BUCKNELL UNIVERSITY
Department of Religion

Religion and Ecology
Instructor: Mary Evelyn Tucker

GENERAL COURSE OBJECTIVES

• To explore the interelationship between religion and ecology
• To examine the role of cosmology in underscoring human-earth relations.
• To discover the various assumptions of particular cosmologies.
• To explore the implications of a functional cosmology.

DESCRIPTION OF SUBJECT MATTER

The destruction of natural resources at an alarming rate has raised the question of how this has happened and what is the potential role of religion in halting this process. This course will explore various perspectives on nature and the growing need for new human-earth relations. It will take as its premise that human-earth relations are based on particular cosmologies, namely the understanding of the origin and development of the universe and our place in it. We will examine how cosmologies are assumed by naturalists, articulated by religious writers, systematized by philosophers, and discovered by scientists. What these various cosmological perspectives contribute to our present environmental crisis will be debated.

METHOD OF INSTRUCTION AND STUDY

David Kinsley, Ecology and Religion.

Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim, eds. Worldviews and Ecology.

Hans Kung ed., Yes to a Global Ethic.

Edward Wilson, Biophilia.

Thomas Berry. Dream of the Earth.

Brian Swimme, Hidden Heart of the Cosmos.

Loren Eiseley, The Immense Journey.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

It is expected that students will not be absent unless there is a pressing reason which should be communicated to the instructor. A class is as good as its members, hence it is hoped that everyone will participate in the discussions. Lecturing will be kept to a minimum.

Consciously or unconsciously we formulate worldviews based on our understanding of the universe and our role in it. A short reflective (4-5 page) paper will be written at the beginning of the course touching on the following topics:

1. What does the word cosmology mean? How does it differ from cosmogony?
2. How would you describe your own sense of cosmology?
3. Does this in any way form your attitude toward nature or toward your role in nature?
4. Is your sense of your role in life formed by your understanding of how the universe came to be the way it is?
5. In what sense does religion or science help to shape your worldview?
6. How would you describe your worldview to someone from another culture?

Each student will write a six to seven page paper (double spaced) on whether or not a global ethics is necessary and possible. This may begin as a response to Hans Kung's book but should go beyond that to include the readings in the section on "World Religions and Ethics." Which tradition might be especially helpful to a global ethics and why? This paper is due before fall recess (Oct. 9).

Each student will research and write a paper to be handed in during exam periiod. The paper topic and one page outline must be handed in before fall break (Oct. 9). You are welcome to discuss the paper during office hours or by appointment. The books listed as further reading are not required but are intended to be used for papers. Your research need not be limited to these books. The paper length should be 20-25 typed (double spaced) pages. Your paper should aim to do three things:

Description: 1) Summarize some of the relevant literature on the topic.

Appreciation: 2) Indicate the positive contributions of the individual writers you have chosen.

Critical Evaluation: 3) Note the deficiencies or problems in the materials you have read and point toward questions still to be addressed.

GRADES

Paper on cosmology - 15%

Mid Term Paper on global ethics 20%

Final Paper - 40%

Attendance & participation - 25%

NB * Required Reading

Aug. 27 Introduction to the Course

Identifying cosmology and worldview:

• What is it? Why is it important?
• How can it orient us to a universe of meaning?
• What is a functional cosmology?
• How does it impact environmental ethics?

The Naturalists:

Sept. 1 & 3   Nature Philosophers - The Transcendentalists

• David Kinsley, Ecology and Religion, Ch. 11
• Henry David Thoreau, Walking (handout)
• On Reserve: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature

Sept. 8 & 10 Wilderness and Conservation

• J. Muir, "Hetch Hetchy Valley" (handout)
• Aldo Leopold, "Conservation Esthetic"

On Reserve:

Mountain Man: A One Man Play Based on the Life and
Writings of John Muir by Duane Tucker

Further reading:

Selections from The Wilderness World of John Muir, Edwin Teal, ed.

