Sam Harrelson
Spartanburg, South Carolina
sam@samharrelson.com · sharrelson@mymail.ciis.edu
Papers and Publications · Google Scholar · Academia.edu · ORCID
Download CV (PDF, updated August 2026)
Research Profile
Ph.D. candidate in Philosophy and Religion, with a concentration in Ecology, Spirituality, and Religion, at the California Institute of Integral Studies. My work develops an ecological theology of perception through ecological intentionality and the Ecology of the Cross, bringing Edith Stein, Aristotle, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Henri Bergson, Raymond Ruyer, process-relational metaphysics, spiritual ecology, and place-based attention into conversation with ecological crisis, artificial intelligence infrastructure, vegetal life, and the moral imagination.
Education
2024-present. Ph.D. candidate, Philosophy and Religion, concentration in Ecology, Spirituality, and Religion, California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, CA. Advisor: Elizabeth Allison. Current research: ecological intentionality, Edith Stein, phenomenology, process thought, and the Ecology of the Cross.
2002. M.A.R., Religion and the Arts, Yale Divinity School, New Haven, CT. Focus: religion and literature, ancient and medieval art, and religious imagination.
2000. B.A., Religion, Wofford College, Spartanburg, SC.
Publications and Research
Books
2006. Asia Has Claims Upon New England: Assyrian Reliefs at Yale. New Haven: Yale University Art Gallery.
Comprehensive Examination Papers
2026. “Ecological Intentionality, Creaturely Form, and The Ecology of the Cross: A Cruciform Phenomenology of Creaturely Relation.” Comprehensive examination paper, California Institute of Integral Studies, August 2026. 54 pp.
Current Research Project
2026-present. “Intimacy with Remainder: Toward Ecological Intentionality.” Second comprehensive examination project bringing Stein’s non-primordiality into conversation with Merleau-Ponty’s flesh and écart.
Selected Research Papers and Academic Essays
2026. “A Life in Act: Edith Stein and the Education of Attention.”
2026. “Displaced Forms: Assyrian Reliefs, Ecological Intentionality, and the Ethics of Perception.”
2026. “Ecological Intentionality and the Metaphysics of Living Form.”
2026. “Attention as Ecological Practice: AI Data Centers and the Limits of the Anthropocene.”
2026. “Ecological Intentionality and the Depth of Being.”
2025. “Quantum–Plasma Consciousness and the Ecology of the Cross.”
2025. “Artificial Intelligence at the Crossroads of Science, Ethics, and Spirituality.”
2025. “Integral Plasma Ecology: Toward a Cosmological Theology of Energy and Relation.”
2025. “Integral Plasma Dynamics: Consciousness, Cosmology, and Terrestrial Intelligence.”
2025. “Conservation as Communion.”
2025. “Process Ecology of the Cross: Communion, Kenosis, and the Politics of Planetary Becoming.”
2025. “From Communion to Kenosis: Toward an Integral Ecology of the Cross.”
2025. “Wording the Between: Toward an Ecological Metaphysics of Communion through Liturgy and Language.”
Creative and Public Writing
2026-present. Carolina Ecology, essays and public scholarship about ecology, attention, perception, and place in the Carolina Piedmont.
2003-present. Essays and public scholarship at samharrelson.com on ecology, theology, phenomenology, technology, education, and the Ecology of the Cross.
2023-2025. Poetry included in the South Carolina Poetry Collection.
Conference Presentations and Invited Academic Talks
2026. “History as Empathic Ecology: Edith Stein and the Creaturely Horizon of Catholic Memory.” Presented at Eternity in Time: Thinking with the Church through History, Christendom College, Front Royal, VA, February 21.
2026. “Roots of Cruciform Consciousness: Returning to the Ground of Ecological Intentionality.” Presented at the Graduate Conference in Religion and Ecology, Yale Divinity School, New Haven, CT, February 20.
2026. “Ecologies of Refuge: Trees, Crosses, and the Art of Neighborliness.” Presented at the “And Who Is My Neighbor?” Symposium, DePaul University, Chicago, IL, February 17.
2025. “Re-envisioning Boundaries: Ecological Theology, Migration, and the Sacredness of the Non-Human.” Presented at the International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature, and Culture Conference, University of California, Santa Barbara, June.
2025. “Relational Roots and Ecological Futures: Bridging Whitehead, Cobb, and Gullah Wisdom Toward a Decolonized Ecological Civilization.” Accepted for Is It Too Late?: Toward an Ecological Civilization, Center for Process Studies, Pomona College, June; unable to attend.
2025. “Ecological Intentionality: Performing Peace Beyond Human Boundaries.” Presented at the American Academy of Religion, Western Region, Arizona State University, March 16.
2025. Moderator, “The Power of Water in Religious Networks and Creation,” Seventh Annual Religion and Ecology Summit, California Institute of Integral Studies, April 21.
Teaching and Academic Experience
2024-present. Doctoral research, California Institute of Integral Studies. Research in ecology, spirituality, religion, phenomenology, process-relational metaphysics, decolonial methodology, and integral ecology.
2023-2024. Science Teacher, Wilson Hall, Sumter, SC. AP Environmental Science and middle school Life Science; advised and supported field-based environmental learning.
2021-2023. Science Teacher and Dean of Students, Thomas Sumter Academy, Rembert, SC. Physical Science, AP Physics, Earth and Space Science, student support, and academic leadership. Golf Coach.
2011-2013. Science, Math, History, and English Teacher, Carolina Day School, Asheville, NC. Baseball Coach.
2009-2011. Science Teacher, Spartanburg Day School, Spartanburg, SC. Physical Science and Robotics.
2007-2009. Instructor, Gardner-Webb University, Boiling Springs, NC. Introduction to the Old Testament (Religion 101).
2002-2021. Additional teaching appointments at Hammond School, Spartanburg Day School, and Carolina Day School. Courses included Life Science, Environmental Science, Physical Science, Physics, Robotics, Design Technology, mathematics, religious studies, literature, and creative writing.
Museum Experience
2000-2003. Curatorial assistant, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT. Research and museum work related to ancient art, Assyrian palace reliefs, and the religious imagination of nineteenth-century America.
Ministry, Consulting, and Public Scholarship
2014-present. Ordained minister, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Preaching, teaching, ecological theology, and congregational formation.
Founder and consultant, Sam Harrelson Consulting. Marketing, web strategy, digital communications, and organizational storytelling for nonprofits, churches, schools, and mission-driven organizations.
Founder, MinistriesLab. Equipping faith communities for ecological futures through theology, ecology, and digital strategy.
Founder, StudiesLab. Intentional learning for gifted young people through depth, flexibility, inquiry, and interdisciplinary formation.
Host, Thinking Religion podcast. Conversations and reflections at the intersections of religion, culture, ecology, theology, and public life.
Service
Youth Sunday School teacher and curriculum designer, First Presbyterian Church, Spartanburg, SC.
Board member, First Presbyterian Church Weekday School, Spartanburg, SC.
Selected Digital and Technical Skills
Zotero; Obsidian; WordPress; Divi; Substack; Google Workspace; academic writing and editing; curriculum design; conference presentation design; podcast production; SEO and digital strategy; web analytics; nonprofit communications; and digital publishing.
Updated August 2026.