Harvard Divinity School

As part of the Transcendence and Transformation initiative, the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard Divinity School is proud to announce its first ever podcast. Pop Apocalypse explores the mystical and the mythic, the paranormal and the psychedelic in popular culture.

The show features interviews with musicians, artists, and writers about how their spiritual experiences and practices inform their work. We also explore the mythological universes in film and fiction with show-runners, writers, and directors. These candid, first-person reflections will be complemented by interviews with scholars who situate these artistic products in the study of mysticism and esotericism.

Together, the podcast offers descriptive, interpretive, and theoretical scholarship on religion and popular culture in real-time that will be of interest to scholars and laypersons alike.

Hosted by Matthew J. Dillon, postdoctoral fellow at the CSWR, in conversation with Victoria Nelson.

Full transcript: https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2024/03/08/audio-pop-apocalypse-monsters-fictional-worlds-and-repressed-supernatural-talk

Learn more: cswr.hds.harvard.edu/

This special event, jointly organized by CSWR and HDS Buddhist Ministry Initiative, aimed to commemorate Dhamma Chakra Day and delved into the enduring legacy of Dr. Ambedkar. His peaceful, egalitarian, grassroots movement has left an indelible mark on Indian society and politics. The event showcased three speakers whose research has deepened our understanding of Buddhism's impact and potential in fostering equality and social justice in India.

Speaker List:

- Dr Ambedkar: Restructuring of Indian Society towards Liberty, Fraternity, and Equality

- Prof S. K. Thorat, Chairman, Indian Institute of Dalit Studies

- Dr. Raja Sekhar Vundru, "Buddhism and Emancipation of oppressed classes in India," author of Gandhi, Ambedkar and Patel

- Chief Secretary, Haryana State, India.

- Dr. William Edelglass, Director, Barre Centre for Buddhist Studies, author of "Equality, Solidarity, and Religion: On Ambedkar’s Conversion"

Buddhism made a significant comeback in India in October 1956 through a momentous mass conversion led by Dr. Ambedkar and his 500,000 followers, predominantly from the marginalized Untouchable communities. Despite enduring severe structural violence, Dr. Ambedkar eschewed the path of aggression, opting instead for the peaceful transformation of society. He believed that this transformation could only be achieved by embracing the teachings of Buddha-Dhamma. Presently, India boasts over 50 million Buddhists, many of whom found inspiration in Dr. Ambedkar. His conversion movement is a pivotal force, reshaping India's religious and social landscape to a degree not witnessed since the times of Buddha and Ashoka.

This event took place on October 19, 2023.

For more information: https://hds.harvard.edu/

Transcript: https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2023/11/07/video-dhamma-chakra-day-buddhism-and-emancipation-marginalized-classes-india

Through her channel, "Angela's Symposium," Dr. Puca pioneered an innovative approach to academia by utilizing popular social media platforms, aiming to bridge the gap between esoteric academic scholarship and the wider community. This talk explored the challenges and opportunities of digital scholarship, discuss the implications of bridging two worlds for academia at large, and present future avenues for scholarly engagement in the rapidly evolving landscape of digital media.

Angela Puca’s research focuses on magic, witchcraft, Paganism, esotericism, shamanism, and related currents. Author of several peer-reviewed publications and co-editor of the forthcoming "Pagan Religions in Five Minutes" for Equinox, she bridged the gap between academia and the communities of magic practitioners by delivering related scholarly content on her YouTube Channel and social media project "Angela’s Symposium."

This event took place October 18, 2023.

For more information: https://hds.harvard.edu/

Transcript: https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2023/11/06/gnoseologies-angelas-symposium-youtube-esotericism-and-academia

This dialogue was held between three scholar-practitioners who drew inspiration from their respective faiths in order to advocate for a just peace. This talk provided an opportunity for a deep discussion of faith-based activism, liberatory readings of theological texts, and the complex and, at times, controversial role of multi-faith and international solidarity in the Palestinian liberation movement during times of crisis.

This event took place October 18, 2023.

For more information: https://hds.harvard.edu/

A transcript is forthcoming.

