International Network for the Study of Spirituality

The conference theme

The focus of the conference is on the concepts and practices of Spirituality, the extent to which they are - or may become - intertwined with developments and new understandings in the fields of Consciousness, Technology and/or Wellbeing, and what the implications may be for research, education and/or practice.

Over the past few decades, spirituality has emerged as a distinct and separate field of study in its own right, rather than being seen simply as an aspect of religion. Conventional views of consciousness have been similarly challenged and a new field of consciousness studies is developing. It is based on the so-called post-materialist paradigm which assumes that consciousness is fundamental in the universe (in other words that consciousness cannot be derived from matter and reduced to anything more basic). This calls into question a number of traditional approaches to scientific research, especially research into the nature of human experience. Some of the approaches and methodologies now being used to explore both spirituality and consciousness are broadly similar, and questions have arisen about the relationship between the two fields.

Alongside these developments, advances in technology and in the use of ‘artificial intelligence’ have affected many aspects of our lives, including the use of social media, methods of teaching and learning, working practices, and healthcare. While some advances have been welcomed, others have given cause for concern, especially in relation to their impact on social relationships and what constitutes ‘truth’. We are living through times when old certainties, expectations and ways of life can no longer be guaranteed; when there is no consensus on solutions to global problems; and when dramatically different worldviews are in evidence. In this context, understanding what constitutes ‘wellbeing’ and how a sense of it can be developed and maintained has become increasingly significant, not only for individuals but in local communities and professional contexts.

This conference will provide a space in which to consider all of these issues and developments and how they relate to one another; the methodologies and methods best suited to their study; and the role that spirituality and spirituality studies might play in shaping our collective future through research, education and practice.

Fees

  Daily Rates

  INSS members    £110 per day

  Non-members    £130 per day

*The Early-bird rate will close at 17:00 UK time on 3 March 2025

Fees for the full conference include registration, refreshments throughout the conference, an evening meal on Day 1, lunch and an evening Drinks Reception on Day 2.

The Gala Conference Dinner on Day 2 is an optional extra at a cost of £45.

The dinner will be followed by an evening of musical entertainment from an acclaimed jazz band which will be open to all conference participants.

The daily rate for Day 1 includes an evening meal. The rate for Day 2 includes lunch, the evening Drinks Reception and participation in the social event accompanied by the jazz band. The rate for Day 3 includes lunch.

BOOK NOW

Please note that the annual membership fee for INSS is £65. This includes not only the reduced rate for the conference

but also free access to all SSN and SIG activities, print copies of the two issues each year of the

Journal for the Study of Spirituality (JSS) and access to the whole online archive (2011-date).

We are now also able to offer a concessionary annual membership fee of £25 to students and those who are on a low income. 

The concessionary fee includes free access to all SSN and SIG activities and online-only access to JSS.

JOIN INSS NOW

The Conference Venue

The conference will take place on the Waterside Campus of the University of Northampton, UK.

Click here to see an Interactive Map. Meetings will take place in the Creative Hub and the Learning Hub - the two large buildings shown in purple on the map, adjacent to 'Waterside Place'.

Scroll down for information about nearby accommodation.

If you have any concerns about accessibility, contact the conference Co-ordinator, Dr Louise Spiers, who will be happy to discuss them with you: Louise.Spiers@northampton.ac.uk 

The Conference Programme - Summary

The conference will open at 13:00 UK time on Tuesday 17 June 2025. Registration will be open from 12 noon. Various outlets on campus will be available at which to purchase lunch. Sessions will end at 18:45, to be followed by a sponsored Drinks Reception at 19:00, and Dinner at 19:30.

Sessions on Wednesday 18 June will begin at 09:00 with an optional meditation. Lunch is included and sessions will end at !7:00 to provide space for Networking until the optional Gala Dinner at 19:00. The day will end with a social event from 20:30-22:30 which is open to all, accompanied by a Jazz Band

Sessions on Thursday 19 June will begin at 09:00 with an optional meditation. Lunch is included and the conference will end at 16:00.

Watch this space for further details as they become available.

