#  Theosis: CSWR Annual Publication 2024-25 

 



##  Theosis, the CSWR’s Annual Publication 

Volume 2 | 2024-25



 

 

 

       ![Mural by Rufino Tamayo, The Birth of Our Nationality](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_21_9__1920x825/public/2025-07/Mural_The%20Birth%20of%20Our%20Nationality%20by%20Rufino%20Tamayo%20%281%29.jpg?h=b42172e6&itok=I2mwl-Vv) 

 

 



 

 



 

[   ![Theosis 2 cover](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2025-09/Theosis%202%20cover%20pages.jpg?itok=IcRyBatM) 

 ](https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/resource/theosis-volume-2)**We are delighted to present Volume 2 of** ***Theosis*****, the annual magazine of Harvard Divinity School's Center for the Study of World Religions.**

This collection features thought-provoking essays, interviews, visual art, and photography that emerged from our vibrant scholarly community over the past year. Building on our commitment to interdisciplinary inquiry, this volume showcases research spanning diverse spiritual traditions, cutting-edge academic work, and creative collaborations that extend far beyond traditional academic boundaries.

*"Theosis embodies the spirit and commitment of the Center to make scholarly work accessible to all. It is not hidden behind paywalls or reserved solely for academic publications and conference rooms. Rather, it is presented here in a way that is inviting and compelling, reflecting our belief that the fruits of scholarship should be shared widely and creatively."* Read full [Note from the Editor](https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2025/08/04/note-editor), Gosia E. Sklodowska

[Download Volume 2 (2024-25)](https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/resource/theosis-volume-2)

[Download Volume I (2023-24)](https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/2024-11/Theosis%202023-2024%20Digital.pdf)



 

##  Publication Highlights 

Enjoy reading a selection of research, interviews, and more from *Theosis*.

 

 



Charles M. Stang

### Director’s Letter 

 

“What you have in your hands, or on your screen, is a showcase of the rich research and programming that this community of scholars produced in the 2024-25 academic year.”



 [Read the Director's letter chevron\_right](https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2025/08/04/theosis-letter-director) 

 



      ![CSWR Director Charles Stang](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_1_1__480x480/public/2024-09/ProfessorStang1_web.jpg?h=af1524cb&itok=d3f02DSe) 

 

 

  

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

Francis X. Clooney, S.J., CSWR Director, 2010-17

### Until One Is Immersed: A Journey through Early Tamil Devotional Poetry 

 

"One has to read through them, and when done, start over again, going round and round until one is immersed in the poetry, remembering the words and images, stories and desires of each ālvār, making their verses one's own."



 [Read Frank Clooney's essay chevron\_right](https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2025/08/04/until-one-immersed-journey-through-early-tamil-devotional-poetry) 

 



      ![Drawing of Vishnu and Lakshmi ](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_1_1__480x480/public/2025-07/Vishnu%20and%20Lakshmi%20%28Tiru%29%20-c%201700.jpg?h=10862a83&itok=X2hAkhKE) 

 

 

  

 



Charles M. Stang, Director of the Center for the Study of World Religions

### Thoreau and the Sound of Thinking 

 

Between us and Thoreau’s God, then, are Thoreau’s *gods*, what British folklorist Francis Young and others call “small gods,” “land spirits,” or “godlings”—or, as I prefer, *augenblickgötter*, “gods of the blink of an eye,” and “gods of the indefinite article.” These are gods of nature, intermediary beings for which every culture has not only taxonomies but accumulated wisdom for how to know, navigate, and negotiate with them.



 [Read Charles Stang's essay chevron\_right](https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2025/08/04/thoreau-and-sound-thinking) 

 



      ![Close-up photo of light shining through ice](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_1_1__480x480/public/2025-07/IMG_8549_0.jpeg?itok=utIyeW1-) 

 

 

  

 



Danielle Layne

### Postcards to the Dead 

 

"Some scholars \[...\] command we box our ears to the supplications of the deceased: 'Do not internalize the living thought of ancient thinkers. The immortal soul—obviously, an archaic fancy. Be a good record-keeper or, better yet, a critic; either collect or correct, but love the dead not. They are gone.' But I do love them because the dearly departed remain, rattling around in dusty manuscripts and darkened memories."



