Events
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![[HDS Talk] Emancipating Ecology: The Emerson-Thoreau Fault Line and Why It Matters for the Climate Crisis](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6742847b5a0db278359b0744/1787923755158-WT38USPEFU7FWCL5XMOX/458962357_1036904194804039_6573472708795559869_n.jpg)
[HDS Talk] Emancipating Ecology: The Emerson-Thoreau Fault Line and Why It Matters for the Climate Crisis
Why is Thoreau a hero of environmental politics—but not Emerson? Join scholar Russell C. Powell for a public research talk revisiting Emerson’s universalism alongside Thoreau’s attention to place, asking how environmental politics can address climate injustice while remaining grounded in particular communities and forms of life.
This event is part of a year of special programming on Transcendentalism at the Center for the Study of World Religions (CSWR) at Harvard Divinity School. The talk will be held at CSWR in Cambridge, MA and livestreamed on Zoom. Registration is required for both in person and online attendance.
The Emerson Circle: A Conversation with Bruce Nichols
Join author Bruce Nichols in conversation with local historian and Thoreau expert Richard Smith about Nichols’s acclaimed new book, The Emerson Circle—an engaging look back at the Transcendentalists of 1840s Concord, MA and their enduring influence on the way we think about what it means to be an American original.
This event will be held in the Sanctuary of First Parish in Concord and livestreamed on Zoom, with a suggested donation of $10 per ticket for both in person and online attendance.
Presented by The Thoreau Alliance, the Transcendentalism Council of First Parish in Concord, and the Ralph Waldo Emerson Memorial Association (RWEMA).
[HDS Talk] Imaginative Seeing in Goethe, Coleridge, and Emerson
In “The Poet,” Emerson said that imagination is “a very high sort of seeing.” Join scholar Ryan Shea for a talk exploring the imagination as an organ of direct intuitive perception that might become the foundation for a new phenomenological science of ecology.
This event is part of a year of special programming on Transcendentalism at the Center for the Study of World Religions (CSWR) at Harvard Divinity School. The talk will be held at CSWR in Cambridge, MA and livestreamed on Zoom. Registration is required for both in person and online attendance.
Thoreau Society 2026 Annual Gathering
Join The Thoreau Society for their 85th Annual Gathering from July 8-12, 2026 in Concord, MA, with select panels viewable virtually. Discussions, workshops, and guided nature walks will explore this year’s theme of “Living Well: Thoreau, Health, and Flourishing.”
Author Kate Culkin will lead a special tour of the Emerson House on July 10th and the July 12th panel “Give me Health and a Day” is sponsored by our friends at the Emerson Society.
Registration is required for both in-person and virtual attendance.
Emerson Society 2026 Online Symposium
Our friends at the Emerson Society invite all to attend an online symposium featuring graduate student works in progress on the subjects of Emerson and transcendentalism.
The virtual symposium is free to attend and will be held online via Microsoft Teams.
Premiere of Henry David Thoreau Documentary
We invite you to tune into PBS on Monday, March 30th for the premiere of the latest Ken Burns collaboration: a three-part docuseries on Henry David Thoreau. The first and second episodes will air on March 30th, followed by the final episode on March 31st.
Filmed in part at the Emerson House, where Thoreau spent a great deal of time with Ralph Waldo and his family, this exploration of Thoreau’s life and work will be the first nationally broadcast biography of the man behind the myth.
Thoreau Alliance Online Auction 2026
Support our friends at the Thoreau Alliance by bidding on a unique selection of objects and experiences in their annual online auction, running from March 1-31, 2026.
Our donation this year is Lot #271: a private tour of the Emerson House with a special focus on Thoreau’s time there. We look forward to sharing some notable anecdotes & artifacts with the lucky winner!
“I Must Stay Where I Belong”: Ellen Emerson, Faith, and First Parish in Concord
In honor of Ellen Tucker Emerson's birthday week, the Transcendentalism Council of First Parish in Concord is hosting biographer Kate Culkin on the evening of February 26th for a presentation on the significant role that Concord’s First Parish played in Ellen's life.
This event will be held in the Sanctuary of First Parish in Concord and livestreamed on Zoom. Registration is required for both in-person and virtual attendance, with a suggested donation of $10 per ticket.
Emerson's Daughters: Author Talk
Join Professor Kate Culkin for a discussion of her new book, Emerson’s Daughters, and the critical role the manuscript holdings of the Concord Free Public Library's William Munroe Special Collections played in her ability to write this “biography of a sisterhood”—the first full-length study of the lives of Ellen and Edith.
This free event will be held in the Main Library’s Goodwin Forum and simultaneously broadcast over Zoom. Registration is requested for both in-person and virtual attendance.
Thoreau Society 2025 Annual Gathering
Join The Thoreau Society for their 84th Annual Gathering from July 9-13 2025 in Concord, MA, with select panels viewable virtually. Presentations, discussions, performances, and guided nature walks will explore this year’s theme of “Thoreau’s Revolutions.”
A July 13th panel on “Emersonian Revolutions Today” is sponsored by our friends at the Emerson Society.
Registration is required for both in-person and virtual attendance.
Emerson Society 2025 Online Symposium
Our friends at the Emerson Society invite all to attend an online symposium featuring graduate student works in progress on the subjects of Emerson and transcendentalism.
The virtual symposium is free to attend and will be held over Zoom.