Keynote Speakers

Laura Beres

Title:  Spirituality and Wellbeing in the Every Day and Ordinary

Abstract:  A sense of wellbeing can be supported and enriched through the engagement of spirituality within everyday and ordinary practices. Critical reflection and awareness of the spirituality of the ordinary provides an opportunity for service providers, academics and administrators to intentionally practice in ways that can support their own and others’ wellbeing.

I will explore how we can conceive of spirituality as being interwoven within everyday and ordinary aspects of life, acknowledging, on the one hand, the usefulness of setting up categories, yet also recognizing the need to discard any false dichotomies, such as sacred versus secular. In this way, I am responding to a call to 'open up the boundaries between previously distinct conceptual places and spaces, such as the material and immaterial, objective and subjective, this world and other worlds' (MacKian 2012:89). While MacKian’s work built upon geographical, sociological and psychological texts, I will add to these conceptual descriptions by engaging with literary and spiritual texts.

Drawing upon several authors from across the ages, I will be inviting participants to consider how balance and rhythm might contribute to seeing the sacred in the ordinary elements of daily life. This will include an invitation to all of us to consider how to move beyond the discourse of individualism that holds each of us accountable for the management of our stress and burnout, opening up space for conversations about building communities of practice that celebrate the language of the ordinary.

Reference: MacKian, S. (2012) Everyday spirituality: Social and spatial worlds of enchantment. Palgrave Macmillan.

Biography:  Laura Béres is a Full Professor and Interim Director and Graduate Chair in the School of Social Work at King’s University College at Western University, London, Canada. She is a practicing Narrative Therapist and Spiritual Director. Her most recent books include The Language of the Soul in Narrative Therapy: Spirituality in Clinical Theory and Practice, to which David Crawley provided contributions, and a co-edited book with Jan Fook entitled Learning Critical Reflection: Experiences of the Transformative Learning Process.

David Lorimer

Title:  The Human Evolutionary Trajectory: Transcendence or Transhumanism?

Abstract:  We stand at a critical juncture - even a bifurcation - in human development and evolution. The Silicon Valley and World Economic Forum view of the human being is scientistic and mechanistic - we are either complex biological machines whose software needs to be enhanced and upgraded or hackable animals whose behaviour can be nudged or even manipulated and controlled, as has been evident in the extensive propaganda and censorship to which we have been subjected since 2020 (now countermanded in the US in an early executive order by President Trump) . Both of these views are reductionist forms of technocratic social engineering, to which one can add the view that humans can also be regarded as biochemical algorithms. The spiritual or transpersonal view of the human being sees fulfilment as a journey towards enlightenment experienced as light and love, so that we come to embody Love, Wisdom and Truth. This spiritual view needs to be culturally articulated and affirmed as a response to the transhumanist narrative and trajectory. 

Biography:  David Lorimer is a visionary polymath, poet and spiritual activist who is Global Ambassador and Programme Director of the Scientific and Medical Network, Editor of Paradigm Explorer and Chair of the Galileo Commission. His most recent books are A Quest for Wisdom; a collection of poems entitled Better Light a Candle; The Great Upshift (edited with Ervin Laszlo); and The Playful Universe (edited with Marjorie Woollacott and Gary Schwartz).

Peter Merry 

 Title:  Consciousness Technology: Out of the lab and into the world

Abstract:  Consciousness is hot! The Telepathy Tapes and Joe Rogan’s podcasts on the topic have gone viral. Millions of people are suddenly getting exposed to this concept of 'consciousness'. Over the last few years, Wyrd Experience has been creating ways for people to experience consciousness directly. One channel for that is through the original equipment from the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research lab (PEAR) that we have restored and now host for the public to visit. Another is the more recent development of research devices and the 'Wyrd Light' that reflect shifts in the field of consciousness, building on the original PEAR research. In this talk, Peter Merry will discuss these developments in consciousness research and technology, and the implications for our societies and civilisation.

