Forum on Religion and Ecology: Spotlights

This episode features Beth Norcross, founder and director of the Center for Spirituality in Nature , which provides numerous programs that offer spiritual guidance for developing deep, sustained, loving relationships with nature. She is also the co-author (with Leah Rampy) of a forthcoming book, Discovering the Spiritual Wisdom of Trees , which will be published with Broadleaf Books on Earth Day (...

This episode features Paul Waldau, an educator, activist and scholar who works at the intersection of animal studies, law, ethics, religion, and cultural studies. Former professor at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York, where he is the senior faculty for the Master of Science program in Anthrozoology, he is an author and editor of several books on animal studies, including The Specter of Species...

This episode Les Sponsel, PhD, Professor Emeritus in the department of Anthropology at the University of Hawaii. We talk about his transdisciplinary research and teaching as one of the pioneers in developing the field of spiritual ecology—a complex. diverse, and dynamic arena at the interfaces of religions and spiritualities on the one hand and, on the other, environments, ecologies, and environme...

This episode features Philip Arnold, PhD , Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Religion at Syracuse University, Director of the  Skä·noñh—Great Law of Peace Center, and President of the   Indigenous Values Initiative. He is interviewed by John Grim, PhD, co-founder and co-director of the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology. They talk about many facets of Phil’s work, especially in li...

Welcome to the beginning of the fifth year for the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology podcast. In this short episode, our host welcomes everyone to a new season, while also giving a brief refresher about what religion and ecology is all about. It is an academic field of study as well as a moral force for personal and social change, examining the problems and promise that religious traditions hold...

This is the final episode of our fourth season. In this short episode, our host gives a quick summary of how the podcast has grown in the last four years. Then he gives a brief overview of a new book on climate change from the German philosopher Peter Sloterdijk, Prometheus’s Remorse: From the Gift of Fire to Global Arson . It's a good account of the cultural, ecological, and ethical implicat...

This episode features Kathryn Lawson, PhD , lecturer in philosophy at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. We discuss her new book, Ecological Ethics and the Philosophy of Simone Weil: Decreation for the Anthropocene , which was just released in the Environmental Ethics series at Routledge. We discuss her unique juxtaposition of the 20th-century French philosopher Simone Weil and the challenges...

This episode features our host, Sam Mickey, discussing the new posthumous publication from the French philosopher Bruno Latour, If We Lose The Earth, We Lose Our Souls , in which Latour calls upon Christians to join the struggle to avert a climate catastrophe. It's a short text that examines connections between cosmology, ecology, and Catholicism, including discussion of Pope Francis, incarna...

This episode features Timothy Morton, PhD, Rita Shea Guffey Chair in English at Rice University and author of several books on ecological thought. We discuss their new book, Hell: In Search of a Christian Ecology (Columbia University Press, 2024). Escaping global warming hell, this revelatory book shows, requires a radical, mystical marriage of Christianity and biology — the biosphere and the body...

This episode features Missy Lahren, PhD, Chair of Board of Directors at Earth Law Center. Along with her work as a public interest lawyer, she is also a producer and writer. We discuss the many facets of her work, focusing in particular on her recent film, Last Stand: Saving the Elwha River's Legacy Forests . It premiered publicly at EarthX in Dallas on April 24, 2024. We had a chance to talk...

This episode features Sara Jolena Wolcott, an ecotheologian, minister, healer, ceremonialist, consultant, singer, and founder of Sequoia Samanvaya—an organization dedicated to harmonizing with ancient wisdom. She is also the host of The ReMembering And ReEnchanting Podcast . We discuss some of the many facets of her interdisciplinary but also cross-sector work. She addresses the crucial role that...

In this episode, Kimberly Carfore returns to the podcast to talk about this year's Bioneers conference, which was held in Berkeley, California on March 28-30. Bioneers is a nonprofit environmental advocacy organization based in New Mexico and California. Founded in 1990 by Kenny Ausubel and Nina Simons, Bioneers (a neologism for "biological pioneers") focuses on the value and wisdom...

