TWPF Blog Page

Edited by Rachael Petersen The passing cloud, the cooling breeze, the abrupt squall, the wind that gently blows then suddenly strikes, the light that dims and returns; so many sources imperceptible to the untrained eye and that disfigure the water’s...

By Fabrizio Baldassari / Edited by Russell Powell Throughout the history of Western philosophy and science, scholars have relegated plants to the background of life on Earth. Two influential Aristotelian assumptions primarily drive this view: (1) that...

By Damiano Benvegnù / Edited by Rachael Petersen University of St Andrews db307@st-andrews.ac.uk For many Americans, the term "Shaker" might conjure images of elegant wooden furniture, but the chances that they have ever met an actual Shaker are slim to...

Edited by Russell Powell In the 1982 Les Blanc film The Burden of Dreams , German actor Werner Herzog, posing somewhat comically in the Peruvian jungle, describes nature as chaotic, even murderous. “Taking a close look at - at what's around us - there is...

Partnership Announcement & Call for Applications Sponsored by the Thinking with Plants and Fungi Initiative in partnership with the Awi’nakola Foundation  The Thinking with Plants and Fungi (TWPF) Initiative at the Center for the Study of World Religions...

By Joela Jacobs / Edited by Rachael Petersen Plants impact human life in countless ways: oxygen, medicine, food, and much of what we wear, build, and use in our daily lives is owed to vegetal matter. But how have plants shaped culture, history, and the...

The following post from Russell C. Powell, CSWR Research Affiliate, is part of an ongoing series from affiliates of the Thinking with Plants and Fungi Initiative. Turn or log on to any news channel or website today and political pundits will tell you all...

The following post from Rachael Petersen, MDiv '24 is an ongoing series from affiliates of the Thinking with Plants and Fungi Initiative. This interview was edited for clarity and length. For more than thirty years, Michael Pollan has been writing books...

The following post from Rachael Petersen, MDiv '24 is the first in an ongoing series from affiliates of the Thinking with Plants and Fungi Initiative. The history of so-called “Western thought” has not been kind to plants – at least, that’s how the story...

Over the years, the Center for the Study of World Religions (CSWR) has encouraged student-led reading groups that center around a topic, author, or text. Groups meet twice monthly throughout the academic year. Reading groups have included, The Divine...