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Plant Consciousness Reading Group: A Conversation with Co-founders Rachael Petersen and Natalia Schwien

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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...

In the Heart of Nature: "Church of the Woods" Explores Spirituality in the Great Outdoors

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On Sunday, April 28, a diverse group of participants from the Harvard Divinity School (HDS), including students, faculty, staff and affiliates, embarked on a field trip to the unique spiritual community known as the Church of the Woods in Canterbury, New...

Should Plants Have Rights? A Conversation with Alessandra Viola

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In recent years, scholars across law, philosophy, environmental science, and Indigenous studies have ignited a vibrant debate over whether legal rights can—and should—be extended to plants. Historically treated as property or a passive backdrop in Western...

Towards a Vegetal Ressourcement: Reviving Gustav Fechner’s Plant Souls

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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...

CSWR Workshops Help Scholars Master the Art of Writing

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By Jeffrey Blackwell The role of an academic is to explore the chronicles of the past, pursue new ideas and concepts through research and experimentation, and then share those findings, discoveries, and conclusions with peers and, ultimately, the public...

Video: What is Psychedelic Chaplaincy?

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This panel brought together Daan Keiman, spiritual caregiver and facilitator at a psilocybin retreat in the Netherlands, with Jamie Beachy, a MAPS MDMA Therapist and director of the Center for Contemplative Chaplaincy at Naropa University, in dialogue...

Resources - 2025 Thinking with Plants and Fungi Conference

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Suggested Reading For a discussion of books, articles, and other resources orienting conversations around plants, their capacities, and plant-human relations at the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard Divinity School, please see the recent...

The Science and Philosophy of Plant Intelligence: A Reflective Encounter with Dr. Luis Eduardo Luna

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On February 16th, the Center for the Study of World Religions (CSWR) at Harvard Divinity School became the meeting ground for an exploration into the realms of plant intelligence, consciousness, and the symbiosis between science and spirituality. The...

The Space Around the Still: Meditations from Claude Monet’s Water Garden

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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...

Thinking with Plants & Fungi Initiative

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Thinking with Plants and Fungi Initiative A 2024–2025 program An interdisciplinary exploration into how plants and fungi help us rethink the nature of mind and matter and humans’ relationship to the more-than-human world. About ​​ “Thinking with Plants...

Video: Conversation with Dr. Luis Eduardo Luna about the Science and Philosophy of Plant Intelligence

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Dr. Luis Eduardo is the Director of Wasiwaska, a research center in Brazil for the study of psychointegrator plants, visionary art and consciousness. On February 16, 2024, Dr. Luna presented about ethnobotanical research at his Center, learning with and...

Director Charles Stang Welcomes the 2024-2025 Academic Year

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Dear colleagues and friends of the CSWR, I hope you have enjoyed a restful and restorative summer. We here at the CSWR are eager to share with you the exciting research and programming we have planned for the fall semester. I would like to thank my...