Spirituality and public life

When 1 in 4 people, and increasing numbers of young people, identify as “spiritual but not religious,” we can no longer ignore the spiritual dimensions of public life.

Spirituality is a dimension of experience related to religion that also transcends the boundaries of religion. An understudied resource, in our classrooms and in academic research more broadly, spirituality is too often seen as private, idiosyncratic, and individualistic—an inner realm separated off from public life. Yet, experience, intuition, and evidence all around us tell us this assumption is deeply misplaced. Human beings are spiritual…and social. So how could the interior world of self and mind—as it yearns for transcendence, wholeness, and harmony—not influence society and the world we share?

The Initiative in Spirituality and Public Life at the Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict is designed to address this transformation through the development of new courses and new lines of inquiry. Just as human spirituality influences our public life together, it bears on significant challenges we face in common. This initiative highlights the importance of spirituality to the ethical formation of persons and citizens and to the reform of institutions of public life that are vital to human flourishing.

ASU’s Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict advances research and education on the religious dynamics of conflict and peace with the aim of expanding knowledge, deepening understanding, and promoting wiser responses to pressing challenges of our times. The Initiative in Spirituality and Public Life deepens the center’s resources for stimulating new ideas, expanding community networks, and identifying creative possibilities for healing our world.