Gnoseologies: Esoteric identities: Helena P. Blavatsky as a woman philosopher? With Tim Rudbøg
Registration is required.
Please register to attend on Zoom.
What criteria decide philosophical legitimacy? What is the role of women philosophers in them? In this conversation, Tim Rudbøg will consider the figure of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and, through intertextual analysis, show that Blavatsky actively engaged with philosophical discourse, developing perspectives on being, consciousness, space, and time in conversation with thinkers such as Kant, Fichte, Hegel, and Spencer. While Blavatsky regarded her own work as philosophical, her conception of authentic philosophy diverged from that of many contemporaries. Rudbøg contends that esoteric identities are now easily pinned down, but that Blavatsky merits recognition as a philosopher in her own right, while simultaneously exceeding that category.
TIM RUDBØG, PhD, is Associate Professor in the Study of Religions at the University of Copenhagen, where he also serves as Head of Education for the Study of Religions and directs the Copenhagen Centre for…
Programming Series: Gnoseologies. Contact: Laurie D. Sedgwick, CSWR Events Coordinator
ldsedgwick@hds.harvard.edu.
Wednesday, December 10, 2025, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Zoom.
For more info visit cswr.hds.harvard.edu. 100 Years of Rudolf Steiner
Harvard’s Program for the Evolution of Spirituality is delighted to announce that we will be hosting a special conference marking the centennial of the death of spiritual teacher Rudolf Steiner. This conference will take place at Harvard Divinity School on December 15 and 16. It will feature panels on many aspects of Steiner’s legacy, as well as keynotes by Boaz Huss, Martina Maria Sam, Aaron French, and Henry Holland. National and local anthroposophical organizations will hold related events nearby on December 14 and December 17. Conference registration will open soon at https://pes.hds.harvard.edu/steinerconference. For more information, please contact pes@hds.harvard.edu.
December 15, 9 am-8:45 pm, December 16, 9 am-6:45 pm.
Contact: pes@hds.harvard.edu.
Monday, December 15, 2025, 9:00 AM – Tuesday, December 16, 2025, 6:45 PM.
Swartz Hall.
For more info visit pes.hds.harvard.edu. Greeley Lecture: Reconciling the Loss of Indigenous Eden
Registration is required.
Please register to attend in person.
Please register to attend on Zoom.
Blair Stonechild, PhD, First Nations University of Canada, will discuss his research on the concept of Indigenous Eden, its loss, and how the process of Truth and Reconciliation can bring together disparate perspectives and offer solutions for the future. Stonechild’s talk is based on five decades of research with Indigenous Elders at First Nations University of Canada, which has resulted in a trilogy on Indigenous Spirituality: The Knowledge Seeker (2016), Loss of Indigenous Eden (2020), and Challenge to Civilization (2024), published by the University of Regina Press.
BLAIR STONECHILD is a member of the Muscowpetung Saulteaux First Nation and is a survivor of the Qu’Appelle Indian Residential School. He holds a bachelor’s degree from McGill, and master’s and doctorate degrees from the University of Regina. In 1976, Blair joined the First Nations University of Canada as its first faculty member and was the…
Contact: Laurie D. Sedgwick, CSWR Events Coordinator
ldsedgwick@hds.harvard.edu.
Tuesday, February 10, 2026, 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM.
Center for the Study of World Religions, Common Room, 42 Francis Ave. Cambridge, MA.
For more info visit cswr.hds.harvard.edu.