Panel: "From Arber to Margulis: Romanticism and Mysticism in Plant Science"

"From Arber to Margulis: Romanticism and Mysticism in Plant Science" Panelists:

Jacob J. Erickson, PhD, is a constructive theologian and theological ethicist, writing to evoke an ecotheology of planetary conviviality—the playful and just cherishing of life together—amid current ecological crises, ecological injustice, emerging perspectives in the wake of global warming, and new challenges in energy production.

Samira Daneshvar is a PhD candidate in Theory and History of Architecture at Harvard University and a Chateaubriand Fellow at École des hautes études en science sociales (EHESS). She explores critical episodes in environmental thought across histories of science, media, and technology, with particular interest in materiality and spatial relations between and within bodies. In her dissertation, she focuses on the history of radiation at the turn of the twentieth century, investigating conceptual leaps in understandings of porosities of matter that arose alongside innovative techniques of visualization. The project aims to contribute to the conceptualization of material limits in the broader field of object ontology. Her research is supported by the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (Final Theory Program), the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, the Deutsches Museum, and the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Samira holds a master of arts in the History of Science from Harvard University, a master of architecture from the University of Toronto, and a master of science from the University of Michigan. She undertook historical studies in arts and humanities after five years of medical studies in Iran.

The 2025 conference brought together interdisciplinary scholars, artists, practitioners, and culture keepers to explore the relationship between humans and the more-than-human world through the lens of plant and fungal life. Thinking with Plants and Fungi: An Interdisciplinary Exploration into the Mind of Nature invited participants to reflect on how plants and fungi challenge dominant assumptions about consciousness, cooperation, and coexistence in the face of ecological and social crises.

Following in the tradition of the Center for the Study of World Religions' engagement with emerging conversations on ecology, spirituality, and mind, the conference featured keynote talks and panel discussions with leading voices across the sciences, humanities, and social sciences. Speakers included Merlin Sheldrake, Giuliana Furci, Emanuele Coccia, Banu Subramanian, Jessica J. Lee, Zoë Schlanger, Monica Gagliano, Michael Marder, and others.

For additional materials and resources, including speaker bios and readings, visit: https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/publicat....