Forum on Religion and Ecology: Spotlights

This week’s episode of Spotlights features Madeline Stevens, a graduate student in the Environmental Studies program at the University of Montana. She talks about the interdisciplinary work being done in her program as well as her personal and professional engagement with the intersection of religion and the environment, including the thesis she is completing on the relationship between faith and...

This week's episode of Spotlights features Aaron Weiss, PhD, Adjunct Professor of Philosophy and Religion at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, CA. He talks about Tibetan Buddhism and philosophical perspectives on place, particularly in light of his recently defended dissertation, Buddhist Topology and the Practice of Lama Orgyan Khandro Norlha. Along the way, he a...

In this week’s episodes of Spotlights , our host Sam Mickey discusses some of his work in the field of religion and ecology. While we normally put the spotlight on other academics, activists, and artists, some people have asked to hear more about the host’s perspective on things, so in this episode Sam discusses one of his books, On the Verge of a Planetary Civilization: A Philosophy of Integral E...

This week, Spotlights features a clip from our episode with Johnna Arnold, an artist, photographer, educator, and urban farmer based in Oakland, CA. In this clip, she discusses her meditation-based participatory art project, Expanding Space , which is currently on exhibit as part of Creative Attention: Art and Community Restoration at the Palo Alto Art Center, in Palo Alto, California.  Details fo...

This week's episode of Spotlights features Johnna Arnold , an artist, photographer, educator, and urban farmer based in Oakland, CA. Her work revolves around human beings, the environments we build, and the ways these systems affect our lives. She discusses her personal and professional journey toward the intersection of art and ecology, including a body of photographic prints that work with...

This week, Spotlights features a clip from our episode with Dr. Pankaj Jain , Head of the Department of Humanities & Languages and Chair of The India Centre at FLAME University. We talk about the place of animals in Indian religion, culture, and ecology, including questions about vegetarianism, veganism, agriculture, and animal sanctuaries. Details for the full episode are available here . 

This week's episode of Spotlights features Pankaj Jain, PhD , an internationally recognized academic leader in sustainability, Jain studies, film studies, and diaspora studies. He is the Head of the Department of Humanities & Languages and Chair of The India Centre at FLAME University. We discuss connections between dharma and ecology in Hinduism and Jainism, with particular attention to...

This episode of Spotlights features an audio excerpt from a conversation between Sam Mickey and Mirei Takashima Claremon. They discuss the the meaning of freedom and its relevance to contemporary social and environmental issues, concluding with some speculation about what a a transition to a more sustainable and just world might look like. For more information about Mirei's work, you can find...

This week on Spotlights , we feature another clip from our episode about the new Ecojustice hub at the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology, with Tara C. Trapani, Liz Burkemper, Eun Young Choi, and Leah Snavely. You can find the ecojustice hub here : https://fore.yale.edu/Ecojustice Details for the full episode are available here : https://fore.yale.edu/blogs/entry/1639522612

This week, Spotlights features a clip from our episode about the new Ecojustice hub at the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology, with Tara C. Trapani, Liz Burkemper, Eun Young Choi, and Leah Snavely. Details for the full episode are available here .

This week's episode of Spotlights features a new hub for EcoJustice research and advocacy at the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology : Our guests are the four people comprising the team that put these resources together, including the following: Tara C. Trapani, a graduate of Yale Divinity School (MAR ‘07) and the Chief Administrator of the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology as well as the Coo...

This is a clip from the episode of Spotlights featuring Mallory McDuff, PhD , a teacher and writer at Warren Wilson College. She discusses the importance of talking about death, reflecting on her latest book, Our Last Best Act: Planning for the End of Our Lives to Protect the People and Places We Love (Broadleaf Books, 2021). The music at the introduction and conclusion of the clip comes from the...

This week's episode of Spotlights features Mallory McDuff, PhD . She writes and teaches environmental education just outside of Asheville, North Carolina, at Warren Wilson College, a liberal arts school that integrates academics with work and community engagement. She's written many books, articles, and essays that examine the intersection of people and places for a better world. Weaving...

