Welcome to the Conference on Contemporary Spirituality official website, which will be held on October 6 and 7, 2023, at the Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana. 

The place of religion in social, economic, and political processes has been a vital theme in the social sciences. Religion remains one of the most important spheres of human life. The intensive attention to religious beliefs, practices, and rituals in ethnology and anthropology has led to important theories. It has initiated numerous empirical studies which have profoundly affected the development of the disciplines. 

The conference on Contemporary Spirituality aims to draw attention to various aspects of religious life, rituals, and spirituality in past and contemporary societies. The organizers invite presenting researchers to focus especially (however, not exclusively) on topics related to:  

1. Ritual:

Key speaker: Tatiana Bužeková, Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia

Sub-topics we would like the attendees to focus on: the importance of religious and non-religious rituals, theoretical reflections, ritual as a group cohesion practice, religious community and socialisation;

A short bio about the key speaker:

Associate Professor Tatiana Bužeková, PhD, works at the Department of Ethnology, Faculty of Arts of the Comenius University. She has done ethnographic research on witchcraft beliefs in Slovak villages, neo-shamanic practices in Bratislava, and religious communities in rural environments. She published two books and numerous articles about Slovak folk beliefs related to misfortune, explained in terms of memory functioning, emotions, and social cognition. Her works on urban shamanism in Slovakia refer to tradition, legitimisation of authority, and gender issues. Several publications are dedicated to the role of moral emotions. Currently, she is researching alternative spirituality.

2. (Place) Identity:

Key speaker: Boštjan Kravanja, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia

Sub-topics we would like the attendees to focus on: personal, community and social identity, alt-right movements, fake news, identitarian movements, religious narratives about/in national conflicts, religious leadership and hierarchy of the religious community, religious diversity and tolerance, religious minorities and the state;

A short bio about the key speaker:

Associate Professor Boštjan Kravanja, PhD, works at the Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, Faculty of Arts of the University of Ljubljana. His research interests include studies on mythology, anthropology of place and space, anthropology of tourism, anthropology of religion, psychological anthropology, and ethnology of Asia. 

3. Healing and Therapy:

Key speaker: Miroslav Horák, Mendel University Brno, Czech

Sub-topics we would like the attendees to focus on: Covid, drug altering the state of mind (ayahuasca) / presence of drug usage among contemporary spirituality movement, ethical issues of doing research with people conducting crimes;

A short bio about the key speaker:

Associate Professor Miroslav Horák, PhD, is a social and cultural anthropologist, ecologist and linguist. He specialises in medical anthropology, ethnobotany and anthropology of religion. He is currently an associate professor at the Institute of Linguistic and Cultural Studies, Faculty of Regional Development and International Studies, Mendel University in Brno. His research focuses on substance use disorders, religion and cooperation, and mood monitoring in treating psychological disorders. To this end, he has carried out numerous projects. He is also the author and editor of several books. Recent ones include Substance Use Disorders Treatment in Therapeutic Communities: A Cross-Cultural Approach (2022) and the Amazonía unida trilogy (2020-2022). He is a member of the Czech Anthropological Society and the Editorial Board of Universidad-Verdad.

Looking forward to meeting you in Ljubljana!