John Grim and Mary Evelyn Tucker are co-founders, co-directors and co-editors of the Forum on Religion and Ecology at Yale. They have organized a series of 10 conferences on "World Religions and Ecology" at the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard Divinity School.
The event is Quinnipiac's 2010 Alfred E. Stiernotte Lecture, established 26 years ago to honor the late, distinguished faculty member who served the Quinnipiac community.
"We are extremely pleased to have John Grim and Mary Evelyn Tucker as this year's Stiernotte lectures," said David Valone, chairman of the Stiernotte selection committee and associate professor and chairman of the University's history department. "Given the ongoing concerns about global climate change, and in the context of the current ecological disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, their lecture will be particularly relevant to students, faculty and others interested in the relationship between spirituality and the environment."
Grim has been a professor of religion at Bucknell University and at Sarah Lawrence College. His published works include "The Shaman: Patterns of Religious Healing Among the Ojibway Indians." He edited a volume with Tucker titled "Worldviews and Ecology" and a Daedalus volume titled, "Religion and Ecology: Can the Climate Change?" He is also the president of the American Teilhard Association. He earned a Ph.D. in the history of religions from Fordham University.
In addition to her role at Yale, Tucker is also a research associate at the Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies at Harvard. She is the author of "Worldly Wonder: Religions Enter Their Ecological Phase," "Moral and Spiritual Cultivation in Japanese Neo-Confucianism" and "The Philosophy of Qi." She has also edited a number of books and volumes on religions and spirituality. She is a member of the Interfaith Partnership for the Environment at the United Nations Environment Programme. She served on the International Earth Charter Drafting Committee from 1997-2000 and is a member of the Earth Charter International Council. She earned a Ph.D. in the history of religions from Columbia University.
This event is free and open to the public. For more information, call 203-582-8652.