Belonging Working Group

The Program for the Evolution of Spirituality offers annual Working Groups open to interested scholars, practitioners, and artists. 

These groups are designed to advance our mission of supporting the scholarly study of emerging spiritual movements, marginalized spiritualities, and the innovative edges of established religious traditions. By exploring a diverse range of interrelated topics, we aim to foster a collaborative community working at the intersection of scholarly, creative, and spiritual practice.

In anticipation of the 2026 conference theme Belonging, this working group explores how spiritual communities and academic spaces define, disrupt, and reimagine belonging. Sessions will feature brief participant-led presentations, group discussion, and feedback on developing proposals. Topics may include boundaries of inclusion, scholar-practitioner identities, ecospiritual belonging, spiritual authority, and practices of repair after harm.This group aims to generate multiple collaborative proposals for the 2026 conference and to support one another’s work through regular conversation. Members may propose papers, workshops, or artistic offerings emerging from our shared inquiry.