This week's episode of Spotlights is a clip from last week’s episode, featuring the artist and educator, Nicole Dixon . In this clip, she talks about lessons that can be learned through attention to nature, specifically the nonjudgmental growth and resilience that redwoods teach us. You can watch the full episode here . You can listen to the full episode on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or other pl...

This week's episode of Spotlights features the artist and educator, Nicole Dixon . Nicole uses art as an interactive medium, and vehicle for self-transformation, community bridge-building, and positive social change. She talks about the ways her work engages with intersections between race, culture, politics, ecology, and spirituality. As she says in the artist statement for Transcendent Icon...

This week's episode of Spotlights is a clip from our interview with Dr. Mirei Takashima Claremon , a global citizen, behavioral scientist, and cross-cultural consumer insights expert based in Los Angeles. In this part of the interview, she reflects on the ways that Shinto and Buddhist values and animistic sensibilities shape Japanese culture and behaviors toward the environment. For more deta...

This week, the Spotlights podcast welcomes Dr. Mirei Takashima Claremon, a global citizen, behavioral scientist, and cross-cultural consumer insights expert based in Los Angeles. She discusses her work leading the Behavioral Sustainability movement, reflecting on the limits of analytical thinking for ecology and sustainability. Emphasizing the importance of holistic and cross-cultural perspectives...

This week's episode of Spotlights is a clip from our interview with Norman Wirzba, PhD , the Gilbert T. Rowe Distinguished Professor of Theology at Duke University, and Senior Fellow at Duke's Kenan Institute for Ethics. He talks about a life of rootedness and the limits of what is "enough," reflecting on his new book, This Sacred Life: Humanity's Place in a Wounded World...

This week's episode of the Forum on Religion and Ecology podcast features Norman Wirzba, PhD , the Gilbert T. Rowe Distinguished Professor of Theology at Duke University, and Senior Fellow at Duke's Kenan Institute for Ethics. He discusses his new book, This Sacred Life: Humanity's Place in a Wounded World (Cambridge University Press, 2021), which gives a deep philosophical and reli...

This is a clip from the episode of Spotlights  featuring Matthew David Segall, PhD , Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Religion in the Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness program at the California Institute of Integral Studies. Reflecting on his new book, Physics of the World-Soul: Alfred North Whitehead’s Adventure in Cosmology (SacraSage Press, 2021), he describes the role of worldly di...

This episode of Spotlights features Matthew David Segall, PhD , Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Religion in the Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness program at the California Institute of Integral Studies. He discusses his new book, Physics of the World-Soul: Alfred North Whitehead’s Adventure in Cosmology (SacraSage Press, 2021), describing the context and key concepts of Whitehead&apos...

Welcome to a new season of Spotlights . This podcast began around a year ago, and since we’re starting our second year, this episode features our host, Sam Mickey, reflecting on the year and looking ahead toward the year to come. He talks about the aim, scope, and themes of the podcast, while also inviting suggestions for any new developments or potential interviewees. He also mentions the Religio...

This week’s episode of Spotlights is a remix of two previous episodes, featuring guests who work at the intersection of Buddhism and ecology. First, we hear from Dekila Chungyalpa, Director of the Loka Initiative at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She discusses her personal journey into the world of Buddhist environmentalism. Then we hear from Chris Ives, PhD, Professor of Religious Studies a...

This week’s episode of Spotlights is another short clip from our full episode with Dr. Todd LeVasseur , visiting assistant professor in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the College of Charleston in South Carolina. We discuss the importance of integrating activism into academia in order to facilitate viable responses to the climate emergency. We reflect on this issue for academia in...

This week’s episode of Spotlights is a clip from our full episode with Dr. Todd LeVasseur , visiting assistant professor in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the College of Charleston in South Carolina. Reflecting on his new book, Climate Change, Religion, and our Bodily Future , he discusses the profound importance of religious studies and academia getting climate change right. You...