News

Are We There Yet

March 30, 2021

Emily Click, assistant dean for ministry studies and field education and Lecturer on Ministry, offers a reflection for Holy Week. Anyone who has taken a long-distance drive with young children can tell you their four most dreaded words: “Are we there yet...

The Vision Continues: Reflections on the 5th Annual BRSCC

March 29, 2021

The following essay was written by Kayla J. Smith, thi rd-year MDiv student and President of Harambee: Students of African Descent. The 5th annual Black Religion, Spirituality, and Culture Conference (BRSCC) at Harvard, hosted by Harambee: Students of...

Committed to the Pursuit of Learning

March 24, 2021

Madeline Levy, MTS ’21, reflects on her time at HDS and the growth she's experienced over the last two years.

Fall 2021 Semester Plans

March 22, 2021

The below message was sent to members of the HDS community from Acting Dean David Holland on March 16, 2021. Dear members of the HDS community, I want to begin this note by offering my gratitude for the resiliency and resolve the members of our community...

Salem, 1692

March 18, 2021

HDS Professor Catherine Brekus discusses the Salem Witch Hunt and talks about what leads a close-knit community to turn against each other—and draws some uncomfortable parallels with our own moment, from conspiracy theories to the demonization of...

After Harvard, Young Chicagoan Has New Campaign to Change Black Church Attitudes toward LGBTQ People

March 15, 2021

With a $40,000 grant, Don Abram, MDiv '19, has embarked on a project he calls “Pride in the Pews.” He plans to collect 66 stories of Black queer Christians—66, he notes, is the number of books in the Bible—in the hopes that the stories will open closed...

Podcast: Religion in the Time of Pandemic

March 12, 2021

Religious life, like everything else in life, has been drastically impacted by the COVID-19 global pandemic. Here at Harvard and in the Boston area, we’ve seen houses of worship closed, religious gatherings moved online, holidays celebrated in isolation...

The Mexican Angels in the Attic

March 11, 2021

In a new essay, Professor Davíd Carrasco tells the story of his personal and academic encounters with religion and spirituality.

A Crash Course in Decolonizing—From an RV

March 11, 2021

When Rebecca J. Nunziato—the creator behind the “Decolonize Everything” podcast and a first-year graduate student at the Harvard Divinity School—thought about living in a recreational vehicle, she envisioned it would progress naturally from her growing...

Video: Intersections of Spirituality, Social Justice, and Climate Change

March 10, 2021

A reflection and panel discussion on how and where spirituality, social justice, and climate change come together and intersect within faith traditions. Speakers included: Dan McKanan, AB ’89, Ralph Waldo Emerson UUA Senior Lecturer at Harvard Divinity...

Video: Abuse of Power in Alternative and Emerging Spiritual and Cultural Organizations

March 09, 2021

One of the core mandates of Harvard’s new Program for the Evolution of Spirituality is to look honestly at both the positive and negative dimensions of emerging spiritual movements. We are keenly aware that the abuse of power is a sensitive topic. Open...

Chaplains and the Rise of On-Demand Spiritual Support

March 09, 2021

HDS student Steven Salido Fisher and Senior Lecturer Cheryl Giles discuss how people are increasingly turning to a different kind of pastor when and where they’re needed.