6th Annual Religion and Ecology Summit: Queer Ecologies and Religions 

A three-day online conference hosted by the Ecology, Spirituality, and Religion Program between April 8-10th 2024.

Queer Ecologies and Religions

The 6th Annual Religion and Ecology Summit, focused on Queer Ecologies and Religions, employs the lens of queer theory to advance and enlarge the disciplines of ecology, spirituality, and religion. Theoretical work has extended the ecological thinking beyond the confines of the biological sciences to take in the full range of human interactions with ecological systems. Similarly, queer theory has been dynamically evolving beyond gender and sexuality studies where it originated. Building on these advancements, this Religion & Ecology Summit explores the role of queer theory in the field of Religion & Ecology. In what ways can religion, ecology, and religion & ecology be “queered”? How does the incorporation of queer theory constructively complexify the ecologic-spiritual-religious axis for the human while also generatively expanding our understanding of the more-than-human world?

Summit Program

Monday, April 8th

9:30am - 10:00am PDT: Summit Opening and Welcome

• Dr. Elizabeth Allison, Chair of the Ecology, Spirituality, and Religion Program
• Message from the Provost Division of CIIS: Dr. Kathy Littles
• Land Acknowledgement: Dr. Preston Vargas, Director of the Center for Black and Indigenous Praxis

10:00am - 12:00pm PDT: Panel Discussion

Human Entanglements with More-Than-Human Worlds

• Dr. Patricia Kaishian: “Myceliating the Emotional Space”
• Dr. Cate Sandilands: "Urticacious Intimacies and Queer Ecologies"
• Dr. Michelle Marzullo: “Unforeseen Lines of Force: Queer Kinship, Climate Ethics”
• Dr. Margaret Robinson: “Kinship with Other Animals in Mi’kmaw Spirituality”

1:00pm - 2:30pm PDT: Community Panel

Community Panel with Queer Nature and Weaving Earth

• Tayla Ealom
• Brontë Velez
• Sophia (“So”) Sinopoulos-Lloyd
• Pınar Sinopoulos-Lloyd

Tuesday, April 9th

10:00am - 12:00pm PDT: Panel Discussion

Ecological Possibilities in Queer Lifeways

• Dr. Whitney Bauman: “Queer Reattunements: Transformations Toward a Critical Planetary Romanticism.”
• Dr. David Andrew Griffiths: “Intersex Connections”
• Lou Florez: “We Become Those That We Praise: Liberative Ecologies and the Role(s) of Ancestral Venerations”
• Amy Bohorquez: “Ensuring Support for LGBTQIA+ Students When Teaching the Impact of Climate Change”

1:00pm-2:30pm PDT: Community Panel

The Queer Subjective: Everywhere You Go There You Are with Shmee Giarratana

Wednesday, April 10th

10:00am - 12:00pm PDT: Panel Discussion

Hope in Queer Spiritual and Religious Landscapes

• Dr. Ken Stone: “‘Like Fish Caught in a Terrible Net’: Queer Animality, Ecospirituality, and Biblical Interpretation”
• Dr. Laurel Schnieder: "When the Spirit is Dirt: Queer Imagining in the Chthulucene"
• Dr. Julia Watts Belser: “Queering Kinship: Disability, Ecology, and the Elemental World”
• Dr. Cleo Woelfle- Hazard: “Queer Fire and Flood: Collective ritual in more-than-human worlds”
• Emily Stevens: "Queering Religion: Radical Hope, Futurity, & Queer Witches"

1:00pm-2:30pm PDT: Community Panel

Outlandish! How LGBTQIA+ Teens are Claiming Their Space in the Outdoors with Max Sovine

Tickets

Click here to purchase event tickets. Ticket cost is on a scale: $10, $20, or $50. All ticket tiers grant access to the entire event. We are offering the ability for low-income individuals and active students to apply the promo code Student2024 to the standard admission ticket. Please contact us if you would like to attend and cannot pay. Proceeds support the presenters and the Religion and Ecology Summit.

Included in your ticket receipt will be a link to a Microsoft form that will ask if you would like to attend the in-person reception on April 11th. Thank you for being a part of this meaningful event!

Webinars will be hosted on Zoom and links will be emailed to registered guests before the event.