Yale University's, Take Five Series, sat down with Blessed Tomorrow leader, Mary Evelyn Tucker, to discuss her thoughts on creation care in academia as a professor of Religion and Ecology. Tucker, along with her husband, Brian Thomas Swimme have been working in the field for decades, producing extensive research and even an Emmy-Award winning film entitled, Journey of the Universe.
When asked about her motivation for pursuing these endeavors, Tucker shared, "If we can continue to devise viable programs for protecting the biosphere, maintaining biodiversity, and supporting human communities, I would feel immense relief, indeed happiness. This means that we have to try to reframe human-Earth relations in a mutually enhancing manner."
Additionally, Tucker has developed the Forum on Religion and Ecology, which she co-founded with fellow professor, John Grim. Together, the two have explored ways in which religion may come to the aid of social need by instilling a 'renewed sense of human-earth reflection.' Tucker's research examines ways in which humans, through religion, can make a difference for the environment and ultimately, humankind.
If you haven't already, I encourage you to checkout Tucker's amazing film, Journey of the Universe.
Forum on Religion and Ecology co-director Mary Evelyn Tucker
By Susan Gonzalez for Yale News
Mary Evelyn Tucker, senior lecturer and research scholar, holds appointments in the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies and the Divinity School, as well as the Department of Religious Studies. Her special area of study is Asian religions. Her concern about the growing environmental challenges led her to help shape a new interdisciplinary field linking religion and ecology. Tucker teaches in the joint M.A. program in religion and ecology and directs the Forum on Religion and Ecology at Yale with her husband, John Grim. She is the author of “Moral and Spiritual Cultivation in Japanese Neo-Confucianism,” “The Philosophy of Qi,” and “Worldly Wonder: Religions Enter Their Ecological Phase,” and is co-author (with Grim) of the recently published “Ecology and Religion.” She has also co-edited a number of books, including “Religion and Ecology: Can the Climate Change?” and “Worldviews and Ecology,” among others. She is a co-creator (with Brian Thomas Swimme) of the multi-media project “Journey of the Universe,” which includes the Emmy Award-winning film of the same name that was broadcast on PBS and is now available on Netflix. She and Swimme co-authored a companion book for the film that was published by Yale Press in 2011.
