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Religion
Sense where none seems possible
National & World Affairs
By: Colleen Walsh/
May 8, 2013
The first conference on African diasporic religions offered spiritual lessons from the continent that helped to create humankind, including a reminder that the body itself is a sacred space.
Harvard President Drew Faust and Divinity School Dean David N. Hempton discuss the role of religious studies and spiritual life in the 21st century — at Harvard and beyond.
Author James Carroll and Harvard Divinity School professor Francis Clooney explored the significance of the Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio’s selection as pope, the potential challenges he faces as the leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics, and the direction for the church in the years and decades to come.
After Argentinian Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected pope on Wednesday, Harvard analysts weighed in on what his selection, as the Vatican’s first Jesuit and first South American leader, could mean for the future of the Roman Catholic Church.
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Two political philosophers explored the role of religion in public life during a discussion sponsored by the nonprofit organization The Veritas Forum.
Finding ‘a solution to closed doors’
A Harvard Divinity School panel explored the workings of Shariah law and the rights of women under its rules, in part through the eyes of its first female judge.
The Gazette asked Francis Schüssler Fiorenza, a professor of Roman Catholic theological studies at the Divinity School, to weigh in on the decision by Pope Benedict XVI to step down.
Songs of struggle and freedom filled the vast sanctuary at Harvard’s Memorial Church on Monday as part of a celebration of the life and message of Martin Luther King Jr. The event marked the start of the University’s third annual Interfaith Awareness Week.
Ellery Schempp, one of the last living symbols of a series of Supreme Court cases that banned mandatory displays of faith in public schools, brought the contentious battle over religious expression to life for a Harvard Divinity School audience.
In a talk sponsored by Harvard Divinity School, four religious scholars explored the question of “Religion and the Election: Does it Matter?”
Four words on a previously unknown papyrus fragment provide the first evidence that some early Christians believed Jesus had been married, a Harvard professor says.
Shining a spotlight into darkness
Acclaimed documentary filmmaker Helen Whitney opens a three-day series of William Belden Noble lectures titled “Spiritual Landscapes: A Life in Film.” Her work draws out examples of how faith can foster not only inner peace, but also public turmoil.
A panel of scholars explored the topic of Islam in Nigeria in preparation for the visit to Harvard by Alhaji Muhammad Sa'ad Abubakar III, the Sultan of Sokoto.
Americans are a God-fearing people, but we increasingly identify as nonreligious, according to Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam. Putnam shed light on “the rise of the nones” and other findings from his new book, “American Grace,” in a talk at Harvard Divinity School on Feb. 15.
Harvard Divinity School professor Peter Machinist encouraged students to alter their perspectives on education and life through defamiliarization.
A panel of scholars explored the changing landscape of religion in the United States and its implications for both churches and education for ministry.
A panel of religious scholars examined the role of organized religion in helping to shape the national debate on economic reform and the country’s moral direction.
Intersection of climate change and Christianity
A leader in the field of Christian theology and ecofeminism explores the role of religion in combating global warming.
Before Greg Epstein became chaplain at Harvard's Humanist Chaplaincy, he was a rock star. Now he's written a book on Humanism, a religious philosophy that rejects supernaturalism while encouraging virtuous actions and decisions.
‘Paging God: Religion in the Halls of Medicine’
What happens when a Buddhist monk visiting the United States is hospitalized, terminally ill with liver cancer? Does religion interfere with his medical care? What about his Buddhist brethren, unable to join him bedside? Who will provide the appropriate services and ceremonies? Well, says Wendy Cadge, that’s where hospital chaplains come in.
Geneticist ‘who doesn’t believe in God’ offers new conception of divine
The Paul Tillich Lecture, offered annually at Harvard since 1990, commemorates the memory of a public intellectual who was once “the largest theological figure in our orbit,” said The Rev. Peter J. Gomes.
The Dalai Lama speaks at Harvard
The Dalai Lama addressed a capacity crowd at the Memorial Church on Thursday (April 30). With his trademark affable, down-to-earth style the religious leader counseled the audience about the important things in life in a talk titled “Educating the Heart.”
Harvard Kennedy School professors named 2009 Carnegie Scholars
Associate Professor Asim Ijaz Khwaja and Assistant Professor Tarek Masoud of Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government (HKS) have been named 2009 Carnegie Scholars by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The honorees were selected for their compelling ideas and commitment to enriching the quality of the public dialogue on Islam.
Afghan ambassador welcomes more U.S. ‘boots on the ground’
“I want to make one point very clear,” Afghanistan’s ambassador to the United States Said T. Jawad told a crowd in Harvard’s John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum Wednesday (March 11). “To build a pluralistic, a prosperous, peaceful society in Afghanistan is not a luxury for the Afghanistan people or for the Afghan government; it’s a necessity. It’s a necessity for peace in Afghanistan, stability in the region, and for security in the world.”
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