 [Read Danielle Layne's research reflection chevron\_right](https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2025/01/postcards-dead) 

 



      ![Painting of Socrates and Xanthippe](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_1_1__480x480/public/2025-07/Socrates_and_Xanthippe.jpg?h=0784cca3&itok=bDoa6DAw) 

 

 

  

 



Jonathan Thumas

### Reclusion is Social 

 

"Religious narratives valorize attempts at 'hiding' and praise the productivity of reclusion, but there is always another side to the story. For Athanasius, writing of the new monastic movement in Egypt, the desert had become a city. When Thoreau lived alone on Walden, he regularly visited with his friends and family in Concord. Buddhist recluses thrived in contact with society. Reclusion is social."



 [Read Jonathan Thumas' essay chevron\_right](https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2024/11/reclusion-social#:~:text=Reclusion%E2%80%94separation%20from%20society%20as,from%20all%20walks%20of%20life.) 

 



      ![Painting of a rural scene in medieval Japan](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_1_1__480x480/public/2024-11/thumbnail_PastedGraphic-1.png?itok=JIl2RXpN) 

 

 

  

 



### Transmission, Tradition, and Integrity: Gurdjieffian Scholarship as Third Force 

 

“The Work has always been an experiment in progress. Its enduring strength has never resided in its outer forms (which have been constantly morphing from the start) but in an intrinsic inner intelligence that has allowed it to shapeshift quickly to meet the changing circumstances in which it finds itself.”



 [Read Cynthia Bourgeault's essay chevron\_right](https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/publications/gurdjieff/transmission-integrity-bourgeault) 

 



      ![Cynthia Bourgeault](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_1_1__480x480/public/2025-02/Bourgeault_square.png?itok=CYBLlkaT) 

 

 

  

 



Andrea Sánchez Castañeda in Conversation with Elías García Méndez

### Communal Work, Ceremonial Becomings, and Rights to Knowledge 

 

"The concept of xábasen, which means prioritizing the work, relegates us as individuals to secondary importance. The work itself takes precedence."



 [Read the interview with with Elías García Méndez chevron\_right](https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2025/08/04/communal-work-ceremonial-becomings-and-rights-knowledge) 

 



      ![Painting of an old Indigenous woman](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_1_1__480x480/public/2025-07/4.%20Jacinto%20Garcia%20%283%29_0.jpg?h=bb6656f7&itok=GOe_giRc) 

 

 

  

 



Elizabeth Rovere in Conversation with Giuliana Furci

### The World Opens Up: Fungi, Wonder, and Ways of Knowing 

 

"When we consider humanity's search for the divine, we as a species have always looked from the terrestrial toward the celestial. Yet fungi have been instrumental in that quest for the celestial."



 [Read the interview with Giuliana Furci chevron\_right](https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2025/08/04/world-opens-fungi-wonder-and-ways-knowing) 

 



      ![Elizabeth Rovere and Giuliana Furci](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_1_1__480x480/public/2025-07/IMG_0931%202.jpg?h=01b3c026&itok=SFkkftsv) 

 

 

  

 



Fabien Muller

### Porphyry of Tyre on Theology and Theurgy 

 

"Porphyry's main claim is that religious practices such as theurgy should ultimately conform to philosophical standards. Or, to put it differently: one shouldn't cultivate religious commitments that contradict philosophical ideas about divine reality."



 [Read Fabien Muller's essay chevron\_right](https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2025/08/04/porphyry-tyre-theology-and-theurgy) 

 



      ![Cover of Porphyry of Tyre on Theology and Theurgy](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_1_1__480x480/public/2025-07/41600-HDS-dust%20jackets%20and%20spines%20-%20v75%20%283%29.jpg?itok=v1JpEaMZ) 

 

 

  

 



 

 

 

##  Special Feature: Sacred Plants of the Muysca: In the Words and Photos of Community Members 

 

 Authority Installation Ceremony 2024 Offering Ceremony at the Teusacá Lagoon Zaita Harmonizing with Medicine Cultivating Plant Relations Harmonization with Ancestral Medicine Ambira and the Legacy of Women Healers The Seed and the Keeper The Wind, Disperser of Seeds 

## Authority Installation Ceremony 2024

   ![Man in white shirt touching another person's head in a large crowd](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2025-07/1_Authority%20Installation%20Ceremony.jpg?itok=ClTkeOl3) 

 

During the installation ceremony of the Muysca community authorities, this photograph captures the moment of harmonization for Governor Jeison Triviño Cabiativa. Guided by the sabedores (knowledge keepers) and accompanied by the community, he is given the sacred medicine to cleanse and harmonize his energy, thereby strengthening his spiritual connection as he begins his new leadership role.

