CSWR Resources: Religion and the Environment

The Center for the Study of World Religions has played an important role, especially in the last decade, in exploring the intersection of religion and ecology. During Lawrence Sullivan's directorship and under the leadership of Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim, a series of conferences and publications investigated the actual and potential contribution of the world's religions to an environmental ethic grounded in respect for the intrinsic value of nature and humankind's place in it. The Forum on Religion and Ecology continues this initiative with an abundance of online resources, programs, and publications.

Under the directorship of Donald Swearer, the CSWR has maintained its role in developing this field in light of current scholarship. The program theme for 2005-06, "Religion, Place, and the Environment," explored several related aspects of the study of religion and ecology, ranging from symbolic and cosmological imaginative constructions to special locations and places. This series of events was designed to explore such questions as: How do communities come to ascribe meaning to their physical or geographical surroundings? What are the symbols and stories that carry that meaning, and how do these in turn effect one's treatment of one's environment? The 2005-06 program series culminated in the conference "Ethics, Values, and the Environment," which explored the issue from across the humanistic disciplines. The lectures listed below were given as part of this 2005-06 series; more may be found under Religion and Place.

Lectures

Publications