THEO-013: Dark Green Religion
Professor: Diane Yeager
Religious movements, though often initially ill-received by religious institutions, can function as powerful social forces. Are we witnessing the emergence of such a movement – one that is inspired by a sense of the biosphere (nature) as sacred, that is ecocentric in moral focus, and that may be capable of forging a new global spirituality? This module is anchored in Dark Green Religion: Nature Spirituality and the Planetary Future by scholar-environmentalist Bron Taylor. After a look back at excerpts from the work of Spinoza and Rousseau (European roots) and Emerson, Thoreau, and Muir (American developments), we will divide the work of examining the four varieties of contemporary dark green religions identified by Taylor. We will end by returning to the question whether dark green religion is, as he suggests, “on the cusp of becoming a decisive social force.” Students will make one 5-minute oral presentation (with a class handout), write one short paper, and compose a final analysis relating this module to their work in other modules of this multi-disciplinary study of climate change.