Author: Jose Piravaguen  
Location: Tibabuyes Wetland, Suba, Bogota, Colombia

 

 

 

## Offering Ceremony at the Teusacá Lagoon

   ![Man crouching on the ground over sacred plants ](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2025-07/Offering%20Ceremony%20at%20the%20Teusac%C3%A1%20Lagoon.jpg?itok=3FogXPp3) 

 

Governor Jeison Triviño Cabiativa is performing his pagamento—a ceremonial offering to the land, ancestral elders, and spirits, both human and non-human—to give thanks for the new community authorities. This gesture represents his spiritual and communal commitment, reaffirming the bond between the leaders and the sacred forces of nature present in this ancestral territory.

Author: Jose Piravaguen  
Location: Teusacá Lagoon, Colombia

 

 

 

## Zaita Harmonizing with Medicine

   ![Man in white shirt holding a conch and plants](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2025-07/Zaita%20Harmonizing%20with%20Medicine_0.jpg?itok=dQaM6S2r) 

 

*Zaita* (a *sabedor* or knowledge keeper) from the Muysca community carries sacred medicine to cleanse and harmonize the Muysca community of Suba, as he walks through the Tibabuyes Wetland, a sacred territory. In the photograph, he also holds the nymsuque, a traditional conch shell used to call upon the *encantos* (enchanted beings), spirits, and *mohanes* (territorial guardians) of the land. This ceremonial act connects the spiritual world with the community, invoking the protection and guidance of the ancestral beings of the territory.

Author: Jose Piravaguen  
Location: Tibabuyes Wetland, Suba, Bogota, Colombia

 

 

 

## Cultivating Plant Relations

   ![Woman in straw hat holding a plant](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2025-07/Cultivating%20Plant%20Relations%20%281%29.jpg?itok=5XgAVKZo) 

 

Chavelita contemplates a thriving cannabis plant she has nurtured for several years. While cannabis and other medicinal plants are not native to the lands of Suba, the Muysca have embraced them, forming relationships of healing and care. Chavelita offers the plant’s leaves and flowers to Muysca *Zaitas*, who prepare syrups, ointments, herbal infusions, and other medicinal remedies.

Author: Andrea Sánchez-Castañeda  
Location: Suba, Bogota, Colombia

 

 

 

## Harmonization with Ancestral Medicine

   ![Man in white shirt touching another man's forehead, river in the background](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2025-07/Harmonization%20with%20Ancestral%20Medicine%20%281%29.jpg?itok=rwjR0edD) 

 

Zaita Yeison Yopasa prepares to offer the medicine to Saia (teacher) Alejandro Durán. This act of harmonization aims to cleanse the spiritual path of the leaders, creating a space of balance for the community participating in this sacred ceremony.

Author: Jose Piravaguen  
Location: Tibabuyes Wetland, Suba, Bogota, Colombia

 

 

 

## Ambira and the Legacy of Women Healers

   ![Old woman in Indigenous attire](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2025-07/Ambira%20and%20the%20Legacy%20of%20Women%20Healers%20%281%29.jpg?itok=B01V3Ihl) 

 

Elder and *Zaita* Blancanieves has been preparing ambira medicine since childhood, having learned the recipe from her grandmother. She was taught not only how to cultivate the plants with the intention of healing, but also the days-long cooking process involved in its preparation. Her ambira contains tobacco along with a variety of medicinal plants, kept secret, as the recipe is reserved for the medicine women of her lineage. This picture was taken at her home, where she welcomes and cares for patients.

