This episode of Spotlights features Natalia Schwien Scott. She is an herbalist, wildlife rescue & rehabilitation apprentice, and Ph.D. candidate in the Study of Religion at Harvard University, where she recently completed a Master of Theological Studies degree with a focus on the intersection of ecology and spiritual practice. She researches relational ontologies, posthuman ethics, and diction on personhood in scientific discourse. She also serves as an Advisor and Program Associate for the Thinking with Plants & Fungi Initiative at the Center for the Study of World Religion, which we discussed in our previous episode.

Can consciousness extend beyond the human mind and embrace plants, animals, and even ecosystems? In this enlightening panel discussion from A Symposium on Consciousness, Natalia Schwien, Rachael Peterson, and Dr. Christine Webb join moderator Professor Charles M. Stang to delve into the concept of Consciousness and the More-Than-Human World. Together, they explore what it means to move beyond human-centric views of consciousness and acknowledge the complex intelligence and sentience in non-human life forms.

Thinking with Plants & Fungi at the Center for the Study of World Religions: This talk with ecological horticulturist Rebecca McMackin asks: how do we think about designing public spaces with human and nonhuman needs in mind? Why does it matter to plant for native species? How do our horticulture choices intersect with equity and social justice? Why does thinking about community matter when thinking about land? Gardens are more than communal spaces for recreation, they provide a vital oasis in urban environments for plant and animal species to thrive while concurrently reminding humans that even a cityscape, we're entwined with and surrounded by nature. By thinking relationally and taking the needs of our insect, bird, fungi, tree, and other nonhuman neighbors seriously, we can reshape our immediate landscapes to be more ecologically sound, biodiverse, and restorative – all while supporting joy and connection.

This episode of Spotlights features Rachael Petersen and Natalia Schwien Scott, who co-launched the “Thinking with Plants and Fungi Initiative” at the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard University in fall of 2022. We talk about the initiative and its culminating conference, which took place in May of 2025. We discuss their interdisciplinary exploration into how plants and fungi help us rethink the nature of mind and matter and humans’ relationship to the more-than-human world. You can learn more about the initiative and conference here: https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/research... Stay tuned in upcoming weeks for an episode featuring Natalia and another episode featuring Rachael. They're doing exciting work at the forefront of the sort of issues addressed at the intersection of religion and ecology.

Thinking with Plants & Fungi at the Center for the Study of World Religions: A growing body of empirical research reveals that plants exhibit cognitive capabilities traditionally attributed to animals. In this talk, Paco Calvo reflected on the current challenges faced by the field of plant signaling and behavior, including risks of underdelivering and strategies to avoid biases that may lead to overinterpreting results.

This seminar aims to explore queer, sentient and visionary perspectives on the ecologies we inhabit in a critically damaged planet. Bringing together thinkers and makers from the fields of the arts, the social and natural sciences, and technology, this seminar proposes to create an experimental and intersectional learning platform that will open up a space of encounter and exchange between different epistemologies and worldviews on the environment. How can we think and envision multiple natures and futures to come?

The 2025 “Thinking with Plants & Fungi” conference brought together interdisciplinary scholars, artists, practitioners, and culture keepers to explore the relationship between humans and the more-than-human world through the lens of plant and fungal life. This panel is moderated by Natalia Schwien Scott. It features Elaine Ayers, Lecturer, History of Science and Medicine, Yale University Rebecca Mendoza, PhD Student, Committee on the Study of Religion, Harvard University & Sabina Cruz de la Cruz, Instructor, Instituto de Docencia e Investigación Etnológica de Zacatecas, and Joela Jacobs, Assistant Professor of German Studies, University of Arizona & Isabel Kranz, Professor of Cultural Studies, University of Applied Arts, Vienna.

This informal roundtable features four Harvard Divinity School graduate students coming together to speak about the intersection of ecology and spiritual practice. From providing practical ways to connect with nature in urban spaces and thinking about mindfulness in waste reduction to learning how to pause with tea, they explore how their belief systems engage with the natural world and how that impacts their daily lives.

This colloquia series features a variety of speakers, including practitioners, scholars, survivors, and activists, who come together to talk about their experiences around power dynamics, both positive and negative, in emerging and alternative spiritual and cultural organizations. This series reflects the Program for the Evolution of Spirituality's commitment to sponsoring scholarly conversations that fully include both practitioners of emerging spiritualities and persons who have experienced harm within spiritual movements. 

April 1, 2023: The Harvard Psychedelics Project at Harvard Divinity School, a student organization, presented this conference to gather faculty, researchers, and students from across Harvard University to explore their diverse, interdisciplinary, and promising research on psychedelics.