Open Div is a new project that aims to translate divinity for a secular world.
This summit happened in February 2021, and brought together top academics, theologians, clergy, and secular experience designers to offer frameworks around creating meaning for oneself and others.
Most talks from the event are freely available in podcast form. We hope that you come away from these talks with new ideas for how to bring matters of ultimate concern into your life and the lives of others.
The event was a "PodConference" - meaning each day, we had 1-3 live, interactive events and released 10-12 audio-only talks via podcast.
We hoped this format would allow opportunities to connect with other attendees and to engage with the content unmediated by screens.
While live events have all completed, the podcast talks listed further down are still available for listening.
Angie Thurston is a co-founder of Sacred Design Lab and a Ministry Innovation Fellow at Harvard Divinity School.
moreDevin Singh, Ph.D., is an internationally recognized thought leader, award-winning professor, and path-breaking author, speaker, and coach working at the intersection of social theory, ethics, and leadership development.
moreMarshall Ganz is the Rita E. Hauser Senior Lecturer in Leadership, Organizing, and Civil Society at the Kennedy School of Government, where he teaches, researches, and writes on leadership, organization, and strategy in social movements, civic associations, and politics.
moreCasper ter Kuile is the co-founder of Sacred Design Lab, a co-host of the podcast Harry Potter and the Sacred Text and a Ministry Innovation Fellow at Harvard Divinity School.
morePamela Ayo Yetunde, Th.D. is a chaplain and pastoral counselor.
moreChris Cotter is Lecturer in Religious Studies at the University of Chester, and IASH-CTPI Duncan Forrester Research Fellow at the University of Edinburgh.
moreAssociate Professor Marcelle Dawson teaches sociology at the University of Otago in New Zealand.
moreMicky ScottBey Jones – the Justice Doula – accompanies people as they birth more love, justice and shalom into our world.
moreBradley Onishi is Associate Professor of Religion at Skidmore College.
moreAnn Taves is Professor (Emerita) of Religious Studies at University of California, Santa Barbara and PI of the Inventory of Nonordinary Experiences Project.
moreTim Victor is an emerging artist, singer, songwriter, and model originating from Brooklyn, New York.
moreBroderick Sawyer, PhD, is an activist, spiritual teacher/practitioner, and psychologist in Connecticut.
moreEzra Bookman is an experience designer, artist,and facilitator exploring the transformational power of ritual.
moreReverend Ineda Pearl Adesanya is an ordained American Baptist minister and spiritual director. Rev. Ineda serves as President and CEO of The Chaplaincy Institute - An Interfaith Seminary and Community.
moreHanifa Nayo Washington is an award winning cultural artivist and the Cultivator of Beloved Community for the Fireside Project, which aims to help people fulfill the potential of their psychedelic experiences by providing compassionate, accessible, and culturally responsive peer support, educating the public, and furthering psychedelic research.
moreRev. Dr. Richard S. Gilbert retired in 2005 after serving 44 years in the Unitarian Universalist ministry in Cleveland, Ohio, Golden, Colorado, Ithaca, New York, and for 32 years at the First Unitarian Church of Rochester, New York.
moreDavid Fuller is a multi-skilled journalist and filmmaker and the founder of Rebel Wisdom, a platform to make highly complex ideas accessible to as many people as possible.
moreAyden LeRoux is the Assistant Director of Odyssey Works and the author of two books related to their work, Isolation and Amazement (Samsara Press, 2013), and Odyssey Works: Transformative Experiences for an Audience of One (Princeton Architectural Press, 2016) co-authored with Abraham Burickson.
moreSergio holds a degree in Psychology from Trinity College Dublin and has recently finished a M. Sc. in Applied Social Research, also in the same university.
moreJosh is a criminology and sociology lecturer at Kingston University, London.
moreI am a lecturer, researcher, writer, and editor, interested in all things music and the creative industries.
moreMeisaan Chan works intimately with people who, like her, exist in the liminal spaces of spirituality and has a deep passion for translating Spirit into a vernacular for people who exist outside the walls of religion.
moreGina Magyar-Russell is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Loyola University Maryland.
moreStephanie Paulsell has been a member of the HDS faculty since 2001.
moreRev. Christian Watkins (she/her/hers) graduated from Yale Divinity School in 2014 with her Master of Divinity.
moreGuy Hayward co-founded the British Pilgrimage Trust (britishpilgrimage.org) in 2014, and leads guided pilgrimages around Britain.
moreChris Stedman is the author of IRL: Finding Realness, Meaning, and Belonging in Our Digital Lives (2020) and Faitheist (2012), and has written for publications including The Guardian, The Atlantic, BuzzFeed, Pitchfork, VICE, The LA Review of Books, and The Washington Post.
moreWesley J. Wildman is Professor of Philosophy, Theology, and Ethics and Professor in the Faculty of Computing and Data Sciences at Boston University.
moreAnthony is a writer, storyteller, and gifted public speaker.
moreAbraham Burickson is the co-founder and Artistic Director of Odyssey Works, an interdisciplinary performance group that makes bespoke performances for one-person audiences.
moreTiu de Haan is an Oxford-educated ritual designer, creative facilitator and ‘Serendipiter’, specializing in reminding people how to shift their perspective to see the magic in the mundane.
moreDr. Alexander Darius Ornella's research interests sit at the intersection of religion, popular culture, visual and material culture, and technology.
moreNick Moraitis is CEO at the Foundation for Young Australians.