Author: Andrea Sánchez-Castañeda  
Location: Suba, Bogota, Colombia

 

 

 

## The Seed and the Keeper

   ![Pink flowers with garden in the background](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2025-07/The%20Seed%20and%20the%20Keeper.jpg?itok=9pNTxr29) 

 

The sacred tobacco plant, a symbol of the Muysca people in the city, is nurtured by Elder Chavelita, who works in the background of her urban garden, Tun Tâ. Her garden serves as both a living classroom and a cultural center for the community.

Author: Andrea Sánchez-Castañeda  
Location: Suba, Bogota, Colombia

 

 

 

## The Wind, Disperser of Seeds

   ![Close up of two small green leaves emerging from the soil](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2025-07/The%20Wind%2C%20Disperser%20of%20Seeds.jpg?itok=Nb2NN-_k) 

 

A tobacco plant grows from the asphalt in front of a Muysca house. From the cracks in the pavement—where the earth barely breathes—this small plant emerges, adorned with droplets of water, born of Bogotá’s amphibious soil. It was not planted by any human hand, but by the wind, disperser of seeds, the echo of the ancestors smoking words into the air.

Author: Nicolle Torres  
Location: Rincon neighborhood, Suba, Bogota, Colombia

 

 

 

 

 

##  Highlights 2024-25 

 

 ### August

The CSWR welcomed its largest research cohort, totaling 48 scholars, researchers, program leads, and student research assistants, with research projects and interests spanning Africa and African diaspora religions, Asian religious traditions, Christian, Jewish, and Islamic Studies, Indigenous plant medicine traditions of the Americas, philosophy, arts, and music.

The Center launched four reading groups and workshops for the fall semester, covering the teachings as well as movements of G.I. Gurdjieff, a twentieth-century mystic and spiritual leader, Thinking with Plants and Fungi, and Psychedelics and Spirituality.



 

   ![CSWR Welcome dinner 2024](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-07/Dinner.jpg?h=2bf40b37&itok=kA2okEnE) 

 

 

 

 ### September

Fall programming began on a high note with the opening art exhibit, “[Initiatory Visions](https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2024/09/art-exhibition-initiatory-visions),” showcasing the drawings of Peruvian artist and shaman Randy Chung Gonzales, whose work explored the intersection of Indigenous shamanic wisdom and visual art.

  
The academic year’s first poetry event brought together [Stephanie Burt, Jackie Wang, Nat Raha, and Ethan Seeley](https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2024/10/video-poetry-reading-featuring-jackie-wang-and-stephanie-burt-joined-nat-raha-and) for a reading of their award-winning poetry.



 

   ![The back of a woman looking at artworks](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2024-10/randy-chung-gonzalez-exhibit.jpg?itok=hA5-mjYH) 

 

 

 

 ### October

Acclaimed writer Sumana Roy gave a [talk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcJ8iYwSKP8), “The Quest for the Plant Script,” as part of the “Thinking with Plants and Fungi” fall speaker series. Roy focused on the legacy of Jagadish Chandra Bose and his efforts to scientifically capture the handwriting of plants, moving through Rabindranath Tagore’s songs about the language of flowers.

In her book talk, “What We Remember Will Be Saved: A Story of Refugees and the Things They Carry,” journalist and scholar Stephanie Saldaña shared her journey across nine countries to meet refugees and learn what they salvaged when they escaped.



 

   ![Lined notebook laying flat with images of flower stems](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2024-09/9.24.24%20Sumana%20Roy%20TWP%26F.cropfor%20website.final_.png?itok=IaO8_roT) 

 

 

 

 ### November

In an interdisciplinary conversation on psychedelic consent, experts discussed what the psychedelic field can learn from spiritual care, bioethics, and the kink community, and how consent approaches can be tailored to unique psychedelic settings: clinical, religious, and personal.

Monthly [walking tours of the history of psychedelics research](https://open.spotify.com/show/71L2hxWE0TcQreD168ZiTP) at Harvard explored the University’s long history with psychedelics, from early ethnobotanical studies to the activism of the 1960s and beyond.