This episode features Clayton Crockett, PhD , Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religion and the Director of the interdisciplinary Religious Studies program at the University of Central Arkansas. He has authored or edited a number of books at the intersection of theology, philosophy, science, and politics, including Religion, Politics and the Earth (with Jeffrey Robbins); The Future of...

This episode features Rabbi Ora Nitkin-Kaner, Reconstructionist rabbi and interdenominational climate change chaplain based in New Haven, Connecticut. As a rabbi, meditation teacher, climate change chaplain, and educator, she founded Exploring Apocalypse to extend her pastoral care work to help individuals and groups navigate the complexities of living in a time of climate emergency. We talk about...

This episodes features Craig Patterson, a long-time activist and advocate weaving together multiple perspectives to address contemporary environmental issues. We talk about his commitment to integration and synthesis, seeking alliances and unity amidst difference. Some points of integration we discuss include science and spirituality, East and West, and theory and practice. He shares his formative...

This episode of the FORE podcast features Chantal Forbes, PhD, and her partner Charlie Forbes. Chantal is a transdisciplinary scholar, storyteller, and educator at the intersection of ecology, spirituality, and culture. She is a visiting Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Randolph-Macon College and Adjunct Faculty at the California Institute of Integral Studies. Charlie is a cultural ecologist...

This episode features Chad Baron, co-founder of a new organization, Degrowth California. Degrowth is a hotly contested and frequently misunderstood movement among advocates of environmental sustainability and social justice. We discuss degrowth and its relationship to faith, particularly in light of Chad’s graduate work at the intersection of degrowth and Catholic Social Teaching. Some of the topi...

This episode features Mark Porter, PhD, research associate at the University of Erfurt, in Germany. With a background in ethnomusicology, his current work focuses on Christian musical innovation and changing ecological relationships, based at his university’s department for theology and religious studies. We discuss his work at the intersection of music, religion and ecology, particularly in light...

Tis the season for reflecting on the past year and the year to come. Kimberly Carfore, PhD, came on the podcast to do just that, particularly in light of her role as the co-chair of the Religion and Ecology unit for the American Academy of Religion (AAR). We talk about some of the main topics and trends covered by the unit in this past year's AAR, and we discuss what's coming for this ye...

This episode features Elizabeth Allison, PhD, Professor of Ecology and Religion at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco, where she founded and chairs the graduate program in Ecology, Spirituality, and Religion (ESR).  This year is the 10th anniversary of the program, so it was the perfect opportunity to reflect on ESR's past, present, and future. We discuss a w...

This episode features Kate Rigby, PhD, Alexander von Humboldt Professor of Environmental Humanities at the University of Cologne. We talk about her many contributions to environmental humanities and ecocriticism. Some of the topics we cover include her work with European Romanticism, decolonization, and the enduring legacy of the ecofeminist philosophy of Val Plumwood. We also discuss her most rec...

Welcome O'neil Van Horn, PhD to Spotlights . He's an Assistant Professor of Theology at Xavier University. We discuss the difference between theology and theopoetics, the ethical and political challenges of our current planetary situation, grounds for hope in these trying times, and the legacy of postmodern philosophers like Gilles Deleuze and Jacques Derrida. Along the way, we talk abou...

Christiana Zenner, PhD, returns to the podcast (see episode 4.3 ) for a discussion about Laudate Deum , the Apostolic Exhortation that Pope Francis recently issued as an update to his 2015 encyclical, Laudato Si': On Care for Our Common Home . We talk about some of the similarities and differences between the encyclical and the new exhortation. Some of the main themes include Pope Francis&apo...

This episode features Will W. Adams, PhD, an ecopsychologist, psychotherapist, and meditation teacher who serves as a psychology professor at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We talk about many perspectives that he integrates into his ecopsychological work, including transpersonal psychology, phenomenology, Christian mysticism, and Buddhism. We touch on many themes, from hope to he...

This episode features Blair Nelsen, Executive Director of Waterspirit, a spiritual ecology nonprofit that informs, inspires, and empowers people of all beliefs to deepen their consciousness of the sacredness of water and the interdependence of all Earth’s systems. We discuss her journey in the world of spiritual ecology and nonprofit management, with particular attention to water issues. Reenchant...