World Religions and Ethics:

Sept. 15    Indigenous Religions and Cosmology

• David Kinsley, Ecology and Religion, Part I, Ch. 1-4
• Tucker & Grim, eds. Worldviews and Ecology (Tu and Grim)

Further reading:

Rockefeller & Elder, Spirit and Nature

John Grim, The Shaman

Joy Harjo, She Had Some Horses

John Neihardt, Black Elk Speaks

Linda Hogan, Dwelling

Sept. 17 Guest speaker- Ona Fleming

Sept. 22 & 24 Western Religious Views of Nature

• Tucker and Grim, eds. Worldviews and Ecology (Katz, McDaniel, Timm, White)
• David Kinsley, Ecology and Religion, Part III, Ch. 8-9, Part IV, Ch. 12
• Lynn White, "The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis" (handout)

Further reading:

Clarence Glacken, Traces on the Rhodian Shore

Leonardo Boff, Ecology and Liberation

Charlene Spretnak, States of Grace

Tom Hayden, The Lost Gospel of the Earth

Max Oelschlaeger, Caring for Creation

Sept. 29 & Oct. 1 Eastern Religious Views of Nature

• Tucker and Grim, eds. Worldviews and Ecology (Chapple, Brown, Tobias, Tucker)
• David Kinsley, Ecology and Religion, Part II, Ch. 5-7

Further reading:

Rockefeller and Elder, Spirit and Nature

Callicott & Ames, ed., Nature in Asian Traditions of Thought

Charlene Spretnak, States of Grace

Harold Coward, ed., Population Consumption and the Environment

Tucker & Williams, Buddhism and Ecology

Tucker & Berthrong, Confucianism and Ecology

 Oct. 6 & 8 Is A Global Ethics Possible?

• Hans Küng, ed., Yes to a Global Ethic

On Reserve:

Steven Rockefeller, Principles of Environmental Conservation

Sustainable Development: Summary & Survey (Earth Charter)

Science, Religion, and Modernity

Oct. 13 Fall Recess

Oct. 15

• Edward O. Wilson, Biophilia
• David Kinsley, Ecology and Religion, Part III, Ch. 10

Further reading: John Haught, The Promise of Nature

Paul Davies, The Mind of God

Arthur Peacocke, God and the New Biology

John Polkinghorne, The Faith of a Physicist

Lewis Thomas, Lives of a Cell

Biology, Cosmology, and Ecology:

Oct. 20 Film "Spirit and Nature" from Middlebury conference

Oct. 22 Film on Global Forum Conference - Moscow & Oxford

Oct. 27 & Oct. 29

• Thomas Berry, Dream of the Earth (Chapters 1-7)
• Tucker and Grim, eds. Worldviews and Ecology (Metzner, Rasmussen)

Further reading:

T. Berry, Befriending the Earth

A. Lonegan & C. Richards, eds., Thomas Berry and the New Cosmology

James Lovelock, The Gaia Hypothesis

Elisabet Sahtouris, Gaia: The Human Journey from Chaos to Cosmos

Nov. 3

• Thomas Berry, Dream of the Earth (Chapters 8-12)
• Tucker and Grim, eds. Worldviews and Ecology (Spretnak, Griffin)

Further reading:

B. Swimme and T. Berry, The Universe Story

"Religion and Intellectual Life" (Journal)

Nov. 5 Film of "Hidden Heart of the Cosmos" by Brian Swimme

Nov. 10

• Thomas Berry, Dream of the Earth (Chapters 13-16)

Nov. 12

• Brian Swimme, Hidden Heart of the Cosmos (Chapters 1-4)

Further reading:

B. Swimme, The Universe is a Green Dragon

Nov. 17-19

• Brian Swimme, Hidden Heart of the Cosmos (Chapters 5-15)
• Tucker and Grim, eds. Worldviews and Ecology (Swimme)

Nov. 24

• Tucker and Grim, eds. Worldviews and Ecology (Sessions, Berry)
• Loren Eiseley, The Immense Journey

Nov. 26 THANKSGIVING

Dec. 1 & 3

• Loren Eiseley, The Immense Journey