Introduction

Emerging Perspectives on Religion and Environmental Values in America (EPREVA) is a student-written collaboration which explores the numerous, diverse ways in which religious, spiritual, and philosophical beliefs permeate into environmental topics. Each author’s chapter began as a term paper in Dr. Greg Hitzhusen’s ENR 3470 class – “Religion and Environmental Values in America” – at The Ohio State University. More student chapters are currently in the works to be eventually added to this textbook, under the editorship of Dr. Hitzhusen. This textbook is a companion piece to Dr. Hitzhusen’s class textbook, “Religion and Environmental Values in America”.

As you begin to peruse through this textbook, you will likely notice the diversity of topics as well as authors. Student authors come from a wide variety of backgrounds and have a diverse array of interests, which is demonstrated in their distinctive interpretations of what “religion and environment” means to them. From focusing on historical events and their environmental impacts and religious motivations, to extrapolating the environmentalism of world religions, to detailed, personal accounts of environmental spirituality in their own lives, these student authors have encompassed what it truly means to discover religious and environmental values in America.

-Georgia, Hallie, and Emerson, EPREVA student editors

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