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.
We recorded talks from the 2021 Open Div Summit and released them as a podcast. Listen to conversations with academics, theologians, clergy, and secular experience designers exploring how to create meaning in the modern world.
A teacher, author and speaker who explores the themes of belonging and identity through meditation, creativity and spirituality.
A Professor of Philosophy, Theology, and Ethics and Professor in the Faculty of Computing and Data Sciences at Boston University.
Co-founder of Sacred Design Lab and a Ministry Innovation Fellow at Harvard Divinity School.
CEO at the Foundation for Young Australians, Australia's leading philanthropic organisation dedicated to young people's social action.
Discussion of creating one-person performances and transformative artistic experiences through bespoke theatrical interventions.
A Lecturer in Religious Studies at the Open University, co-founder of the Religious Studies Project.
Author of IRL: Finding Realness, Meaning, and Belonging in Our Digital Lives (2020) and Faitheist (2012).
Examines the process of leaving religious belief systems and the psychological dimensions of spiritual transition.
Founder of Ritualist, a boutique consultancy designing more meaningful work-life and connected communities.
The University Lecturer in the Sociology of Religion at the Leiden University Centre for the Study of Religion.
Explore all 58 episodes from the Open Div Summit and our Rewilding series on your favorite podcast platform.
Angie Thurston is a co-founder of Sacred Design Lab and a Ministry Innovation Fellow at Harvard Divinity School.
Devin 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.
Marshall 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.
Casper 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.
Pamela Ayo Yetunde, Th.D. is a chaplain and pastoral counselor.
Associate Professor Marcelle Dawson teaches sociology at the University of Otago in New Zealand.
Chris Cotter is Lecturer in Religious Studies at the University of Chester, and IASH-CTPI Duncan Forrester Research Fellow at the University of Edinburgh.
Micky ScottBey Jones – the Justice Doula – accompanies people as they birth more love, justice and shalom into our world.
Bradley Onishi is Associate Professor of Religion at Skidmore College.
Ann Taves is Professor (Emerita) of Religious Studies at University of California, Santa Barbara and PI of the Inventory of Nonordinary Experiences Project.
Tim Victor is an emerging artist, singer, songwriter, and model originating from Brooklyn, New York.
Killian Noe is the Founding Director of Recovery Café.
Broderick Sawyer, PhD, is an activist, spiritual teacher/practitioner, and psychologist in Connecticut.
Reverend 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.
Ezra Bookman is an experience designer, artist,and facilitator exploring the transformational power of ritual.
Hanifa 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.
I’m a mindfulness instructor with over a decade of experience practicing and teaching at centers and organizations all over North America.
I'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.
Dr. 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.
Vanessa 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.
Reggie'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.
Fr. Adam Bucko has been a committed voice in the movement for the renewal of Christian Contemplative Spirituality and the growing New Monastic movement.
Theodore Nicholas Demeris is a singer, player, composer, writer and teaching artist who travels the world to activate our human instruments.
Rev. 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.
International recording artist Freedom Imani, a singer, songwriter, vocal coach, and music arranger started his journey in singing at the age of 12.
Jay Stolar is a songwriter and producer known for developing signature sounds for artists in multiple genres.
Rev. 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.
Jeff 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.
Barbara 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.
Sebene Selassie is a teacher, author and speaker who explores the themes of belonging and identity through meditation, creativity and spirituality.
Arelis 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.
Daniel Libenson is the founder and president of the Institute for the Next Jewish Future and co-host of the Judaism Unbound podcast.
A writer, theologian, teacher, and spiritual entrepreneur
Andy Chirch is learning how to integrate a two-decade career in finance and business with a calling to ministry.
Rabbi 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.
Katie Gordon is co-founder, national organizer, and network weaver with Nuns & Nones
Steven C. Hayes is Nevada Foundation Professor in the Behavior Analysis program at the Department of Psychology at the University of Nevada.
Dr. 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.
Dr. Jason Nieuwsma is a clinical psychologist who is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University Medical Center
Markus Altena Davidsen (1981) is University Lecturer in the Sociology of Religion at the Leiden University Centre for the Study of Religion.
Leah Coloff is a cellist, singer, creator described by The New York Times as “a combination of artful angularity and a rock-inflected assertiveness.”
Tasshin is a resident at the Monastic Academy in Vermont. He also helped to start MAPLE's California location, OAK.
Rev. Jeremy D. Nickel thrives at the intersection of spirituality and technology. He founded EvolVR, a VR spiritual community.
Christina Baldwin is a writer and seminar presenter of 30+ years experience.
David 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.
Carole M. Cusack is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Sydney.
Paul Bulencea is a transformational experience designer, entrepreneur, and author.
Lerita Coleman Brown, PhD, Ayşe I. Carden Distinguished Professor Emerita of Psychology, Agnes Scott College, is a spiritual director/companion, writer, retreat leader, and speaker.
Atlanta Native, Freelance Writer, Yoga and Meditation practitioner, 200 Hour Registered Yoga Instructor.
A graduate of Yale University, Daniel Lev Shkolnik is a Humanist speaker and community organizer interested in creating a powerful spiritual alternative to traditional religions.
Terry J. Washington is in the final year of the Master of Divinity program at Drew University School of Theology.
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Eric Steinhart grew up on a farm in Pennsylvania. He received his BS in Computer Science from the Pennsylvania State University.
Brian Victoria is a native of Omaha, Nebraska and a 1961 graduate of Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Charles Stang is Professor of Early Christian Thought at HDS and is the Director of the Center for the Study of World Religions.
Jillian Richardson is a writer and connection coach.
Julie Exline, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Case Western Reserve University.
Dan 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
Cofounder and CEO with a vocation to lead in between.
Erik Davis (www.techgnosis.com) is an author, independent scholar, podcaster and teacher based in San Francisco.
Nick Moraitis is CEO at the Foundation for Young Australians.
Dr. Alexander Darius Ornella's research interests sit at the intersection of religion, popular culture, visual and material culture, and technology.
Tiu 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.
Abraham Burickson is the co-founder and Artistic Director of Odyssey Works, an interdisciplinary performance group that makes bespoke performances for one-person audiences.
Anthony is a writer, storyteller, and gifted public speaker.
Wesley J. Wildman is Professor of Philosophy, Theology, and Ethics and Professor in the Faculty of Computing and Data Sciences at Boston University.
Chris 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.
Guy Hayward co-founded the British Pilgrimage Trust (britishpilgrimage.org) in 2014, and leads guided pilgrimages around Britain.
Ian Reader is Professor Emeritus at the University of Manchester.
Rev. Christian Watkins (she/her/hers) graduated from Yale Divinity School in 2014 with her Master of Divinity.
Stephanie Paulsell has been a member of the HDS faculty since 2001.
Gina Magyar-Russell is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Loyola University Maryland.
Meisaan 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.
I am a lecturer, researcher, writer, and editor, interested in all things music and the creative industries.
Sarah Cledwyn MA is a spiritual guide and healer.
Josh is a criminology and sociology lecturer at Kingston University, London.
Sergio 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.
Ayden 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.
David 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.
Rev. 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.
