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TREES, a student-based, inter-religious organization at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, seeks to raise awareness of the issues that surround the ecological demise of the earth. We focus on raising awareness at the Educational/Philosophical, Institutional/Physical-Structural, and the Communal/Bioregional levels. By raising environmental awareness, we hope to provide a grassroots catalyst for change towards a more sustainable way of life for all life on the planet. We actively promote the concept that "the environment is not just an issue among issues, but the context for all issues."
Past News Events at TREES! 2006 Spotlight
on Organics Week at the Pacific School of Religion and
Church Divnity School of the Pacific Dining Halls Information on organic foods already available in the PSR and CDSP dining halls, further information on locally grown organic food sources in the Berkeley area and discussions about organic foods and institutional food practices. Sacred Depths For Sale: A Film and Discussion Series on Water and Justice Thursday's
from 5:30-7:00 February
23, 2006: 5:30-7:00: Creation
March
9, 2006; 5:30-7:00pm: Water Commodified March
16, 2006; 5:30-7:00pm:
Can Buddhism Respond to the Environmental Crisis? Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim Wedenesday,
March 8, 2006 Please join Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim, co-editors of the World Religions and Ecology series, as they explore the connections between Buddhism, Ecology, and Contemporary Ecological Crises. Sponsored by the Theological Roundtable on Ecological Ethics and Spirituality (TREES) at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, the Forum On Religion and Ecology (http://environment.harvard.edu/religion/), and the Institute for Buddhist Studies at the GTU
The Natural History of the Bible: An Environmental Exploration of the Hebrew Scriptures--Daniel Hillel Monday,
March 13, 2006 A prominent environmental scientist who surveyed Israel's land and water resources and has worked on agricultural development projects throughout the region, Daniel Hillel is a uniquely qualified expert on the natural history of the lands of the Bible. Combining his scientific work with a passionate, life-long study of the Bible, Hillel's book offers new perspectives on biblical views of the environment and the origin of ethical monotheism as an outgrowth of the Israelites' internalized experiences. Daniel Hillel is professor emeritus of environmental sciences, University of Massachusetts, and senior research scientist in the Center for Climate systems Research, Columbia University. He is the author or editor of more than twenty books, including: Negev: Land, Water, and Life in a Desert Environment; Out of the Earth: Civilization and the Life of the Soil; and Rivers of Eden: The Struggle for Water and the Quest for Peace in the Middle East. Mary Evelyn Tucker, author of Worldly Wonder and the Co-Editor of the World Religions and Ecology series, responding. Sponsored by the Theological Roundtable on Ecological Ethics and Spirituality (TREES) at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley and the Forum On Religion and Ecology (http://environment.harvard.edu/religion/)
Earth Day Liturgy at the Pacific School of Religion Chapel March
21, 2006 Join TREES in a liturgy of Earth Celebration on International Earth Day!
The
Question of Hellenism Amongst the Thursday,
March 23 2006 Scholars
of early rabbinic Judaism have long debated the influence of Hellenism
on the rabbis while ignoring the differences between important schools
of Christian theology that were contemporaneous with the rabbis' literary
production. Theologians of the Antiochene school such as Maximus the Confessor
understood the nature of soul and the cosmological role of the human being
in a manner closely corresponding with ideas found in rabbinic midrash.
The Alexandrian school, which succeeded eventually in declaring the Antiochean
theologians heretical, is nearly always inimical to rabbinic thought.
Historically, many questions about Hellenistic influence on rabbinic literature
can be resolved by assuming that the rabbis embraced Antiochene Hellenism
while rejecting Alexandrian Hellenism. As has been shown by Paulos Mar
Gregorios, some of the ideas espoused by the Antiochean school correspond
closely to discussions in ecotheology, so redeeming our comprehension
of this period is very important for contemporary theological work as
well as for understanding connections between Judaism and Christianity.
A scholar of Jewish mysticism and theology, Rabbi David
Seidenberg has a doctorate in ecology and Kabbalah from the Jewish
Theological Seminary, and ordination from JTS. David teaches throughout
North America on
Thursday,
April 13, 2006 The position paper, “The Death of Environmentalism” by Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus has been the source of much debate within the “environmental” community. Michel Gelobter co-authored one of the strongest responses to “Death” from an environmental justice perspective, “The Soul of Environmentalism” (http://www.rprogress.org/soul/soul.pdf). “Environmentalism and other progressive movements in the United States are not dead, but they are crippled by denial. Right-wing extremists are not any closer to the truth than progressives, but their political agenda thrives to the extent racial and class inequality is denied. ‘The Death of Environmentalism’ does an admirable job of starting a debate over how environmental organizations should change their strategies. But what we really need is a death of denial. Environmentalism, like poetry, has a soul deeper and more eternal than the one described by its examiners. It’s a soul tied deeply to human rights and social justice, and this tie has been nurtured by the Environmental Justice and Sustainability movements for the past 20 years. We are writing to explore this soul, to break the unwritten gag rule about race and class, and to examine the intermingled roots of social change movements. These roots, these rules, and this soul together hold the key to environmentalism’s new life” (“The Soul”, 6). Michel Gelobter is the Executive Director of Redefining Progress in Oakland. He has written about environmental justice, lead poisoning, global warming, sustainability, commons management, and the relationship between environmental protection and tourism in developing countries. He presently serves on the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council. Mary Evelyn Tucker, author of Worldly Wonder and the Co-Editor of the World Religions and Ecology series, responding. Sponsored by the Theological Roundtable on Ecological Ethics and Spirituality (TREES) at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley and the Forum On Religion and Ecology (http://environment.harvard.edu/religion/)
The
Ringing Call that Clanked: Tuesday,
April 18, 2006 The summary of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment reads like the script for a BBC broadcaster whose task is to calmly announce the end of the world, albeit slowly over the next century. Activist conservation biologists accuse the biologists involved in the assessment of coming under the spell of economists, while most economists could care less that the Assessment even exists. The New York Times buried the report on the second page of their science section, saving their color ink on the first page for a dramatic picture of the fangs of a rattlesnake. Yet, for many of the 700 scientists from around the world who participated in the Assessment, the process of learning together and learning how to come to collective judgments together was a dramatic, career shattering experience. As a participant-observer in the process, Dr. Norgaard describes the process of coming to a collective understanding of complex systems, mixing questions of science and values, and the significance of this for a new understanding of democratic governance. Richard Norgaard is a Professor in the Energy and Resources Program at the University of California, Berkeley. He is an eclectic scholar who enjoys the challenges of working with a variety of scholars, from GTU students to biologists. His current research addresses how environmental problems challenge scientific understanding and the policy process, how ecologists and economists understand systems differently, and how globalization affects environmental governance. Dr. Norgaard received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Chicago. Sponsored by the Theological Roundtable on Ecological Ethics and Spirituality (TREES) at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley and the Forum On Religion and Ecology (http://environment.harvard.edu/religion/)
2004-2005 Just
Gift Day: December 1 2005 TREES
Completes Three-Year Project on "Topics In Ecology, Theology and
Ethics" Rosemary Radford Ruether Dedicates New Book to TREES. Order your copy of Integrating EcoFeminism, Globalization, and World Religions today. 2003 ELCA
GRANT TREES
Turns Five! 2002 TREES
receives Local Societies Initiative grant from Metanexus Institute to
offer courses and 4 public forums per semester for the next 6 semesters!
METANEXUS INSTITUTE on RELIGION and SCIENCE TREES
steering committee member Whitney Bauman talks with scholar and professor
Larry Rasmussen about his new book. Take
a look at the transcript! 2001 Research
Project (Large PDF Document) Contact
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