By BRYNN SAITO, poet, program coordinator for the Department of Writing, Consciousness, and Creative Inquiry, and instructor in the Bachelor or Arts Completion program
Most research on climate change examines its physical effects on the environment: the rate of rising sea levels, the pace of melting glaciers, and other measurable material shifts. Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness (PCC) faculty member Elizabeth Allison is intent on going deeper: “I’m interested in the spiritual and emotional impacts of climate change: What is the interior, human response?” Dr. Allison’s research is part of the burgeoning field of religion and ecology, with PCC faculty currently offering several new courses in this area of study.
As Dr. Allison began reading journalistic accounts, she noticed that reporters often referred to melting glaciers as if they were living, breathing entities that once were “alive,” and now were “dying,” like “lepers, losing their parts.” Such personification underlies the intimate connection we form with our surroundings—it’s this connection that has propelled Allison’s past research on religion and environmental protection in Bhutan and Nepal.
“In Bhutan, Buddhists believe that deities inhabit different parts of the landscape—a grove of trees, mountaintop, a patch of forest, a bend in the river, for instance. In those areas,” explains Allison, “there are certain restrictions and rules around what you can and cannot do to the land.” This is a striking example of conservation practices shaped by local religious beliefs.
Last October, Allison joined dozens of scholars in discussing such issues in Kathmandu, Nepal, as part of “Everyday Religion and Sustainable Environments in the Himalayas,” an exploratory initiative organized by The New School in New York City and funded by the Luce Foundation. Scholars from Tibet, India, China, Bhutan, Nepal, and the U.S. gathered in this hot spot of cultural and biodiversity to pose research questions about what contributes to human and environmental sustainability, and to consider the role of religion and spirituality in environmental conservation.
Allison’s interest in melting glaciers extends from a similar question: What is the relation between environmental change and religious and/or spiritual perceptions? What sorts of spiritual and philosophical quandaries does environmental displacement raise? In 2003, Australian philosopher Glenn Albrecht coined the term “solastalgia”: a condition in which people feel dislocated and anxious in their home landscape due to material changes around them. “Solastalgia is a combination of solace and nostalgia,” says Allison. “I’m doing preliminary research on three places where people have a spiritual connection to glaciers. Local people in the Yunnan region of China, the Andes, and the Himalayas associate their deities with mountain glaciers. I want to understand the consequences of glacial retreat for local religion and spirituality.”
“My desire is to have this sort of dialogue between religion and ecology be more present in public life. CIIS is the perfect place to begin this interdisciplinary dialogue.” Furthermore, Allison notes that “religion and spirituality have been largely left out of the analysis of environmental problems.” As her work at an environmental restoration NGO taught her, many activists can easily lose sight of the larger picture and experience burn out. “Many people have a spiritual affinity with nature, or at least a special place they’re nostalgic about, or want to preserve for their children,” says Allison. “It was this place or connection that brought them into environmental concern in the first place. When the connection to a special place or plant or animal is lost, people lose their connection to something larger, and their motivation for environmental action. Surroundings matter.” If your surroundings begin to shift on a huge and irreversible scale, then preliminary research suggests the emotional effects may be even more prevalent.
Nonetheless, Allison remains hopeful: Environmental awareness and protective legislation have increased substantially over the last 50 years, and more universities continue to develop programs in environmental studies. “In PCC, we talk a lot about what Joanna Macy calls ‘The Great Turning,’ a large scale movement toward a more environmentally-sustainable and socially just future,” she explains. “We are fortunate to live in a time when people all over the world are working to bring about this vision of the future.”