Biography:  Peter Merry is co-founder of Wyrd Experience, developing leading-edge consciousness technology and research. He is also co-founding Chief Innovation Officer of Ubiquity University. He has published four books. He has an MSc in Human Ecology from Edinburgh University, UK, and a PhD from Ubiquity’s Wisdom School on volution theory. For more information, see https://gowyrd.org 

Linda Ross

Title:  Spirituality and Wellbeing in Health & Social Care: Caring for patients/families and clinicians (Part 1)

Abstract:  This presentation is in two parts. In the first part, Linda Ross will explore the importance of spirituality for the wellbeing of patients/families in receipt of care within health and social care settings. Key questions include: What contribution does the ‘spiritual’ make to wellbeing? Can healthcare staff really be expected to address the ‘spiritual’ within their work in the current climate of limited staffing and funding? If so, how?

In the second part, Anthony Schwartz will explore the importance of health professionals balancing the duty of care with self-care. Can we discern where, when and how to focus on two areas: “Care of self” and “Care for colleagues”? Where does responsibility lie for self-care?

The presentation will draw on the state of the art in the field and is also experiential; participants will be invited to engage using their mobile phones and to participate in reflective activity.

Biography:  Linda Ross is a Professor of Nursing (specialising in spirituality) at the University of South Wales, UK. Her PhD in 1992 was the first in Europe to explore nurses’ perceptions of spirituality and spiritual care. She has published and researched extensively on the subject, particularly in relation to how nurses and midwives can be prepared to include spiritual care within their practice. She will share some tools developed for that purpose that are being used by professions and organisations internationally. She has been involved in the establishment/leadership of several organisations concerned with promoting spirituality within health, such as INSS, the EPICC Network and an advisory group to Welsh Government. 

Anthony Schwartz

Title: Spirituality and Wellbeing in Health & Social Care: Caring for patients/families and clinicians (Part 2)

 Abstract:  This presentation is in two parts. In the first part, Linda Ross will explore the importance of spirituality for the wellbeing of patients/families in receipt of care within health and social care settings. Key questions include: What contribution does the ‘spiritual’ make to wellbeing? Can healthcare staff really be expected to address the ‘spiritual’ within their work in the current climate of limited staffing and funding? If so, how?

In the second part, Anthony Schwartz will explore the importance of health professionals balancing the duty of care with self-care. Can we discern where, when and how to focus on two areas: “Care of self” and “Care for colleagues”? Where does responsibility lie for self-care? Anthony will share some thoughts and exercises to remind us of the centrality of spirituality in self-care, and how to resource the ‘well’ for our own ‘well-being’.

The presentation will draw on the state of the art in the field and is also experiential; participants will be invited to engage using their mobile phones and to participate in reflective activity.

Biography:  Anthony Schwartz is an Applied Psychologist who worked for over thirty years in the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK with patients, clinicians and health-care executives. He is a visiting professor at the University of Staffordshire, UK, and is registered as both a Clinical Psychologist and a Health Psychologist. Now based in Sweden, his Occupational Health Psychology work focuses on self-care and managing transitions; at work and in the second half of life. He is passionate about personal and spiritual development, encouraging people to make meaningful and informed choices, recognising that changing behaviour requires more than insight alone. Publications include journal articles, chapters and books on self-care, managing stress, and the application of mindfulness in executive coaching. 

Rupert Sheldrake 

Title: Science and Spiritual Practices: The Revival of Pilgrimage

Abstract:  tbc

Biography:  Rupert Sheldrake is a biologist and author of more than 100 scientific papers and 9 books, and the co-author of 6 books. His books have been published in 28 languages. He was among the top 100 Global Thought Leaders for 2013, as ranked by the Duttweiler Institute, Zurich, Switzerland's leading think tank. On ResearchGate, the largest scientific and academic online network, his Research Interest Score puts him in the top 4% of scientists. On Google Scholar, the many citations of his work give him a high h-index of 45, and an i10 index of 133. For ten years running he has been recognized as one of the 'most spiritually influential living people in the world' by Watkins Mind Body Spirit magazine. His work has been featured in many magazines, newspapers and broadcast media, including New Scientist, The Guardian, Discover magazine, The Spectator, The Washington Post, Die Zeit and on BBC Radio and television.

Watch this space for further information