Call for papers: Researching Mystical Experience in Theory and Practice

The CFP may also be viewed here and the submission form may be viewed here.

Keynote speaker: Professor Kenneth Rose (Emeritus Professor of Philosophy and Religion, Christopher Newport University)

We are considering mystical experience broadly: religious, secular, esoteric, philosophical and beyond. We seek submissions that represent a wide range of research, practice and scholarship in the study of mystical experience. The gathering will highlight the work of scholar-practitioners who use self-implicating and multi-disciplinary methodologies to challenge the marginalization of mystical experience within the study of religion, philosophy and society, while also questioning the extent to which it is the case that the academic study of mystical experiences marginalizes the practicing.

 The impetus for this gathering is the increase of emergent and developing methodological approaches to mystical experiences, such as contemplative studies, micro-phenomenology, critical realism, the revival of mystical theology, and more. Long seen as marginal to the study of religion, mystical experiences are becoming increasingly significant as sites of critical reflection, fieldwork and historical investigation and have raised many questions about the origins of consciousness and the foundational role played by altered states, intuition and non-discursive knowledge in human society.

Suggested paper topics include but are not limited to:

• questions of definition (are we talking about the same thing?)
• methods and practices (how what we study impacts what we study, and whether the study of mystical experiences is always self-implicating)
• paradigms and disciplinary boundaries (how research traditions shape the object of study, and how this impacts the study of mystical experience in particular)
• relationships between historical or contemporary practices (the significance of new approaches to mystical experiences when considering historical topics)
• multi-disciplinary approaches (what is gained by combining approaches from different research traditions?)
• the scholar-practitioner (how does the emergent category of the scholar-practitioner change the study of mystical experiences?)

We invite submissions for individual Research Papers (30 minutes, with additional time for questions).

Key dates (2026):

·     April 15: Deadline for individual paper proposals

·     June 15: Accepted presentations confirmed

·     August 6: Draft program announced

·     October 6: Final program published

·     December 4-5: Conference dates

Conference registration is free of charge and includes 1 lunch and coffee/tea (“fika”). Participants will also be offered a conference dinner at their own expense.

The conference is organized by Terje Sparby (Rudolf Steiner University College, Oslo) and Simone Kotva (University of Gothenburg). Inquiries and questions may be directed to Simone Kotva at simone.kotva@lir.gu.se.

Paper submission

Please submit your abstract (c. 300 words) for individual research papers via this Google Form by April 15, 2026.

Registration

For those intending to participate without giving a paper presentation, conference registration will open on August 6.