Dr. Christopher Carter and Dr. Melanie L. Harris as they present combined lectures on topics related to ecology and intersectionality and then engage each other in conversation.
Dr. Carter’s talk is entitled, “Environmental Justice in Times of Catastrophe.”
Rev. Dr. Christopher Carter’s research, teaching, and activist interests are in Black, Womanist, and Environmental ethics, with a particular focus on race, food, and nonhuman animals. His publications include The Spirit of Soul Food (University of Illinois Press, December 2021), “Blood in the Soil: The Racial, Racist, and Religious Dimensions of Environmentalism” in The Bloomsbury Handbook on Religion and Nature (Bloomsbury, 2018) and the co-edited volume The Future of Meat Without Animals (Rowman & Littlefield, 2016). In them, he explores the intersectional oppressions experienced by people of color, non-human nature, and animals. Currently he is an Associate Professor of Theology at the University of San Diego, Lead Pastor of The Loft at Westwood United Methodist Church, and he is also on the board of directors of Farm Forward, an anti-factory farming non-profit.
Dr. Harris’s talk is entitled, “EcoMemory, Ecowomanism and Healing Practices.”
Dr. Melanie L. Harris is Professor of Black Feminist Thought and Womanist Theology jointly appointed with Wake Forest School of Divinity and the African American Studies program at Wake Forest University. Dr. Harris is also the Director of the Food, Health and Ecological Well-Being Program. Her research and scholarship critically examines intersections between race, religion, gender and environmental ethics. She is the author of many scholarly articles and books including Gifts of Virtue: Alice Walker and Womanist Ethics (Palgrave), Ecowomanism: Earth Honoring Faiths (Orbis) and co-editor of Faith, Feminism, and Scholarship: The Next Generation (Palgrave) as well as numerous journal articles and book chapters. Dr. Harris earned her Ph.D. and M.A. degrees from Union Theological Seminary in The City of New York, an M.Div. from Iliff School of Theology, and a B.A. from Spelman College.
