The Center for the Study of World Religions Announces Spring 2025 Scholars, Artists, and Poets-in-Residence

We are delighted to announce our Spring 2025 scholars, artists, and poets-in-residence: Sarah Schorr (artist), Alice Oswald (poet), Christina Oakley Harrington (scholar), and Monica Gagliano (scholar).

 

Sarah Schorr: Artist-in-Residence (January 2025)

Sarah Schorr, an American artist and researcher based in Denmark, explores themes of light, water, and embodied contemplation through her work.

Her art has been widely exhibited, beginning with her first solo show at the Yancey Richardson Gallery in New York City. Upcoming exhibitions include shows at the Blanche Hoschedé-Monet Museum (France) and Imago Lisboa (Portugal), coinciding with the release of her latest book, Ephemeral Field Journal: Climate + Love in Claude Monet’s Garden (Kehrer Verlag, 2025).

Schorr’s collaborative project The Color of Water: Algorithmic Sea was featured in “Década dos Oceanos – I Mostra Nacional de Criptoarte” at Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil (CCBB) in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo (2023/2024). Her solo exhibitions include The Color of Water at the Griffin Museum of Photography (2022/2023) and the Photo North - Northern Photographic Centre in Finland (2022). She has received numerous awards, including the Versailles Foundation’s Munn Fellowship Artist Residency Award at Claude Monet’s House in Giverny (2022) and the Terra Foundation for American Art Fellowship (2021).

Events with Sarah Schorr:

  • During her residency, Sarah will lead a workshop titled Thinking through Photography, exploring image creation as a meditative and inquiry-based practice. Registration is open until January 18.
  • Sarah’s Art Exhibit, Ephemeral Field Journal: Climate + Love in Claude Monet’s Garden will be on display at the CSWR through May 18, 2025.
  • Opening Reception: Monday, January 27, 2025, at 5:00 PM. Please follow this link to register.
  • Read Sarah’s guest essay on the Thinking with Plants and Fungi blog.

 

Alice Oswald: Poet-in-Residence (February 2025)

Alice Oswald is a renowned poet and gardener with a background in classics, known for her interest in oral traditions. Her acclaimed book-length version of Homer’s Iliad has been translated into several languages. As the first female Oxford Professor of Poetry, Alice now holds a fellowship at the Sorbonne. She resides in North Devon with her husband and three adult children.

Alice’s residency is part of the CSWR's Poetry and Creative Writing Program, which features a poetry series, workshops, and the annual literary and arts journal, Peripheries.

Events with Alice Oswald:

  • Welcome Reading and Reception: February 4, 2025, at 6:30 pm in the Braun Room, Swartz Hall. Experience Alice’s distinctive and powerful poetry reading style.
  • Performance Workshop: February 7, 14, 21, 2025 (1-3:00 pm). Interested poets may contact Peripheries for participation details (peripheries@hds.harvard.edu).
  • Workshop: Reading Poetry to a select Audience: February 13, 2025 (6-7:30 pm). Interested poets may contact Peripheries for participation details (peripheries@hds.harvard.edu).
  • Lecture-Performance, The Weighing of Souls, in which Alice Oswald will attempt to find one of the lost plays of Aeschylus, February 26–27, 2025 (Cader Room, Swartz Hall, 6:30 pm). Co-sponsored by the Writer’s Guild in New York, this event will conclude Alice’s month-long workshop with Harvard students.

 

Christina Oakley Harrington: Scholar-in-Residence (April 2025)

Christina Oakley Harrington, founder of the renowned Treadwell’s Books in London, has long been captivated by spirituality and magic. Raised in West Africa, Burma, and Chile, she discovered Europe’s native religious traditions in her twenties and has since become a dedicated pagan.

With a doctorate in Medieval History from the University of London, Christina has published extensively on esotericism and spirituality. She co-founded and served as literary editor for Abraxas: International Journal for Esoteric Studies.

Christina’s residency is part of the Thinking with Plants and Fungi Program. Stay tuned for details about upcoming events.

 

Monica Gagliano: Scholar-in-Residence (May 2025)

Monica Gagliano is a pioneering research scientist recognized for her work on plant communication, cognition, and subjectivity. Named one of Biohabitats’ 24 most inspiring women of ecology, her groundbreaking research bridges Western and Indigenous sciences to develop innovative approaches to planetary challenges.

Monica is the author of several influential works, including Thus Spoke the Plant (2018) and The Mind of Plants (2021). She currently serves as a Research Associate Professor (Adjunct) in evolutionary ecology in Australia.

Her residency is also part of the Thinking with Plants and Fungi Program. Further details about her programming will be announced soon.

For more information about these residencies and programs, please visit our website or contact the CSWR team. We look forward to welcoming you to these exciting events!

 

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