Spirituality

2027 Call for Papers

Amy Maxey, Oblate School of Theology (TX)

amaxey@ost.edu

Byron Wratee, Villanova University (PA)

byron.wratee@villanova.edu

The Spirituality section of the College Theology Society is seeking paper and panel proposals that explore this year’s theme—“Mary, Seat of Wisdom: Refuge and Rabble-Rouser”—within the context of the study, teaching, and practice of spirituality. We follow Bernard McGinn in conceiving of Christian spirituality as “the whole range of beliefs and practices by which the Christian church strives to live out its commitment to the Spirit present in the Risen Christ,”[1] and echo Sandra Schneiders’ call to scholars of spirituality to adopt a self-implicating methodology which focuses attention on lived religious experience of conscious life-integration and self-transcendence toward the divine horizon.[2] We welcome submissions on the following topics:

• New Marian hagiographies emerging from the spiritual margins 
• The adaptation and disruption of traditional Marian iconographies (e.g., Our Lady of Guadeloupe, the Annunciation, the Assumption) in non-traditional spaces and new mediums
• The Magnificat as a resource for mystical-political and liberation spiritualities
• Reconsiderations of Mary as model for contemplation, spousal mysticism, and holy wisdom in Christian spiritualities, past and present, from feminist and queer perspectives 
• Mary’s role in sacred music, liturgy, and corporate prayer practices as they cultivate personal spiritualities
• Recoveries of Mary as a spiritual model in Protestant, Evangelical, or Biblically-informed Christian spiritualities or other Abrahamic spiritualities
• Mary’s relationships with other women (e.g., Ann, Elizabeth, followers of Jesus) as resource for relational theological anthropologies and feminist spiritualities
• Encultured spiritualities of Marian piety in the global South, especially in women’s religious communities
• Mary as protector, refuge, and sanctuary for migrating and displaced people; for those who have experienced abuse, violence, or trauma; for the poor and socially abandoned
• Marian aesthetics and imaginaries in light of womanist, mujerista, Asian Pacific Islander, Africana, and indigenous spiritualities
• Contemporary spiritualities of motherhood as an embodied, interpersonal lived reality
• The presentation of Mary in “radical traditionalist" Catholic spiritualities and purity-culture Christianities, especially as a spiritual model for young people 

We also welcome other proposals on topics related to spirituality more generally, while giving priority to those that engage the conference theme.

Proposals should be 250-500 words in length and should include the scholar’s name, position, and institution, as well as any AV needs anticipated. Proposals are due by December 15, 2026. Please email your proposal to the Spirituality section conveners: Amy Maxey (amaxey@ost.edu) and Byron Wratee (byron.wratee@villanova.edu). You must be a CTS member in good standing to present at the conference. Proposals will be reviewed and scholars will be notified of the status of their proposal by mid-January.

[1] Bernard McGinn, “Mystical Consciousness: A Modest Proposal,” Spiritus 8, no. 1 (2008): 44.

[2] Sandra Schneiders, IHM, “Theology and Spirituality: Strangers, Rivals, or Partners?,” Horizons 13, no. 2 (1986): 253–74.Reprinted in Horizons 51, no. 1 (2024): 163–194, with a response from Min-Ah Cho.