2025 Conference: Spirituality and the Arts
2025 Conference: Spirituality and the Arts
About
Dates: April 23-26, 2025
Building upon themes from past conferences, our 2025 Conference: Spirituality and the Arts examined the dynamic relationship between alternative spirituality and artistic practice. Grounding questions explored how emerging, alternative, and Indigenous spiritualities find expression through visual, musical, performing, and literary arts. We also wove in past conference themes by engaging spiritual and artistic practices that intersect with broader social dynamics, such as power, coloniality, and ecological concerns.
Visit our 2025 Conference Abstracts and Biographies page to learn more.
Virtual Art Gallery
As part of our hybrid format for this conference, the Program for the Evolution of Spirituality has compiled a virtual gallery of artwork from our participants. Explore the vibrant community of artists featured in our 2025 Virtual Gallery here.
If you would like to read more about the artistic presentations at the conference, visit our 2025 Conference Abstracts and Biographies page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Attending the Conference
The fully hybrid conference will begin on Wednesday, April 23 and conclude by the end of the day on Sunday, April 26.
Swartz Hall
45 Francis Ave
Cambridge
MA 02138
Public transit
HDS encourages the use of public transit when possible.
Subway: Take the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA, known locally as the "T") Red Line to the Harvard Square station. From there, refer to the walking directions below.
Bus: For more information on MBTA fares, maps, and schedules, visit the MBTA website.
Public transit from Logan Airport
The MBTA Silver Line, a bus rapid-transit system, stops at all Logan Airport terminals. Take the Silver Line to South Station. From South Station, take the Red Line in the direction of Alewife Station to Harvard Square.
Walking from Harvard Square
The Harvard Red Line subway stop is located in the center of Harvard Square. From Harvard Square, walk northeast across Harvard Yard, where you will come to an open plaza in front of the Science Center. Walk across the plaza to the intersection of Oxford and Kirkland streets. Walk east on Kirkland Street. To reach Divinity Hall, turn left on Divinity Avenue, the first street to the left (you'll see a large white building at the intersection of Divinity Avenue and Kirkland). Divinity Hall is the last building on the right, at 14 Divinity Avenue.
To reach the rest of the HDS campus, stay on Kirkland, proceeding past Divinity Avenue, to Francis Avenue, and turn left on Francis. Swartz Hall and the HDS Library will be on the left side of the street, at 45 Francis Avenue. Rockefeller Hall, 47 Francis Avenue, is beside Swartz Hall to the north. The Center for the Study of World Religions, 42 Francis Avenue, is on the right side of the street, across from Swartz Hall. The Carriage House, at 56 Francis Avenue, is also on the right side of Francis Avenue, just beyond the bend at Jewett House, the Dean's residence.
Driving directions and parking
Directions: use “Harvard Divinity School” in a search engine or GPS device.
Parking: Some parking is available in various areas near the HDS campus.
There is limited metered parking available:
- On Kirkland Street, in either direction
- On Quincy to the left off Broadway, along Harvard Yard.
There are also public garages in Harvard Square:
- Trinity Property's Harvard Square Parking Garage at 65 John F. Kennedy Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
- Propark's Church Street Garage at 41 Church Street, Cambridge MA 02138
- Propark's Smith Center (formerly Holyoke Center) Garage at 1350 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge MA 02138.
We are unable to directly support in securing accommodations.
However, we have created a Room & Ride Sharing Message Board on our official PES Discord to enable participants to search for accommodations together.
How to connect to a wireless network:
- Connect to the wireless network: Harvard University
- Enter credentials:
- – Username: kroyce@hds.harvard.edu
- – Password: PES25-confer
- Account expires: Saturday, April 26, 2025 23:59
Wireless Internet access is available throughout the HDS campus for students, faculty, staff, and visitors. To see all Harvard University buildings with wireless access, view this campus map and look for buildings outlined in red.
An IT representative will be available at the conference tech rehearsal and at the information desk between 9am - 10am on Thursday, April 24 to assist with WIFI network support.
For a list of the available wireless networks at HDS and instructions on how to connect to them, please visit the Harvard Wireless website. Members of the Harvard community with a valid HarvardKey can authenticate to the "HarvardSecure" network; others can register for guest access using the "Harvard University" wireless network.
Yes, all program events will be recorded. Once the recordings are processed, we will provide playback links directly in the publicly accessible 2025 Spirituality and the Arts PES Conference Schedule. Simply click the room name in the schedule: if the recording is available, it will take you to the playback link; if not, it will direct you to the Zoom meeting associated with that session.
Application Process
We are unable to accept late proposals.
In some cases, you may be invited to submit another application. For specific questions about rejection notices, please contact our team for clarification.
Yes, The Program for the Evolution of Spirituality anticipates holding a conference in 2026.
However, we do not yet have specific dates or a timeline for the Call for Papers. We expect the Call for Proposals to be released in the fall of 2025. We will make further announcements via email to our mailing list as well as on our website.
For Presenters
We do not provide financial payments to conference presenters. While conference registration is free and includes 2-3 complimentary meals, we do not offer:
- Honoraria
- Travel reimbursement
- Lodging reimbursement
- Shipping reimbursement for materials
We have prioritized making the conference free for all attendees. For those without institutional travel support, we offer remote participation options.
Yes, the conference organizers can provide an official acceptance letter or invitation letter to support your US visa application. To request these documents, please send an email to pes@hds.harvard.edu. Please include your full name, affiliation, and presentation title in your request. It is important to understand that providing these support documents does not guarantee visa approval. The decision to grant a visa rests solely with the US government. We recommend that you begin the visa application process as early as possible, as processing times can vary. For the most accurate and up-to-date information on US visa requirements, please visit the official website of the US Department of State.
Yes, your presentation day preference will be noted in our proposal vetting process. We will do our best to accommodate your schedule.
Most presenters have been offered a 20 minute “paper” slot, a 15-20 minute “artist talk” or “book talk” slot, a 60 minute “workshop” slot, or a 20-60 minute “performance” slot. In some cases, we have offered a different format type than initially proposed, so be sure to read your acceptance letter carefully!
Presenters with 15-20 minute slots will be scheduled in sessions with other presenters, and these will usually include some additional Q&A time. Those with 60-minute slots will be free to incorporate a variety of activities into their allotted time.
Presenters with 15-20 minute slots will be scheduled in sessions with other presenters, and these will usually include some additional Q&A time.
Those with 60 minute slots will need to incorporate Q&A into their allotted time.
We will try to provide physical display areas for each artist to exhibit a single, relatively compact artwork. However, we will confirm whether this is possible and provide details about size constraints on a case-by-case basis with each artist individually. To supplement the lack of physical space available, we will be hosting a virtual gallery for our conference artists.
No, conference staff cannot assist with the physical setup of artwork or installations. Presenters are responsible for all aspects of installing and dismantling their own work. If you are unable to manage the physical setup of your artwork, we encourage you to consider participating in our virtual gallery instead, which offers an excellent alternative for displaying your work without the logistical challenges of physical installation. We will send detailed information on your physical exhibit space as well as instructions for uploading your work to the virtual gallery.
The virtual gallery will be hosted on the PES website to showcase the artwork of our 2025 conference presenters. Each artist will provide a link to their personal webpage along with a cover image of their artwork, which will be publicly accessible. Artists are welcome to include as many or as few pieces as they wish on their own webpage.
Yes, each artist will be scheduled for a 15-20 minute artist talk to share insights about their work and its connection to the conference themes.
Detailed information about our presentation and performance spaces will be provided closer to the conference start date. This allows us to finalize all logistical arrangements and ensure the most accurate and up-to-date details are shared with you.