Please join the ISSRNC and the Wendland-Cook Program in Religion and Justice at Vanderbilt University, with support from the Forum on Religion and Ecology at Yale University, for our Ecology, Nature, and Religion Reception at the 2024 American Academy of Religion (AAR) annual conference. The event is on Friday, November 22nd from 7-10 pm at the House of Blues (1055 Fifth Ave) in the Delta Room.

Featured speakers include Amanda Baugh, talking on “Bringing More Voices to Religion, Nature, and Culture,” and Joerg Rieger and Terra Schwerin Rowe talking on “Challenges to Religion and Ecology from the Capitalocene.”

Friday, November 22nd
House of Blues (1055 Fifth Ave) | Delta Room
7:00—10:00pm
Presentations begin at 8:00pm Amanda Baugh Joerg Rieger & Terra Schwerin Rowe

View Reception Poster

Bringing More Voices to Religion, Nature, and Culture

In Falling in Love With Nature: The Values of Latinx Catholic Environmentalism (NYU Press, 2024), Amanda J. Baugh tells the story of American environmentalism through a focus on Spanish- speaking Catholics, in order to decenter dominant narratives that have universalized the experiences of white activists. Throughout the work, she encourages fellow scholars of religion, nature, and culture to see and uplift environmental perspectives that may not look exactly like their own. This talk offers reflections and practical advice for scholars interested in taking up this challenge. Baugh will discuss how her research questions emerged from class discussions with her students at California State University, Northridge, and how working with undergraduate research assistants strengthened her work from conception to final product. This conversation will offer insight into the challenges, opportunities and imperative of conducting research in cross-cultural environments.

Challenges to Religion and Ecology from the Capitalocene

If the current geological age is better described as the Capitalocene than the Anthropocene, what are the implications for the study of religion, theology, and ecology? The contributors to Liberating People, Planet, and Religion (Rowman & Littlefield, 2024) investigate how religion and theology have to be rethought both in terms of how they have contributed to problems like climate change linked to relationships of exploitation and extraction, and how religion and theology might help develop viable alternatives. Examples from Christianity introduced in this project are designed to broaden the conversation with other religions by investigating religious beliefs and practices as well as their economic and ecological entanglements. The goal is both to develop deeper understanding and visions for viable futures that emerge at a time when capital reigns supreme not only in economic and political relationships but also in the spheres of culture and religion.