moreErik Davis (www.techgnosis.com) is an author, independent scholar, podcaster and teacher based in San Francisco.
moreDan McKanan is the Emerson Senior Lecturer at Harvard Divinity School, where he teaches courses on Unitarian Universalism, religion and social transformation, ecological religion, and liberal theology
moreJulie Exline, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Case Western Reserve University.
moreCharles Stang is Professor of Early Christian Thought at HDS and is the Director of the Center for the Study of World Religions.
moreBrian Victoria is a native of Omaha, Nebraska and a 1961 graduate of Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln, Nebraska.
moreEric Steinhart grew up on a farm in Pennsylvania. He received his BS in Computer Science from the Pennsylvania State University.
moreTerry J. Washington is in the final year of the Master of Divinity program at Drew University School of Theology.
moreA graduate of Yale University, Daniel Lev Shkolnik is a Humanist speaker and community organizer interested in creating a powerful spiritual alternative to traditional religions.
moreAtlanta Native, Freelance Writer, Yoga and Meditation practitioner, 200 Hour Registered Yoga Instructor.
moreLerita Coleman Brown, PhD, Ayşe I. Carden Distinguished Professor Emerita of Psychology, Agnes Scott College, is a spiritual director/companion, writer, retreat leader, and speaker.
morePaul Bulencea is a transformational experience designer, entrepreneur, and author.
moreCarole M. Cusack is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Sydney.
moreDavid G. Robertson is Lecturer in Religious Studies at the Open University, co-founder of the Religious Studies Project, and co-editor of the journal Implicit Religion.
moreChristina Baldwin is a writer and seminar presenter of 30+ years experience.
moreRev. Jeremy D. Nickel thrives at the intersection of spirituality and technology. He founded EvolVR, a VR spiritual community.
moreTasshin is a resident at the Monastic Academy in Vermont. He also helped to start MAPLE's California location, OAK.
moreLeah Coloff is a cellist, singer, creator described by The New York Times as “a combination of artful angularity and a rock-inflected assertiveness.”
moreMarkus Altena Davidsen (1981) is University Lecturer in the Sociology of Religion at the Leiden University Centre for the Study of Religion.
moreDr. Jason Nieuwsma is a clinical psychologist who is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University Medical Center
moreDr. Erika Gault is an Assistant Professor of Africana Studies with a Ph.D. in American Studies from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
moreSteven C. Hayes is Nevada Foundation Professor in the Behavior Analysis program at the Department of Psychology at the University of Nevada.
moreKatie Gordon is co-founder, national organizer, and network weaver with Nuns & Nones
moreRabbi Elan Babchuck is a rabbi and an entrepreneur and spends much of his time exploring the rich intersections between these two traditions, and the abundant possibilities therein.
moreAndy Chirch is learning how to integrate a two-decade career in finance and business with a calling to ministry.
moreDaniel Libenson is the founder and president of the Institute for the Next Jewish Future and co-host of the Judaism Unbound podcast.
moreArelis Benítez (Aly) is a graduate student in Religion, Psychology, and Culture. She earned a dual Bachelor of Arts degree in Religion and Spanish from Denison University and an M.A. in Clinical Ministry from Loma Linda University.
moreSebene Selassie is a teacher, author and speaker who explores the themes of belonging and identity through meditation, creativity and spirituality.
moreBarbara Groth is founder and creative director of the Nomadic School of Wonder, and handles Experience Design for the immersive art project known as Meow Wolf in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
moreJeff is co-founder of Contemplative Life, a non-profit organization that connects people and communities with transformative practices, and co-founder of Transformation365.org, an experiential practice network.
moreRev. Sarah Bowen is an interfaith/interspiritual minister serving on the academic staff of One Spirit Interfaith Seminary in New York City, where she teaches both interspecies and 12-step spirituality.
moreJay Stolar is a songwriter and producer known for developing signature sounds for artists in multiple genres.
moreInternational recording artist Freedom Imani, a singer, songwriter, vocal coach, and music arranger started his journey in singing at the age of 12.
moreRev. Diane Berke is the Founder and Spiritual Director of One Spirit Learning Alliance. Ordained as an interfaith minister in 1988, she is a respected pioneer in the field of interfaith/interspiritual education; this past June (2020) she stepped down after 18 years as Director of the One Spirit Seminary Training.
moreTheodore Nicholas Demeris is a singer, player, composer, writer and teaching artist who travels the world to activate our human instruments.
moreFr. Adam Bucko has been a committed voice in the movement for the renewal of Christian Contemplative Spirituality and the growing New Monastic movement.
moreReggie's life path has surely been non-traditional, and that has suited him just fine. He was the first person in his family to attend college, which profoundly changed his life, literally opening him up to a world of possibilities he never would have imagined.
moreVanessa Mason is the research director at the Institute for the Future, a 52 year old nonprofit organization that helps individuals, organizations and communities think systematically about the future.
moreDr. Josh Packard, Executive Director of Springtide Research Institute, is an accomplished researcher and academic with an expertise in the sociology of religion and new forms of religious expression.
moreI'm a strategist, writer, and Zen teacher at Daihonzan Chozen-ji, a Rinzai Zen temple and monastery in Honolulu. I anchor Chozen-ji's rigorous, body-based approach to Zen; and train in Kendo, Chado, and ceramics.
moreI’m a mindfulness instructor with over a decade of experience practicing and teaching at centers and organizations all over North America.
moreHere’s a quick look at Confy 2019.