Religions have often been understood by academics as belief systems about the sacred or communities and institutions oriented around sacred things. More recently, scholars have turned to examine how religions are “lived,” engaged and embodied in the world and interacting with other social, cultural, political, and environmental factors. Looking broadly, it becomes evident that religious values and practices have greatly influenced diverse conceptions of nature (what constitutes the “natural” and what obligations, if any, do humans have toward it?) and justice (what defines a just society and what laws, rules, behaviors or beliefs are needed to bring it about?). This course examines how distinct religious communities as well as more diffuse religious values and worldviews have influenced perceptions of and behavior toward the natural world and visions of and work toward just societies. Along with engaging interdisciplinary theories related to religions, nature, and justice, we will explore several case studies of specific religious communities encountering environmental problems and struggles for justice (recognizing, of course, that these regional examples are inevitably tied to global factors), including Hindu and Buddhist responses to pollution and deforestation in South and Southeast Asia; the struggles of American Indian and other indigenous communities for sacred land rights; Muslim, Christian, and traditional religious responses to development and international conservation efforts in Africa; and finally, religion in North American visions of issues such as climate change and environmental policy, including evangelical debates on environmentalism. We will also evaluate the debate on the “greening of religion.” Will religions really be needed to remediate and bring just solutions to ecological crises, and if so, what would such work look like in an increasingly globalized and pluralistic world? Credit: 1 Unit (3 semester-hours).