2023 Symposium

Spirituality, Wellbeing and Risks
22 – 23 June, 2023
Deakin Downtown and Online

Spirituality and Wellbeing (SWell) Research Network
Contemplative Studies Centre, University of Melbourne
Centre for the Study of Religion and Society, University of Notre Dame

Symposium Programme

Recordings of our online and hybrid panels are now available!

Online Panel 1

Session Chair: Lori Beaman, University of Ottawa, Canada

Nancy Ammerman, Boston University, USA, Approaching Wellbeing and Risk through a Lived Religious Practice Perspective

Verónica Giménez Béliveau, University of Beunos Aires, Argentina, Conservative Sensibilities in Latin American Catholicism: modern society risks and traditional discourses for well-being

Géraldine Mossière, Université de Montréal, Canada, Global Spiritual Coaching, Local Legal Regulation: a discussion based on a comparative perspective

Online Panel 2

Session Chair: Cristina Rocha, Western Sydney University, Australia

Linda Woodhead, Kings College, London, Is Abuse as Much a Problem for Spirituality as for Religion?

David Newheiser, Australian Catholic University, Secular Art and Spirituality: historicising the question

Anna Fedele, Philosophical-Theological College Brixen, Italy, Religion, Spirituality and Environmental Sustainability in South Tyrol (Italy)

François Gauthier, Université de Fribourg, Switzerland, and Fellow at the Institut d’études avancées de Nantes, France, Spirituality and Wellbeing as a Global Phenomenon

Hybrid Panel 1

Session Chair: Andrew Singleton, Deakin University, Australia

Paul Bramadat, Univerisity of Victoria, Canada, At the Edge and Off the Edge: reverential naturalism and the unmoored mind

Jessica Pratezina, University, Canada, Disciples by Default: children in new religious movements

Galen Watts, University of Waterloo, Canada, What Kind of Spirituality Do We Want?

Rosemary Hancock, University of Notre Dame, Australia, Missing in Action: spirituality and explaining movements for social change

Hybrid Panel 2

Session Chair: Rosemary Hancock, Notre Dame University, Australia

Lyn McCredden, Deakin University, Australia, Wellbeing and Sacredness in Literature

Timothy Jones, La Trobe University, Australia, Care and/or Quackery: nonreligious spirituality in the conceptualisation of the wellness industry

Vivian Gerrand, Deakin University, Australia, Narratives, Needs and Network: mapping conspiritual radicalisation

Hybrid Panel 3

Session Chair: Anna Halafoff, Deakin University, Australia

Tyson Yunkaporta, Deakin University, Australia, Grifts, Gurus and Wrong Story

David Tacey, La Trobe University, Australia, Spirituality and the Post-Secular in Academic Culture: the case of Jacques Derrida

Hannah Gould, Anna Halafoff and Ruth Fitzpatrick, University of Melbourne and Deakin University, Australia, Dying Buddhish in Australia

Rafael Cazarin, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain, Spirituality and Religion in the Lives of Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming People

Hybrid Panel 4

Session Chair: Paul Bramadat, The University of Victoria

Melissa O’Shea, Deakin University, Australia, Yoga and Psychological Practice: opportunities and considerations

Matteo Di Placido and Stefania Palmisano, University of Turin, Crisis and Spirituality: how pragmatism may help us to conceptualise nurses’ needs

Online Panel 3

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Session Chair: Mar Griera, Universitat Autònoma, Barcelona

Irene Becci, University of Lausanne, Switzerland, Nature Experience as a Transcendent Shelter from Urban Risks

Gabriela Irrazábal, IDEAHAL Research Fellow, RMIT Europe and adjoint researcher at CONICET, Argentina, Wellbeing, Health, and Beliefs in Argentina: lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic

Bettina E. Schmidt, University of Wales Trinity: Saint David, UK Wellbeing as Never-Ending Battle against Evil: when illness and disability become punishment for sin and wrongdoing

Emily Pierini, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy, Trance-formative therapeutic experiences: mediumship, multi-sensory images, and therapeutic pluralism