | Three full days, Free to attend | Application required This workshop is open to Harvard-affiliated undergraduate and graduate students, staff, faculty, and alumni. Participants should plan to attend all three full days. Complete the application to attend. Application deadline: December 4, 2026 Admission notifications: December 18, 2026 Space is limited to 15–20 participants. Applications will be reviewed, and applicants will be notified of admission decisions by December 18. Led by Amy Brenneman, Devised Ritual: Embodying Inner and Outer Landscapes is a three-day experimental creative workshop exploring the intersection of theater, religious ritual, personal narrative, and sacred imagination. Ritual is one of humanity’s oldest technologies for making meaning—intentional structures through which we mark transitions, express belonging, grieve deaths, celebrate lives, and witness one another’s journeys. But what happens when… Sponsor: Harvard Office for the Arts & Harvard Divinity School. Contact: Laurie Sedgwick, Events Coordinator Office of Academic Affairs Harvard Divinity School ldsedgwick@hds.harvard.edu. Wednesday, January 20, 2027, 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM. Multifaith Room, Swartz Hall 45 Francis Ave. Cambridge, MA. For more info visit harvard.az1.qualtrics.com.

Devised Ritual: Embodying Inner and Outer Landscapes with Amy Brenneman

Devised Ritual: Embodying Inner and Outer Landscapes, January 20–22, 2027 | Three full days, Free to attend | Application required This workshop is open to Harvard-affiliated undergraduate and graduate students, staff, faculty, and alumni. Participants should plan to attend all three full days. Complete the application to attend. Application deadline: December 4, 2026 Admission notifications: December 18, 2026 Space is limited to 15–20 participants. Applications will be reviewed, and applicants will be notified of admission decisions by December 18. Led by Amy Brenneman, Devised Ritual: Embodying Inner and Outer Landscapes is a three-day experimental creative workshop exploring the intersection of theater, religious ritual, personal narrative, and sacred imagination. Ritual is one of humanity’s oldest technologies for making meaning—intentional structures through which we mark transitions, express belonging, grieve deaths, celebrate lives, and witness one another’s journeys. But what happens when… Sponsor: Harvard Office for the Arts & Harvard Divinity School. Contact: Laurie Sedgwick, Events Coordinator Office of Academic Affairs Harvard Divinity School ldsedgwick@hds.harvard.edu. Thursday, January 21, 2027, 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM. Multifaith Room, Swartz Hall 45 Francis Ave. Cambridge, MA. For more info visit harvard.az1.qualtrics.com.

Devised Ritual: Embodying Inner and Outer Landscapes with Amy Brenneman

Devised Ritual: Embodying Inner and Outer Landscapes, January 20–22, 2027 | Three full days, Free to attend | Application required This workshop is open to Harvard-affiliated undergraduate and graduate students, staff, faculty, and alumni. Participants should plan to attend all three full days. Complete the application to attend. Application deadline: December 4, 2026 Admission notifications: December 18, 2026 Space is limited to 15–20 participants. Applications will be reviewed, and applicants will be notified of admission decisions by December 18. Led by Amy Brenneman, Devised Ritual: Embodying Inner and Outer Landscapes is a three-day experimental creative workshop exploring the intersection of theater, religious ritual, personal narrative, and sacred imagination. Ritual is one of humanity’s oldest technologies for making meaning—intentional structures through which we mark transitions, express belonging, grieve deaths, celebrate lives, and witness one another’s journeys. But what happens when… Sponsor: Harvard Office for the Arts & Harvard Divinity School. Contact: Laurie Sedgwick, Events Coordinator Office of Academic Affairs Harvard Divinity School ldsedgwick@hds.harvard.edu. Friday, January 22, 2027, 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM. Multifaith Room, Swartz Hall 45 Francis Ave. Cambridge, MA. For more info visit harvard.az1.qualtrics.com.