This lecture was given by Jessica J. Fowler (University of Montana Western), who's an HDS Visiting Associate Professor of Women’s Studies and Catholicism on her work, "Illuminating the Empire: The Spanish Inquisition and the Spread of Global Heresy."

This event took place October 11, 2023.

For more information: https://hds.harvard.edu/

View transcript: https://hds.harvard.edu/news/video/2023/10/11/illuminating-empire-spanish-inquisition-and-spread-global-heresy

Hear from Alejandra Oliva, MTS '19, Mexican-American writer, translator, and immigration-justice activist, speak about her work and her recent book, "Rivermouth: A Chronicle of Language, Faith and Migration." Héctor Tobar, author of Translation Nation, described it as "a supremely intelligent account of a translator's journey into the Kafkaesque machinery of U.S. immigration and asylum policy."

This event took place October 12, 2023.

For more information: https://hds.harvard.edu/

Transcript: https://hds.harvard.edu/news/video/2023/10/23/rivermouth-chronicle-language-faith-and-migration-conversation-alejandra-oliva

Full Title: Third Annual T&T Presentations Launch: Five New Researchers Present on their Scholarly Work

At the beginning of the last three academic years, the HDS Center for the Study of World Religion's Transcendence and Transformation scholars come together to hear about the research of the year's new scholars. We are thrilled to introduce and share the recording from this gathering, featuring presentations from Adam Bremer-McCollum, Nicholas Low, Fabien Muller, Russ Powell, and Tara Smith.

This event took place on September 21, 2023.

Find more information at: https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/home

Full transcript here: https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2021/10/01/video-transcendence-transformation

Convened by Ahmad Greene-Hayes, Assistant Professor of African American Religious Studies at HDS, this colloquium bridged connections between the critical study of Black religion and studies of race, gender, and sexuality in critical theory and philosophy, among many other fields. The aim of this gathering was to support research and sustained dialogue about the ways in which religion and race are co-constitutive and function as governing categories of analysis at the helm of both religious studies and Black studies, respectively.

This panel discussion featured Joy James (Williams College), Keri Day (Princeton Theological Seminary), and Paul Anthony Daniels (Fordham University).

This event took place on October 5, 2023.

For more information: https://hds.harvard.edu/

Full transcript here: https://hds.harvard.edu/news/video/2023/10/05/black-religion-and-critical-theory-colloquium-panel-ii

Convened by Ahmad Greene-Hayes, Assistant Professor of African American Religious Studies at HDS, this colloquium bridged connections between the critical study of Black religion and studies of race, gender, and sexuality in critical theory and philosophy, among many other fields. The aim of this gathering was to support research and sustained dialogue about the ways in which religion and race are co-constitutive and function as governing categories of analysis at the helm of both religious studies and Black studies, respectively.

This panel discussion featured J. Kameron Carter (Indiana University—Bloomington), Cecilio M. Cooper (Folger Shakespeare Library), and Joseph Winters (Duke University).

This event took place on October 5, 2023.

For more information: https://hds.harvard.edu/

Full transcript here: https://hds.harvard.edu/news/video/2023/10/05/-black-religion-and-critical-theory-colloquium-panel-i

Full title: CSWR List Lecture with Adam Afterman: Kabbalistic Neoplatonism: Divine Emanation and Mystical Integration

Dr. Afterman addressed the profound impact of Neoplatonism on Kabbalah, the medieval trend of Jewish mysticism. While its impact on the development of a new form of mystical religiosity of communion and unio mystica is relatively known, he will focus on another critical development: Afterman argued that through an interpretation of Neoplatonic emanation in terms of substantive intra-divine emanation, the kabbalist developed for the first time a Jewish godhead.

Dr. Adam Afterman is a Professor at the Department of Jewish Philosophy and Talmud at Tel Aviv University, specializing in Jewish philosophy and Kabbalah. He is a senior scholar and director of the John Paul II Center for Interreligious Dialogue and a senior fellow of the Kogod Center for the Renewal of Jewish Thought at the Shalom

Hartman Institute in Jerusalem.

This event took place September 28, 2023.

Full transcript here: https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2023/09/28/list-lecture-jewish-studies-adam-afterman-kabbalistic-neoplatonism-divine-emanation