A Communion Of Subjects: Law, Environment, and Religion

S. James Anaya, Former UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, joins us to discuss his experiences of that role, as well as the intersections of religion and the environment in asserting the rights of indigenous peoples.

The second installment of “A Communion of Subjects: Law, Environment, and Religion” features an interview with Linda Sheehan, Executive Director of the Earth Law Center. Linda explains how a framework based on the inherent rights of nature to exist, thrive, and evolve can galvanize the transformation of environmental law and wider society - delivering necessary protections for both humans and ecosystems. Interview conducted by Dena Adler (Yale Law School ’17, Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies ’17) and Andrew Doss (Yale Divinity School ’16).

Paul Waldau, educator and activist, talks about his personal experiences with dolphins and other inhabitants of the more-than-human world and explains how these experiences have shaped his practical work and writings. Paul elaborates on the importance of interdisciplinary study of animals, emphasizing that "animal studies" should complement the too narrow "animal rights" framework. According to Paul, the key to overcoming the existing issues between humans and other animals is humbelenss, both on a personal and an academic level. Interviewed by Raffael Fasel and Thomas Joseph Fitzgerald on March 31, 2015.

The fourth installment of “A Communion of Subjects: Law, Environment, and Religion” features an interview with Jedediah Purdy, professor of law at Duke University and author of the forthcoming book After Nature: A Politics for the Anthropocene. Jed shares his insights on the Anthropocene, human relationships with the natural world, politics and democracy, and hope for the future. Interview conducted by Mariana Lo (Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies ’15) and Ben Mylius (Yale Law School ’15).

In this installment of the seminar, "A Communion of Subjects: Law, Environment, and Religion," Master's students Clara Rowe (FES) and Seth Auster-Rosen (YDS) interview former EPA Directer William K. Reilly.

Thomas Lovejoy, former director of the World Wildlife Fund-U.S. Program and science advisor to the President of the UN and several U.S. presidents, shares his vision for managing the earth and natural systems in a changing climate. The ideal next chapter of our earth story, Lovejoy says, is one where "we all, scientists and nonscientists and value leaders alike, get beyond calling the current time on earth the Anthropocene because of the human impact on it, and actually earn the right to call it the Anthropocene because we have gotten control of our own behavior and are actually bringing [the earth] back into equilibrium."

The first installment of “A Communion of Subjects: Law, Environment, and Religion” features an interview with Carl Safina, President of the Safina Center.

The third installment of “A Communion of Subjects: Law, Environment, and Religion” features an interview with Katharine Jefferts Schori, Former Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church of the United States.

This installment of “A Communion of Subjects: Law, Environment, and Religion” features an interview with Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of the Gathering Moss and Braiding Sweetgrass. We discuss the importance of gratitude and reciprocity as a way of being with one another and the earth, the relationship of indigenous ways of knowing and science, and the kinship we share with the other peoples of the earth--humans, plants, and animals.

The fourth installment of “A Communion of Subjects: Law, Environment, and Religion” features an interview with Scott Russell Sanders, Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Indiana University, Bloomington.