Religions & Ecology: Understanding Environmental Connections

This module introduces the course on Introduction to Religions and Ecology, including a land acknowledgement, course overview, and personal introductions from the instructors.

This module explores the origins of the field of Religion and Ecology, the context of the Anthropocene, and the problems and promises of religions in addressing ecological challenges.

This module examines religions as symbolic systems, religious ecology, religious cosmology, and how religions can orient, ground, nurture, and transform humans in relationship with the planet.

This module explores Western views of nature, from animism to monotheism, Enlightenment rationalism to Romanticism and Transcendentalism, and modern scientific understanding of nature within an evolving universe.

This module examines the emergence of ecology as a scientific field, the shift from holism to biometrics, and the legacies of figures like John Muir, Aldo Leopold, and Rachel Carson in shaping the American environmental movement.

This module explores the global emergence of religious ecological engagement, focusing on religiously-inspired efforts to protect forests and addressing the climate emergency from various perspectives.

This module examines interreligious dialogue, the Earth Charter, the environmental justice movement, and the prospect of creating ecological cultures.

This module provides a conclusion to the course on Introduction to Religions and Ecology.