Harvard Divinity School

Harvard Divinity School
Harvard Divinity School Podcast

Expand your understanding of the ways religion shapes the world with lectures, interviews, and reflections from Harvard Divinity School.

  1. Black Religion and Mental Health Symposium Closing Keynote: Dr. Charmain Jackman

    24 JUN

    Black Religion and Mental Health Symposium Closing Keynote: Dr. Charmain Jackman

    Dr. Charmain Jackman (she/her), founder and CEO of InnoPsych, delivered the closing keynote at the Black Religion and Mental Health Symposium. Professor Ahmad Greene-Hayes (Harvard Divinity School) and Professor George Aumoithe (FAS, History and African and African American Studies) proposed this two-day interdisciplinary symposium, integrating mind, brain, and behavior insights into the exploration of Black religious practices and their impact on mental health. They questioned how Black religious spaces can enhance mental health outcomes, considering their dual role as sanctuaries and potential impediments to open discourse. The symposium brought together experts from history, public health, psychiatry, African American studies, religious studies, and civic society, focusing on understanding the neurobiological and socio-behavioral dynamics contributing to mental health stigmatization within Black communities. The symposium aimed to illuminate how societal stressors, such as racism, influence brain function and behavior, thereby affecting mental health, while also exploring resilience mechanisms among Black religious communities. This project aligns with the Harvard Mind Brain Behavior Interfaculty Initiative’s mission of facilitating interdisciplinary collaboration to address complex issues, contributing to a broader understanding of the interplay between mind, brain, and behavior in the context of Black mental health. This event took place on March 1, 2024. For more information: https://hds.harvard.edu Full transcript: https://hds.harvard.edu/news/video/2024/03/01/black-religion-and-mental-health-symposium-closing-keynote-dr-charmain-jackman

    1h 5m
  2. Battle of Siffin: The Intrigues Against Imam Ali's Statebuilding Project

    6 JUN

    Battle of Siffin: The Intrigues Against Imam Ali's Statebuilding Project

    Full title: Battle of Siffin: The Intrigues Against Imam Ali's Statebuilding Project & Its Legacy in the Modern Middle East This talk explores the politics and legacy of the Battle of Siffin — a foundational moment in the early political memory and history of Islam that pitted Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib against a rebellion in Syria led by Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan. As the first Shi'a Imam and fourth Sunni Caliph, the figure of Ali looms large in the consciousness of Muslims from the very early Islamic period until today. The talk is divided into two sections. The first explores the dialogue and politics between Ali and the diverse battle factions in his army at the Battle of Siffin. It analyzes Imam Ali's state building project, the interests of various elite generals and divisions within Imam Ali’s army, the context behind internal Muslim conflict and the political order of the early Islamic state, and the distinctions made by Ali regarding the roots and reasons behind internal civil conflict within the Muslim body politic. The second section analyzes how contemporary thinkers and scholars in the modern Middle East have interpreted the legacy of Imam Ali, the Battle of Siffin, and the "First Muslim Civil War” as a lens through which to understand the intersection between early Islamic history and modern political theology as well as debates over governance and statecraft in contemporary Islamic intellectual thought. Speaker: Dr. Mohammad Sagha, Lecturer in the Modern Middle East, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations (NELC), Harvard University This event took place on April 29, 2024. For more information: https://hds.harvard.edu Full transcript: https://hds.harvard.edu/news/video/2024/04/29/battle-siffin-intrigues-against-imam-alis-statebuilding-project-its-legacy-modern

    2h 4m
  3. Stendahl Symposium 2024: New Horizons, New Resistance

    3 JUN

    Stendahl Symposium 2024: New Horizons, New Resistance

    A yearly tradition at HDS, the Stendahl Symposium honors the memory of former professor Krister Stendahl, who tirelessly sought to repair fractions between Jews and Christians, supported the ordination of women, and pushed for the full inclusion and participation of women and minority voices in academia and interfaith work. Opening Remarks: Given by Samirah Jaigirdar, HDSSA Academics Chair Panel 1: Conversations Across Religious Boundaries "Christian Zen: Innovative Syncretism or Cultural Appropriation?" by Jeffrey Ng "Are You My Mother: Redefining Adoptive Relationships Through a Comparative Study of Western-Christian and Neo-Confucian Ethics" by Grace Sill "They said that he was the image of Tezcatlipoca: Dress and iconography in technologies of ritual remembrance in 1500s Texcoco" by Marisol Andrade Muñoz "Humanism in the Eastern and Western Philosophy and Religion: Concerning Confucius/Mencius and Kant" by Juye Han Panel 2: Religion and the Digital Age "Meme-ing Making: Our Newest Testament" by Maddison Tenney "Religion’s On Her Lips: Exploring the “Good Girl Faith” of Taylor Swift’s Lyricism" by Olivia Hastie and Anna Guterman "New Media, New Narratives, New Nuns: Catholic Nuns Making a Habit of Social Media" by Lauren Tassone "The Spiritual Value of Slasher Films: Watching Horror Movies as a Sacred Practice" by Kristen Maples Panel 3: Religion and Current Affairs "From Haven to Hazard: Examining the Role of Family as Sanctuary in Mormon Discourse" by Perlei Toor ""We Are Both First Responders and Vulnerable": Religious Actors as Implementing Partners for Climate Adaptation in Kenya" by Miriam Israel "Vacation to Auschwitzland: The Commodification of Grief and Fear in Auschwitz Dark Tourism and its Implications for the Divine" by Hannah Eliason "Is QAnon a Cult? An Analysis of Religious Rhetoric in Q Drops" by Brady W Schuh "The Transformative Power of Humility: The Irony of American History and a Reorientation of American Foreign Policy in the 21st Century" by Ailih Weeldreyer Panel 4: Studying Religion "“Christian Writers on Judaism” at Harvard: Who Studies Whom in the Academic Study of Religion?" by Rachel Florman "Rassenfrage, Judenfrage, Schwarzen-frage: Liminal Identities in W.E.B. Du Bois’s Prayers for Dark People" by Becca Leviss "Reimagining Religious Studies: Wilfred Cantwell Smith’s Revolutionary Legacy" by Yanchen Liu Panel 5: Religion and Identity "Thus Spoke the Child " by Micah Rensunberg "Coming Out as Evangelical, Converting to Queerness" by Karina Yum "Heritage Judaism, Race Science, and the Embodied Past: Searching for the Anti-Zionist Jewish Body" by Shir Lovett-Graff "Building a Theological Home for Korean Queers: The Possibilities for Korean Queer Theology through the Eyes of Korean Christian Queers" by Jihyun Son This event took place on April 19, 2024. For more information: https://hds.harvard.edu Full transcript: https://hds.harvard.edu/news/video/2024/04/19/stendahl-symposium-2024-new-horizons-new-resistance

    3h 6m

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Expand your understanding of the ways religion shapes the world with lectures, interviews, and reflections from Harvard Divinity School.

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