 

   ![Photo of Paul Gillis-Smith](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-07/psychtour4.jpg?itok=FVxH_446) 

 

 

 

 ### December

The CSWR hosted its [largest conference ever](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLX_9feVneSp2RoGtFCYcIwdNl2vyq8YW0), marking the 100th anniversary of G.I. Gurdjieff’s visit to Harvard University in 1924. Featuring leading scholars, academics, representatives from the Gurdjieff Foundation, and independent centers, the conference drew more than 300 in-person attendees from Europe, South America, and the United States. More than 2,000 people from 40 countries watched online.



 

   ![Poster of G.I. Gurdjieff](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2024-12/Gurdjieff%20Conference%20Opening.JPG?itok=TsuPO12t) 

 

 

 

 ### January

Through a [series of workshops](https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2025/01/cswr-workshops-help-scholars-master-art-writing) focused on peer editing, pitching magazines, and creative writing, the CSWR shared the expertise of its researchers and staff to help Harvard students, scholars, researchers, and affiliates improve their writing skills. The nearly 20 participants from across the University learned techniques of constructive criticism, explored the creative art of revision, and discovered strategies for sharing their work beyond traditional academic journals to reach broader audiences.

Artist-in-Residence Sarah Schorr led the “[Thinking through Photography](https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2025/02/thinking-through-photography-reflections-and-photography-workshops-participants)” workshop, which brought together Harvard faculty, students, staff, as well as local photographers and writers at Walden Pond on a day when it was completely frozen over. Approaching images as vessels for questions and embracing nature and the senses, participants engaged in photography as a practice of sense-making.



 

   ![Person kneeling on the frozen pond](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-07/IMG_6869.JPG?itok=Dw9CTbia) 

 

 

 

 ### February

Poet-in-Residence Alice Oswald hosted a reading of her poetry, a performance writing workshop for Harvard Divinity School students, and “The Weighing of Souls,” a lecture-performance, where she used the fitting setting of the Emerson Chapel to attempt, in her words, to find one of the lost plays of Aeschylus.

Highlighting three research tracks—psychedelic chaplaincy, the traditions surrounding Indigenous plant medicines, and psychedelic art and aesthetics—the “[Psychedelic Intersections](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLX_9feVneSp0praEn8CJ77B0xGxnb1H7f)” conference attracted more than 1,000 scholars, practitioners, experts, and policymakers from 24 countries, both in person and online, to advance the mission of psychedelic scholarship, opening with Mazatec community member Elías García Méndez and concluding with a closing address by Burning Man Project CEO Marian Goodell.



 

   ![Elías García Méndez speaking at the conference](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-02/250215Psychedelics2.jpg?itok=SC_TnlPe) 

 

 

 

 ### March

“[Resonance of Grace](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CVT3uUna_M),” an immersive sound bath experience led by Sufi vocalist and sound artist Umer Piracha, took the audience on a meditative journey of spiritual connection and communal healing.

In partnership with the Awi’nakola Foundation, the “Thinking with Plants and Fungi” initiative took 12 students, postdoctoral fellows, and researchers to British Columbia to [engage in dialogue with Indigenous knowledge keepers, scientists, and artists](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLX_9feVneSp1ZeB9P-lH1K9m6IIZEk2zT) of the Pacific Northwest. The group explored old-growth forests alongside First Nations leaders and concluded their visit at the annual Kinship Gathering at the Big House in Victoria.



 

   ![Indigenous dance](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-04/Field%20trip%204.jpg?itok=dU_CVWuY) 

 

 

 

 ### April

Prof. Gavin Flood gave the annual Hindu View of Life Lecture, entitled “[Beneath the Texts: Tantric Views of Person, Community, and the Sacred](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbQl6k3qvkc).”  
Prof. Jennifer Scheper Hughes gave the annual Hackett Lecture of Global Christianity, entitled “[Toward a Counter-history of Global Christianity: Reflections on Brokenness and Transcendence from Mexican Catholicism](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46RLVUGWq1o).”



 

   ![Abstract image of circle with colorful lights streaking through the middle](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/HackettLectureImage%20%281%29.png?h=1857d4b5&itok=2rBozGTT) 

 

 

 

 ### May

Nearly 100 attendees gathered to celebrate the release of the new issue of Peripheries, the Center’s annual literary and arts journal. The event featured readings from acclaimed poets, Carl Phillips and Amanda Gunn, and two winners of the Center’s Poetry Competition, Alinh Dolinh and Alan Yan, introduced by Joshua Bell, as well as a multimedia display of poems and art from the [new issue](https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674299979).

