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Lara Freeman, MTS '06, religious literacy teacher at Westtown School

Religious Literacy Belongs in the Climate Justice Classroom: HDS Alum and Educator Empowers Students by Bringing RPL Frameworks to Life

May 17, 2023

“Part of our work around solving or responding to the environmental crisis we're facing is understanding the assumptions and the stories that we carry into it,” says Lara Freeman, religious studies teacher at Westtown School outside Philadelphia. Freeman, MTS ‘06, is a former student of Religion and Public Life (RPL) Associate Dean for Religion and Public Life Diane L. Moore and has long incorporated into her classroom the religious literacy method advocated by RPL. 

This year, Freeman was inspired by RPL’s religious literacy and climate resources for educators and is adapting and expanding her environmental justice course to incorporate RPL’s learning tools. This is the fourth iteration of Freeman’s course and demonstrates the collaborative potential between educators and RPL in which RPL and educators learn from each other, building, refining, and improving teaching materials based on mutual expertise.... Read more about Religious Literacy Belongs in the Climate Justice Classroom: HDS Alum and Educator Empowers Students by Bringing RPL Frameworks to Life

RPL Government Fellow Rev. Naomi Washington-Leapheart speaks at the Religious Literacy and Climate Justice panel for Climate Justice Week. She sits next to RPL Native and Indigenous Rights Fellow Cynthia Wilson.

Video: Religious Literacy and Climate Justice

May 11, 2023

On April 14, 2023, Religion and Public Life Fellows with expertise in policy, environmental science, Native and Indigenous rights, and education discussed the ways religious and spiritual literacy can enhance policy and scientific efforts to understand the drivers of climate collapse and advance climate justice. The panel featured Cythia Wilson, RPL Native and Indigenous Rights Fellow; Teresa Cavazos Cohn, RPL Climate Justice Fellow; and Rev. Naomi Washington-Leapheart, RPL Government Fellow. Sarabinh Levy-Brightman, RPL Education Fellow, acted as moderator.... Read more about Video: Religious Literacy and Climate Justice

Students speak as part of the Climate Justice Week event, "Climate Justice as Racial Justice"

Video: Climate Justice as Racial Justice: Student Panel

May 11, 2023
On April 11, 2023, HDS students gathered to give a panel on climate and racial justice. This panel presented an opportunity to learn from the critical work being done by students to advance justice through analysis, reflection, and action at the intersection of race and climate. Mayra Rivera, Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Religion and Latinx Studies, will offered the opening address and the panel included Phil Scholer, Tracey Robertson Carter, Nathan Samayo, and Eve Woldemikael.... Read more about Video: Climate Justice as Racial Justice: Student Panel
Raef Zreik, Religion and Public Life Visiting Scholar in Conflict and Peace 2022-23

Video: The Palestinian Question as a Jewish Question

May 9, 2023

On March 23, 2023, the Divinity School hosted Religion and Public Life Visiting Scholar in Conflict and Peace Raef Zreik. The question of Palestine and the Palestinians, according to Zreik, is shifting more and more from an external matter to an internal question of Israel, Zionism, and the Jewish people writ large. Zreik interrogates the ways questions of war and peace, borders, security, or the ‘two state’ solution become more and more internal to Israel. Related intimately to the state's identity, character and constitutional structure and democratic nature, these questions highlight the merging conversation of existence and essence.... Read more about Video: The Palestinian Question as a Jewish Question

A podium with the Climate Justice Week 2023 poster on it.

Sights and Sounds: Climate Justice Week

April 28, 2023

"Whatever your gifts are, those are needed." 

This April, Harvard Divinity School students, faculty, and staff organized the first-ever Climate Justice Week, an initiative to honor Earth Month by proactively tackling the urgency of the climate crisis.

The goal of the week was to provide HDS and the Harvard community with opportunities to build connections, activate their passion around environmental justice, and understand the critical role that...

Read more about Sights and Sounds: Climate Justice Week
Four headshots of participants in the Leading Toward Justice webinar series including moderator, Susie Hayward, Associate Director of RLPI, and alumnx panelists Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, MDiv ‘10, Erica Williams, MRPL ‘22, and Ryan Anderson, MDiv ‘04

Video: Leading Toward Justice: Intersections of Religion, Ethics, and Community Organizing

April 8, 2023
On February 10, 2023, The Leading Toward Justice webinar series featured a discussion of the critical importance of ethical practices and religious literacy in community organizing and advocacy fields. The Leading Toward Justice webinar series panel discussions spotlight alumni impact in the world and the ways alumni leverage their HDS training while working in secular or public professions.... Read more about Video: Leading Toward Justice: Intersections of Religion, Ethics, and Community Organizing
Anna Del Castillo, MDiv ’21, climate researcher at HDS's Religion and Public Life

With Climate Justice Week, Anna Del Castillo, MDiv ’21, Brings Hope Into Grief

April 6, 2023

Del Castillo has stayed close to HDS since graduating, and she is now a climate justice researcher at Religion and Public Life, where she explores the role religion and spirituality play in the movement for environmental justice. Her work resides at the intersection of religion, climate, and racial justice, and she helps provide resources and opportunities for members of the HDS community to engage with climate justice.

“If I could describe my research, it is listening to students and thinking about how we could innovate ways for students who come through the doors of HDS to feel ready to tackle the climate catastrophe,” Del Castillo explains. ... Read more about With Climate Justice Week, Anna Del Castillo, MDiv ’21, Brings Hope Into Grief

Karen L. King, David F. Holland, Dan McKanan, Terrence L. Johnson, and Tracey Hucks were the featured speakers for the final conversation of the six part Religion and the Legacies of Slavery series.

Video: Reflecting on Religion and the Legacies of Slavery

April 2, 2023

On March 20, 2023, HDS hosted the final installment in the the six-part series Religion and the Legacies of Slavery: A Series of Public Online Conversations. The featured speakers were Karen L. King, David F. Holland, Dan McKanan, Terrence L. Johnson, and Tracey Hucks. 

This session was a discussion among presenters reflecting upon the insights shared throughout the series. In addition to identifying themes and throughlines among sessions, presenters returned to the overarching questions that framed this collaboration: What does the academic study of religion teach us about the complex histories and legacies of slavery? How can a deeper understanding of the roles of religion enhance our commitment to reparative action in our contemporary times?

Harvard Crimson Newspaper Seal

RPL in the News: "Harvard Divinity School Faculty Discuss Teaching the Legacy of Slavery"

March 25, 2023

Harvard Crimson writers Julian J. Giordano and Sami E. Turner cover the sixth and final event in the HDS series of public online conversations titled “Religion and Legacies of Slavery,” which aims to build on Harvard’s landmark Legacy of Slavery report released in April 2022. The event, “Reflecting on Religion and the Legacies of Slavery,” featured the series' contributing faculty, who reflected on the core questions of the webinar series, and on the school’s ties to slavery and its responsibility to educate the next generation of religious scholars and leaders. The event was hosted by Diane L. Moore, faculty director of Religion and Public Life; and Melissa Wood Bartholomew, associate dean of diversity, inclusion, and belonging.... Read more about RPL in the News: "Harvard Divinity School Faculty Discuss Teaching the Legacy of Slavery"

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