Religions of the World and Ecology

The Religions of the World and Ecology conference series, hosted by the Center for the Study of World Religions (CSWR), was the result of research conducted at the CSWR over a three-year period (1996-98). Conferences involved the direct participation and collaboration of some 600 scholars, religious leaders, and environmental specialists from around the world. The Religions of the World and Ecology book series, distributed by Harvard University Press, made research from the conferences available to a larger audience. The series foreword provides an overview of its approach.

The Religions of the World and Ecology conferences were organized by the CSWR and co-sponsored by Bucknell University and the Center for Respect of Life and Environment of the Humane Society of the United States. The conference directors, Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim, subsequently continued this work as coordinators of the Forum on Religion and Ecology.

The following conferences, which took place in Cambridge, Massachusetts, except where noted, comprised the series: 

  • *Buddhism and Ecology, May 2-5, 1996; convener: Mary Evelyn Tucker.
  • *Confucianism and Ecology, May 30-June 1, 1996; convener: Mary Evelyn Tucker.
  • Shinto and Ecology, March 21-24, 1997; convener: Rosemarie Bernard.
  • *Hinduism and Ecology, October 2-5, 1997; conveners: Christopher Key Chapple and Arvind Sharma.
  • *Indigenous Traditions and Ecology, November 13-16, 1997; conveners: John Grim and Lawrence E. Sullivan.
  • *Judaism and Ecology, February 22-24, 1998; conveners: Steven Shaw and Moshe Sokol.
  • *Christianity and Ecology, April 16-19, 1998; conveners: Dieter Hessel, Rosemary Radford Ruether, and Richard Clugston.
  • *Islam and Ecology,  May 7-10, 1998; conveners: John Grim and Fazlun Khalid. 
  • *Taoism and Ecology, June 5-8, 1998;  conveners: Norman Girardot and Livia Kohn. 
  • *Jainism and Ecology, July 10-12, 1998;  convener: Christopher Key Chapple.
  • Religion, Ethics, and the Environment: An Interdisciplinary Dialogue, Culminating Conference,  September 17-20, 1998.
  • Discovering the Common Ground, Culminating Conferences at the United Nations and the American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York, October 21 and 22, 1998.

*Proceedings published in the Religions of the World and Ecology book series