Harvard Divinity School

Terry Tempest Williams, the 2017–18 Writer-in-Residence at Harvard Divinity School, delivers the 2018 Ingersoll Lecture. She has been called "a citizen writer," a writer who speaks and speaks out eloquently on behalf of an ethical stance toward life. A conservationist and fierce advocate for freedom of speech, she has consistently shown us how environmental issues are social issues that ultimately become matters of justice. "So here is my question," she asks, "what might a different kind of power look like, feel like, and can power be redistributed equitably even beyond our own species?" Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at http://hds.harvard.edu/.

The 2018 Peter J. Gomes STB '68 Memorial honorees speak for the final installment of this year’s Divinity Dialogues. The panelists were: Robert Michael Franklin, MDiv '78; Jalane D. Schmidt, MDiv '96, AM '05, PhD '05; Simran Jeet Singh, MTS '08; Karen I. Tse, MDiv '00; and Ann D. Braude, Senior Lecturer on American Religious History and director of the Women’s Studies in Religion Program. Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at http://hds.harvard.edu/.

Estonian composer Arvo Pärt is the most performed living composer in the world today. His style is often characterized as a “mystic” or “holy” minimalism, inspired in part by Gregorian chant. This panel explores the religious dimensions of Pärt’s music and how it has been received, performed, and adapted for various vocal and instrumental ensembles. Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at hds.harvard.edu/.

Satigata is a group of Harvard Divinity School alumni and students who blend Buddhist chanting, modern rock, and folk set to guitar, hand drums, and Buddhist bells. They recently released the album "Boundless." For more information visit: Jaya/Berlin. Based on the song "Take me Away" by Jaya. Mantra melody by Chris Berlin.

Violence is not inevitable in stressed and oppressed communities and the building of peace in those communities requires the building of bridges between unlikely collaborators. That's the lesson learned in Boston over three decades of trying to change the trajectory of proven-risk youth and their families. This session of the fourth annual RPP Colloquium Series features Rev. Dr. Ray Hammond, MD '75, MA '82, AB '71, pastor and founder of the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, chairman and co-founder of the Ten Point Coalition and executive committee member of the Black Ministerial Alliance, Boston. The event is moderated by Stephanie Paulsell, PhD, Susan Shallcross Swartz Professor of the Practice of Christian Studies; formerly associate dean for ministry studies and Houghton Professor of the Practice of Ministry Studies at Harvard Divinity School. Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at http://hds.harvard.edu/.

America is no longer a majority-white-Christian nation. Journalist, author, commentator, and Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne and Dr. Robert P. Jones, author of The End of White Christian America, discuss this seismic change, its impact on the politics and social values of the United States, and its implications for the future. Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at hds.harvard.edu/.

Based on personal study and experience, Anne Waldman speaks on the refuge and Bodhisattva vows, the Six Realms of Existence, “co-emergent wisdom” and a parallel vow to poetry, and the joys and contradictions therein. She integrates her own poetry, particular writers associated with the Beat Literary Movement, and Giorgio Agamben’s notion of being contemporary with one’s time as “looking into the darkness”. Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at http://hds.harvard.edu/.

This session of the fourth annual RPP Colloquium Series explores some of the key challenges that nonviolent resistance movements face, including obstacles to building and maintaining movement cohesion, ensuring effective communication, and gaining political leverage; how advocates of principled nonviolence (who promote nonviolence on a moral basis) often clash with advocates of civil resistance (who promote nonviolent action on a strategic or utilitarian basis); the ongoing debate on diversity of tactics; and the ways in which power and privilege undermine solidarity. The colloquium highlights the power of women in these movements and addresses ways in which spiritually-engaged communities are well-positioned to address many of these key movement challenges. It features Erica Chenoweth, PhD, Professor and Associate Dean for Research at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver and Fellow, One Earth Future Foundation; and moderator and respondent Jocelyne Cesari, PhD, Professor and Chair of Religion and Politics at the University of Birmingham, UK, Senior Research Fellow at Georgetown University’s Berkley Center on Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, Professorial Fellow at the Institute for Religion, Politics, and Society at the Australian Catholic University, and Visiting Professor of Religion and Politics at Harvard Divinity School. Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at http://hds.harvard.edu/.

The Annual Greeley Lecture for Peace and Social Justice was delivered by Kelly Brown Douglas and examined the social/political and theological implications of whiteness as an impediment to living God’s justice. Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at http://hds.harvard.edu/.

Is religion a cause of violent conflict or a catalyst for its transformation? Do faith leaders have a role at the international peacebuilding tables? Current international affairs highlight the power of religious ideologies—and their misappropriation—as a catalyst for social action. They have also prompted unprecedented interest in the role of religious leaders and ideologies to transform conflict and violence. The keynote session of the fourth annual RPP Colloquium dinner series features Canon Sarah Snyder, PhD, Archbishop of Canterbury's Director of Reconciliation and The Right Reverend Anthony Poggo, PhD, the Advisor for Anglican Communion Affairs to the Archbishop of Canterbury. Together, they share their experience of working in conflict zones and reflect on vital lessons for the contemporary world. The event is moderated by Dean David N. Hempton, Alonzo L. McDonald Family Professor of Evangelical Theological Studies and John Lord O'Brian Professor of Divinity. Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at http://hds.harvard.edu/.