By S. Shmee Giarratana June 10, 2019
As the climate crisis becomes more dire, and approaches toward regenerative ecologies emerge from many concerned perspectives, Dr. Elizabeth Allison, chair and founder of CIIS' Ecology, Spirituality, and Religion (ESR) program, continues to be a key contributor in the global discourse.
Dr. Allison’s recent publications are a continuation of her research on sacred natural sites. Sacred sites are places that blend biological, ecological, and spiritual values, and hold the potential for helping humans recognize our mutual dependence with Earth. For example, the Bhutanese understand that protector deities and spirits inhabit places in the local landscape. This informs attitudes and behaviors in these places. Such cultural practices are discussed in Dr. Allison’s article "Deity Citadels: Sacred Sites of Bio-Cultural Resistance and Resilience in Bhutan," published in the April issue of the journal Religions. (See link below for access to full text.)
This research connects to her larger ongoing study of the connections between spirituality and ecology. Dr. Allison pursues an inquiry of the role that spirituality, philosophy, and religion have both in generating and responding to ecological challenges. Dr. Allison's recent essay "Spirituality and Ecology" is included in the The Routledge International Handbook of Spirituality in Society and the Professions (edited by Laszlo Zsolnai, Bernadette Flanagan), which came out in March 2019. (Citation below.)
Allison, Elizabeth. 2019. "Deity Citadels: Sacred Sites of Bio-Cultural Resistance and Resilience in Bhutan." Religions 10(4):268 DOI: 10.3390/rel10040268
Allison, Elizabeth. 2019. "Spirituality and Ecology” In L. Zsolnai and B. Flanagan (Eds.), The Routledge International Handbook of Spirituality in Society and the Professions (Ch 7). New York, NY: Routledge.