“[An Interdisciplinary Exploration into the Mind of Nature](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLX_9feVneSp3OPGxeXd975vzQUr6SPg49)” conference culminated the 18-month “Thinking with Plants and Fungi” initiative. Drawing more than 1,500 attendees both in person and online, the event featured keynote presentations from Merlin Sheldrake, Giuliana Furci, Emanuele Coccia, Banu Subramanian, Jessica J. Lee, Zoë Schlanger, Monica Gagliano, and Michael Marder, as well as panel discussions with presentations from over 15 scholars, and an art installation, with participants also having the opportunity to tour the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University.



 

  

   arrow\_back     arrow\_forward   

 

 

 

##  CSWR in Numbers 

 

33

postdoctoral fellows, research associates, affiliates, and visiting scholars

 



7,660

in-person and virtual attendees of CSWR public programming

 



45

public programs

including conferences, annual and guest lectures, art exhibits, musical and theatrical performances, reading groups and workshops

 



87

speaking engagements

at conferences, as guest lecturers, panel chairs, speakers, and podcast guests

 



74

journal and conference papers published

plus 12 book chapters & forewords and 44 research reflections

 



8

books published

 



18

podcast episodes

within the Pop Apocalypse and Om-gnosis series

 



28

partner organizations

including three academic centers in Europe: the Giorgio Cini Foundation in Venice, the Warburg Institute in London, the Centre for History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents in Amsterdam

 



9,083

followers

across social media platforms: LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube (65% increase since last year)

 



 

 

 

 

 

##  CSWR in the Words of Our Affiliates 

 



 ### Francesco Piraino

*CSWR Visiting Scholar*

“Working at the CSWR has been the most rewarding academic experience of my career. The CSWR is an interdisciplinary space that welcomes not only anthropologists, sociologists, philosophers, and scholars of literature, but also artists. Its research topics range from classical subjects in comparative theology to avant-garde explorations of psychedelics and esotericism. Most importantly, the CSWR fosters a genuine sense of community—something especially vital in our current era of polarization, tension, and individualism.”



 

   ![Francesco Piraino headshot](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/hds_cswr/files/francescopiraino_400x400.jpg?itok=kdWpE56s) 

 

 

 

 ### Therese Lautua

*CSWR Resident and College Fellow in Indigenous Religions*

“The CSWR has been a home away from home for our family of four from Aotearoa, New Zealand. While all the residents and affiliates at the CSWR come from all different backgrounds, we have always felt welcome and able to share a piece of the Moana, the Pacific, with the community. As an early-career researcher, I have relished the opportunity to be exposed to a vast array of ways to think about religion and spirituality, which has already impacted the way I write and think about how I serve my own home community.”



 

   ![Therese Lautua](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-07/Therese%20Lautua.jpg?h=ee179bb3&itok=VbsIgbIP) 

 

 

 

 ### Andrew Jacobs

*Senior Fellow*

“It’s hard to describe in full the welcoming and stimulating atmosphere of the Center for the Study of World Religions, my academic home for more than six years. If I tried to recount the amazing lectures, the astounding talks, the insightful conversations, the research shared by the brilliant affiliates, I would fill the rest of the magazine. With the intellectual support of the Center, I finished two books, wrote articles, practiced papers, and what’s more important: I learned things I would never have even imagined.”



 

   ![Andrew Jacobs](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-07/Andrew%20Jacobs.jpg?h=efcfa3dc&itok=swVORony) 

 

 

 

 ### Jennifer Sheper-Hughes

*CSWR Resident and Harvard Divinity School Yang Scholar*

“The Center for the Study of World Religions supports a superb and generous community of scholars and residents. My family and I have been grateful to make a home here this year. What a remarkable model for intellectual life in our day and age—to live and think together in a common space.”



