Ecological Programs and Initiatives

Here at HIU we offer many options for those who want to center their interreligious studies in love of Earth.  In the face of severe social polarizations and ruptures, love of Earth invites us into a shared space of endlessly diverse, interconnected, and sacred relationships where we can be profoundly human together.  And in the face of the overwhelming crises facing Earth and societies, coming together in such common space to explore new forms of sacred ecological connection contributes to meaning, grounding, resilience, and vision: a new way of being human on Earth.

• Graduate Certificate in Eco-Spirituality
   
• Ecologically Oriented Pathways through HIU's Degree Programs:
  • Master of Arts in Inter-Religious Studies (MAIRS), Specialization in Religion and Ecology:  Are you eager to explore more deeply how religion and Earth intersect or, in the language of Buddhist visionary Thich Nhat Hanh, how they “inter-are” – in a fully and faithfully interreligious human community?  Come and shape your MAIRS journey around questions of religion and ecology: how diverse religious traditions and their practices honor our kinship with all life, how emerging movements and initiatives are stretching traditions, what theoretical and practical resources you can develop toward reknitting religious and spiritual relationships with Earth and its creatures and elements.  Coursework and a thesis or capstone project give you broad flexibility in designing your own approach to the questions that keep you awake at night and fire your imagination – even as you receive grounding in ecological science, eco-psychology, diverse eco-spiritual traditions, inter-religious studies, and your own religious or spiritual heritage.  Where will you take these questions, so urgent for the life of the world today?  Click here to learn more about the MAIRS and the specialization in Religion and Ecology.
     
  • Master of Arts in Chaplaincy (MAC), Specialization in Eco-Chaplaincy:   Do you long to devote your life to Earth’s wellbeing and that of other humans – helping people connect in healing and restorative ways to the more-than-human world, or providing soul care to those who grieve ecological crises and losses?  Eco-Chaplaincy is a fast-growing field grounded in the recognition of how profoundly ecological concerns and our kinship with other species affect human beings.  Earth’s accelerating crises are contributing to spiritual/ existential questions among people of all ages in every country of the world.  We urgently need chaplains and other leaders trained to address these needs.  Eco-chaplaincy can take a variety of forms.  Some bring an ecological orientation to their work in many existing forms of chaplaincy; others create new forms of religious leadership ministering to those experiencing climate impacts of all kinds, or pursue work in animal chaplaincy or land-based forms of soul care, or develop other visionary initiatives connecting human beings with Earth’s own life.  What will yours be?  Click here to learn more about the MAC and the specialization in Eco-Chaplaincy.
     
  • Doctor of Ministry, specialization in Ecology and Religion: Leadership for Life on Earth:  Do you see the need for new forms of religious leadership adequate to the overwhelming political and ecological crises we are facing as a species, as destabilized religious communities, as human souls?   Those pursuing HIU’s Doctor of Ministry degree are religious leaders from a range of backgrounds and contexts.  Already experienced practitioners, they come to this program eager for deep reflection on the challenges of our time, eager for cohort connections with other leaders from diverse perspectives, eager for stimulating readings and discussions that will stretch their leadership in unexpected ways.  Those in the D.Min.’s Ecology and Religion specialization are drawn to the invitation HIU offers of coursework and project development that foster emergent visions and forms of religious life – adapted to a given bioregion – that are resilient, courageous, and creative.  How will your leadership foster the new forms of human and inter-species religious practice and community our planet, and each local place, are calling forth from us?  Click here to learn more about the D.Min. and the specialization in Ecology and Religion: Leadership for Life on Earth.
     
• Advanced Standing for Graduates of the Center for Wild Spirituality's Year-Long Program: Alumni/ae of the Center for Wild Spirituality's Eco-Spirituality or Eco-Ministry programs earn an automatic two courses (six credits) of advanced standing here at HIU! You can apply these courses toward any certificate or degree we offer. This partnership establishes a reciprocity of creativity, a commitment to deeper relationship with the animate, wild Earth in collaborative conversation with eco-spiritual scholarship. Combined together, a new kind of leadership can emerge, one that is urgently needed at this time of ecological and cultural unraveling.
   
• Center for Transformative Spirituality
   
• BTS Center: We collaborate with and honor the BTS Center's programs and initiatives around spirituality, climate, ecological relationships, and Earth-centered vocation.