Ecology on the Curriculum

As environmental awareness grows across religious institutions, an important question emerges: how should theological education itself evolve to reflect ecological consciousness? In this talk, Dr. Laurel Kearns addresses this question directly at the Los Angeles Symposium on Ecologically Informed Theological Education, exploring the implications of integrating ecological awareness into teaching, learning, and seminary life. Rather than treating environmental education as a supplementary topic, Dr. Kearns examines what it would mean to embed ecological thinking into the core curriculum and culture of theological training — shaping how future religious leaders are formed to engage with sustainability as an essential part of their spiritual and pastoral vocation.

This symposium was held as part of The Seminary Environmental Leadership Initiative, made possible through a grant from the Luce Fund for Theological Education, an initiative of the Henry Luce Foundation’s Theology Program, with additional support from The Julia Burke Foundation. Together, these efforts reflect a broader movement toward reshaping religious education to meet the ecological challenges of our time.