 

   ![Jennifer Hughes](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-07/Jennifer%20Hughes.jpg?h=ec72ba0a&itok=DzboTdxC) 

 

 

 

 ### Alice Oswald

*Poet-in-Residence*

“I was lucky enough to spend February of this year at Harvard’s Center for the Study of World Religions, having been asked by Sherah Bloor to speak about poetry in performance. How can poems be spoken clearly, even passionately and yet not bombastically? I believe that the answers to these questions have more to do with imagination than voice projection, and for that reason, I focused on the poetry of the Greek dramatist, Aeschylus, who could speak without a microphone in the language of gods as well as people. I am deeply grateful to everyone who contributed to my fellowship.”



 

   ![Alice Oswald](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-07/Alice%20Oswald.jpg?h=426cf1b3&itok=D42zf_Xs) 

 

 

 

 ### Andrea Sánchez-Castañeda 

*Postdoctoral Fellow*

“The CSWR is a heaven for academic flourishing. Its interdisciplinary nature cultivates a diversity of theoretical and methodological approaches, which have significantly deepened my understanding of the complexities inherent in the study of religious experience. In particular, I have found the weekly research talks to be an enriching space for learning about each other’s work, receiving invaluable feedback, and offering constructive comments that support the growth of all our research. What stands out most to me is the warmth and care of the supportive team, including staff, academic advisors, researchers, and visiting scholars, which makes the center feel like a true community.”



 

   ![Andrea Sanchez Castaneda](/sites/g/files/omnuum4346/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-07/Andrea%20Sanchez%20Castaneda.jpeg?h=8f235429&itok=uZQPEqrO) 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

##  CSWR in the Words of Program Attendees 

 



 ### "THE TEACHINGS AND LEGACY OF G.I. GURDJIEFF” CONFERENCE, DECEMBER 2024

“For a gathering of people from many different threads of the Gurdjieff work, this was no ordinary encounter of one group facing another. This was a meeting alongside, like pilgrims joining up on the road—to discover that after all we share an aim and are unified through the very diversity we bring to our common search.”

*Andrew Breinenberg*



 

 ### “THINKING THROUGH PHOTOGRAPHY” WORKSHOP, JANUARY 2025

"This workshop exposed me to how art can influence scholarship, and can even be a part of scholarship. Sarah Schorr is such an example of an artist-scholar thinking about issues that are so relevant to the changing world, including climate change.”

*Cass Morales, MTS ’27*



 

 ### PEER EDITING WORKSHOP, JANUARY 2025

"The workshop created a welcoming space where participants could receive thoughtful feedback on their writing. I felt genuinely empowered by the way Aaron Ullrey offered support, encouraging without ever taking over. In addition to helpful insights about structure, style, imagery, and grammar, one of the most powerful aspects of the workshop was hearing your own words read aloud in someone else’s voice. It changes how you hear them—and how you understand them.”

*Rosemarie Smurzynski, MDiv ’80*



 

 ### "RESONANCE OF GRACE” MUSIC PERFORMANCE, MARCH 2025

"The Sufi Sound Bath was truly soul-stirring. The Multifaith room was transformed into a sanctuary of luminous tranquility, where the Divinity School’s thoughtful curation of ambient lighting created an ethereal atmosphere. Umer Piracha’s serene vocals floated through the sacred space like whispered prayers, his melodic guidance drawing us into profound spiritual communion. Each resonant note seemed to unlock hidden chambers of the heart, weaving together breath, sound, and soul into a tapestry of divine connection. This transcendent journey left an indelible imprint of serenity and awakening.”

*Anil Saleem and Naveeda Hirji, Harvard graduate students*



 

 ### FIELD TRIP TO THE FORESTS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, SPRING 2025

"\[The trip\] was extraordinary and transformative! I can remember the color of the day we entered the forest. The trees were covered with bright green moss, and there was such rich diversity. Everywhere you looked, there was something different. What struck me most was the trees’ height, their strength, and their coverage. I felt like I was in a portal. I was in a different world.”

*Melissa Wood Batholomew, Associate Dean for Community and Belonging, Harvard Divinity School*



 

 ### “THINKING WITH PLANTS AND FUNGI” CONFERENCE, MAY 2025

“This conference was remarkable—a balm for the mind and heart in encouraging renewed human-plant relations. The speakers and participants celebrated this aspiration with brilliance threaded with hope.”

*Mary Evelyn Tucker, Co-director, Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology*