Religion, Philosophy, and the Environment

Scholars engaged in the study of religions have joined their colleagues in many fields of inquiry, both humanistic and scientific, in a widening effort to understand the roles played by religions, religious practices, religious epistemologies, and religious ideologies in the changing human-environment relationship. Specific topics addressed range from efforts to understand and address the global crisis of climate change, to exploration of human-animal relationships, and to Native American philosophies. This initiative brings together students and scholars from several disciplines, including the arts, philosophy, languages and literatures, sociology, history, anthropology and others.

This initiative sponsored the Summer Workshop in 2014, on “Nature, Ways of Knowing, and Moral Commitment: A Conversation on Religion, Science, and the Anthropocene,” with guest speaker Lisa Sideris (Indiana University).