Portrait of Dr. Darian Spearman, Ph.D
January 29, 2025

Lessons from Howard Thurman's Philosophy of Life

Event Details

Date & Time

Wednesday, Jan 29, 2025 6:00 PM


Event Link

Event Details


Department

Institute for Climate, Water, and the Environment


Cost

Free and Open to the Public


Location

Hemmingson Auditorium, 91勛圖厙 University and livestreaming online


Contact/Registration


Event Type & Tags

  • Academics

About This Event

Howard Thurman is well known for his spiritual and intellectual significance to the Civil Rights Movement as well as his influence on Martin Luther King Jr. However, it is only recently that the ecological dimension of his work has begun to be explored. This talk will explore how Thurman articulated his view that life is a process which best actualizes itself through communion as written in The Search for Common Ground. In this book, Thurman seeks to ground the Civil Rights Movement in a vision of life’s unity in response to the challenge of Black nationalism beginning in the 60’s. This talk will discuss the core themes of community, potential and unity as Thurman sees them in the biological processes of individual organisms and interspecies communion. These insights from Thurman will then be applied to dimensions of the contemporary climate crises such as eco-anxiety.