Throughout the 2026–27 academic year, the Center for the Study of World Religions (CSWR) at Harvard Divinity School is exploring the history, legacy, and contemporary relevance of Transcendentalism with special programming, including scholarly talks open to the public.

Join Ryan Shea on October 2nd for his talk, “Imaginative Seeing in Goethe, Coleridge, and Emerson: Pathways to a Phenomenological Ecology.”

In “The Poet,” Emerson said that imagination is “a very high sort of seeing.” This talk explores the imagination as an organ of direct intuitive perception that might become the foundation for a new phenomenological science of ecology. The first part explores the historical and cultural resonances among conceptions of the imagination in German Idealism, British Romanticism, and American Transcendentalism, as represented by Goethe, Coleridge, and Emerson. The second part engages the audience in interactive imaginative exercises that invite participants to see new things for themselves.

Ryan Shea is a full-time researcher and educator at The Nature Institute in Ghent, New York. Previously, he taught environmental philosophy, philosophy of science, interdisciplinary humanities, and nature writing at Providence College for eight years. He is also a doctoral researcher with MESH (Multidisciplinary Environmental Studies in the Humanities) at the University of Cologne in Germany.

This event will be held in the Common Room at CSWR in Cambridge, MA and livestreamed on Zoom. Registration is required for both in person and online attendance. Find more information and register here.