The Spirituality in Society and the Professions (SpirSoP) research group and Spirituality Institute for Research and Education (SpIRE) recently welcomed a Fulbright senior specialist scholar from San Antonio, Texas.
During the first two weeks of June, SpirSoP invited Professor John Markey to work with the research group at SETU's Cork Road Campus in Waterford, following a Fulbright application by Dr Bernadette Flanagan.
Prof. Markey met PhD researchers and supervisors and read a selection of dissertations from the MA in Applied Spirituality to identify how American pragmatic philosophy might strengthen the conceptual frameworks of this research.
'Remarkable work'
Commenting on his visit, Prof Markey said, “SpIRE and SETU are doing remarkable work in Applied Spirituality in Ireland – innovative, creative, and welcoming to so many different professions and perspectives. Thank you to the Fulbright Program for making this project possible.”
MA in Applied Spirituality staff, current PhD researchers and supervisors, and current PhD enquirers discussed pragmatism as a research paradigm and its implications for spirituality research with Prof. Markey. Particular attention was paid to how pragmatism has the potential to closely engage with and give expression to new aspects of spiritual practice in professional and social settings, and so provide hard evidence for macro-level discourses.
"SpIRE and SETU are doing remarkable work in Applied Spirituality in Ireland – innovative, creative, and welcoming to so many different professions and perspectives."
Prof. John Markey Fulbright scholar
Inner development goals
The gathering explored inner development goals as a case study of pragmatism. In 2023 the intergovernmental panel on climate change concluded that agreed targets for change have not been met. They observed that education and information alone are not producing the required changes. Transformation in humanity’s inner appreciation of the climate crisis would be required to truly comprehend the magnitude of the crisis.
A group of 23 practices, many drawn from spiritual wisdom traditions, have been developed so that the climate crisis may also be approached from the inside out. Meanwhile, the UN has adopted the pragmatic response of inner development goals.
The possibility for future collaboration of doctoral clusters in spirituality studies in Malta, the Netherlands, and the USA was discussed, as well as the role of international spirituality conferences at SETU in strengthening its leadership position in the emerging academic discipline of spirituality studies.
The SpirSoP group plans to share recent developments through a lunchtime lecture in September with Professor Christine Wamsler, Lund University. Prof. Wamsler has established a contemplative sustainable futures programme that creates space and opportunities for knowledge development on the role of inner dimensions and transformation for sustainability. For more information, tap here.
Inset image: SpirSoP research group pictured with Fulbright scholar, Prof John Markey.
