Madeline Bugeau-Heartt went to New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts for her undergraduate studies with the intention of becoming a great actor. “I had a big dream and a clear goal,” she said. “I possessed a very enthused mindset along the lines of ‘Watch out, Broadway!’”... Read more about Meeting Community Needs Through Spirituality and Theater
The 2023-24 academic year might just be the busiest one yet at the Center for the Study of World Religions. In addition to the Center’s numerous and lively lectures, art exhibits, and guest talks that all students (and most often the general public) are invited to attend, the CSWR’s Transcendence and Transformation (T&T) initiative is now entering its third year and is expanding considerably, with new funding and a widely expanded crop of visiting scholars, postdoctoral fellows and research associates who will broaden T&T’s reach and impact.
“Those who founded the nation’s first non-sectarian theological school in 1816 would be astounded by this gathering, which represents these ever-widening circles of inclusion.”
Harvard President Claudine Gay shared those words while addressing a crowd of nearly 200 Harvard Divinity School community members on Thursday during the School’s 208th Convocation. She pointed out that two centuries later, the School’s mission has evolved beyond “to quote early advocates, ‘the serious, impartial, and unbiased investigation of Christian truth’ to ‘a just world at peace across religious and cultural divides,’” noting that the student body now represents more than 40 different faith traditions—as well as those of no faith tradition.... Read more about At Harvard Divinity, Claudine Gay Sees ‘Aspirations for What We Can Achieve as a University’
When Religion and Public Life at Harvard Divinity School launched three years ago, it engendered a new Certificate in Religion and Public Life, providing students the opportunity to develop the knowledge, skills, and networks to leverage their master of theological studies and master of divinity degrees across a range of professional contexts, including in journalism, government, humanitarianism, and organizing.
"Conflicts are driven by a number of complicated factors, but are often mislabeled as religious. This experience showed me that religious literacy is necessary in peacebuilding to appropriately address the ambivalent and complex religious dimensions of conflict, and how best to channel the power of religious peacebuilders in the creation of just and peaceful societies."—Ailih Weeldreyer, MTS candidate
Professor Francis X. Clooney, S.J., reports back after he spent five weeks in India this summer keeping his "eyes and ears wide open," and on the 50th anniversary of his landing in India in 1973 on his way to teach in Nepal.
This summer, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) issued two major decisions with religion at the center of the cases. In Groff v. DeJoy, the court bolstered protections for workers asking for religious accommodations, and in 303 Creative v. Elenis, SCOTUS sided with a Colorado web designer who did not want to provide services to same-sex couples.... Read more about A Slippery Slope: What the Supreme Court's Recent Rulings Mean for Religion in the U.S.
We’ve made it! Summer is finally here. As we leave the hectic and hurried pace of the most recent academic year behind, we look forward to slower and longer days, warmer weather, and, of course, summer reading lists!... Read more about Harvard Divinity’s 2023 Summer Reading List