Harvard Divinity School

Each spring, the Office of Ministry Studies organizes the Billings Preaching Prize Finals, an annual preaching competition open to all HDS students who have not previously won.

Congratulations to MDiv candidate Auds Jenkins, the 2024 Billings Preaching Prize Competition winner, and to finalists Nicole Marie and Eve Woldemikael for their incredible talents. The event also featured readings from Solomon Kwaghko, the Massachusetts Bible Society scripture reading winner, and Ivy Wang, the OMS reading prize winner.

This event took place April 17, 2024.

Learn more: https://hds.harvard.edu/

Full transcript: https://hds.harvard.edu/news/2024/04/17/video-2024-billings-preaching-prize-competition

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

Sahar Shahid, MDiv ’17, and the members of the HDS Alumni/Alumnae Council are pleased to invite fellow graduates and the School community to celebrate Peter J Gomes STB ’68 Distinguished Alumni Honors and our theme of Journeys of the Soul.

This year, we seek to honor those who, across various systems of belief, delve into the soul's journey in this life and beyond and are committed to practices that foster connection with the transcendent.

Read about this year's honorees here: https://hds.harvard.edu/news/2024/04/22/journeys-soul-hds-recognizes-awe-inspiring-alumni-2024-gomes-distinguished-honors

This event took place on May 9, 2024.

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

Full Transcript: https://hds.harvard.edu/news/video/2024/05/09/peter-j-gomes-stb-%E2%80%9968-distinguished-alumni-honors-journeys-soul

Listen to Tibetan Buddhist master H.E. Ling Rinpoche's teachings on embodying the power of compassion and wisdom to uproot discrimination and bigotry. HDS was so honored to extend this rare opportunity to the community to experience the teachings of Buddhism from a representative of His Holiness, the Dalai Lama.

Bio

His Eminence the 7th Kyabjé Yongzin Ling Rinpoche is the reincarnation of the senior tutor of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He entered Drepung Monastery in India in 1990 and completed all of his Buddhist studies and training by 2017. He is one of the few religious figures in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition who represents His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and he travels widely around the globe giving teachings.

This event took place on April 23, 2024.

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

Full transcript: https://hds.harvard.edu/news/video/2024/04/23-compassion-action-addressing-discrimination-through-lens-buddhist-teachings

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

Students enrolled in HDS 3326 "Africana Religions and Healing in the American South," co-facilitated by Dr. Tracey E. Hucks and Dr. Melissa Wood Bartholomew, shared their experiences and takeaways from a study tour/pilgrimage the class took over Spring Break.

The class traveled to the Gullah/Geechee heritage communities in the Lowcountry Sea Islands and to the historic slave sites, monuments, and former slave plantations in South Carolina and Georgia. The trip was designed to immerse students in the physical contexts they have been learning about to enhance their understanding of the spiritual technologies of practitioners and specialists and the material culture that accompanies alternative modes of spiritual healing and religious meaning for people in the African diaspora.

This event took place on April 16, 2024.

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

A full transcript is forthcoming.

Full title: RCPI Spring 2024 Book Series: Stranger in My Own Land: Palestine, Israel and One Family's Story of Home

This book talk featured “Stranger in My Own Land: Palestine, Israel and One Family's Story of Home,” a memoir by Palestinian writer Fida Jiryis.

“Stranger in My Own Land” chronicles a desperate, at times surreal, search for a homeland between the Galilee, the West Bank and the diaspora. The book is a tale of conflict, exodus, occupation, return, and search for belonging, narrated through Jiryis’s personal experience with displacement. In the book, Jiryis asks difficult questions about what the right of return would mean for the millions of Palestinians waiting to come ‘home’.

Featuring Fida Jiryis, Palestinian writer and editor

Moderated by Sara Roy, Associate of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies

Co-sponsored by the Middle East Forum at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard

This event took on April 8, 2024.

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

Full transcript: https://rpl.hds.harvard.edu/news/2024/06/18/video-stranger-my-own-land-palestine-israel-and-one-familys-story-home

This lecture was given by visiting Associate Professor of Women’s Studies and Islam, Z. Fareen Parvez (University of Massachusetts, Amherst).

This event took place on April 4, 2024.

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

Full transcript: https://wsrp.hds.harvard.edu/news/2024/04/04/video-passions-aisha-women-trauma-and-jinn-possession-morocco

Full title: "Public Courage and the Academy: Beyond the Binaries: Depolarizing our Politics and Bridging Our World"

The Rev. Dr. Deborah Johnson explored the theme of depolarizing our politics and bridging our world. She invited us to move beyond societal binaries and to embrace a more inclusive and compassionate future.

Rev. Dr. Deborah Johnson (she/her) is a renowned spiritual leader and social justice activist known for her significant contributions to promoting universal spiritual principles and cultural diversity. As the founding minister of Inner Light Ministries, she has dedicated her life to teaching the practical application of Universal Spiritual Principles to all aspects of life. Additionally, she is the founder and president of The Motivational Institute, a consulting firm specializing in cultural diversity, serving a wide range of clients from Fortune 500 companies to community-based organizations. Dr. Johnson is recognized for her exceptional public speaking skills and her ability to bring clarity to complex and emotionally charged issues.

Throughout her career, Dr. Johnson has been a prominent figure in the fight for social justice and equality. She played a pivotal role as a co-litigant in two landmark cases in California that set precedents for the inclusion of sexual orientation in the state’s Civil Rights Bill and defeated the challenge to legalize domestic partnerships. Her focus on coalition building, conflict resolution, public policy development, and cultural sensitivity awareness has made her a powerful voice for compassion, equality, and reconciliation. Dr. Johnson holds a visionary perspective of Oneness, transcending creed and doctrine, and is particularly dedicated to bridging the gap between individuals with conservative and progressive ideologies.

Public Courage and the Academy is a speaker series that explores the power religion plays in advancing social change. The series will feature nationally recognized leaders whose creative approaches toward a just world at peace have had national and global impact. This series is hosted by the Office of Ministry Studies at Harvard Divinity School in collaboration with Just Us, A Unity Campus Justice Ministry for change agents and peacemakers.

Facilitated by Rev. Dr. Kevin Ross, MRPL ‘23, Senior Minister and CEO of Unity Sacramento.

This event took place on February 29, 2024.

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

Full transcript: https://hds.harvard.edu/news/video/2024/02/29/public-courage-and-academy-beyond-binaries-depolarizing-our-politics-and-bridging

Full title: "Public Courage and the Academy: The Future of the Church and the Cosmopolitan Leaders It's Calling For"

Join this online conversation featuring Bishop Yvette Flunder and the Rev. Eric Ovid Donaldson.

Bishop Yvette Flunder (she/her) is an American womanist, preacher, pastor, activist, and singer from San Francisco, California. She is the senior pastor of the City of Refuge United Church of Christ in Oakland, California, and the Presiding Bishop of the Fellowships of Affirming Ministries.

Public Courage and the Academy is a speaker series that explores the power religion plays in advancing social change. The series featured nationally recognized leaders whose creative approaches toward a just world at peace have had national and global impact. This series was hosted by the Office of Ministry Studies at Harvard Divinity School in collaboration with Just Us, A Unity Campus Justice Ministry for change agents and peacemakers.

Facilitated by Rev. Dr. Kevin Ross, MRPL ‘23, Senior Minister and CEO of Unity Sacramento.

This event took place on March 28, 2024.

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

Full transcript: https://hds.harvard.edu/news/video/2024/03/28/public-courage-and-academy-future-church-and-cosmopolitan-leaders-its-calling