Deadline: January 30, 2026
Call for Submissions: Religious Trauma Symposium Harvard Divinity School April 16-17, 2026
Scope: Religious trauma, defined here as lingering harm within religious and spiritual contexts which creates barriers to physical, emotional, existential, social, psychological, developmental, and spiritual wellbeing, is a subject of mounting scholarly and popular attention with direct implications for the challenges of modernity. Recent work on religious disaffiliation (McLaughlin et al.), religious “dones” (Van Tongeren), and spiritual struggles (Excline) highlights the influence of religious trauma in demographic changes around the world, particularly in the United States. Yet despite academic and professional interest across fields as diverse as psychology, education, and religious studies growing in tandem with parallel discourses among survivors and religious practitioners alike, there has yet to be an event designed to bring these various circles into direct dialogue with one another.
This is a multi-faceted problem which demands interdisciplinary solutions. We invite scholars to bridge the gap between (a) discourse occurring across fields of academic and professional study and between (b) public and scholarly discourse through contributions foregrounding the relationship(s) between mental health and religious belief, practice, and experience; surviving religious trauma and leaving abusive spaces; and proposals for a healthier spirituality and a more ethical theology.
Objective: Religious trauma is a subject that has struggled to achieve validity in both academic circles and the broader public. This symposium explicitly seeks to overturn this tendency and legitimize the concept of religious trauma in both the scholarly and public eye by achieving the following:
1. Identifying commonalities and anomalies in the lived experiences of those affected by religious trauma or abuse.
2. Identifying opportunities and challenges for scholarly inquiry in the study of religious trauma or abuse and facilitating the further development of common terminologies, methodologies, and models.
3. Developing theories of change to implement academic findings in faith-based settings, clinical practices, and the realms of law and policy.
Thematic Overview: Our committee will group accepted submissions into a thematic arc that paints the picture of a potential lifespan of religious trauma: from 1) experiences of control and harm, through 2) processes of leaving and loss, to 3) pathways of healing and future-oriented strategies. We encourage submissions that encompass one or more of the following dimensions:
Interdisciplinary Scope: Religious studies, theology, psychology, cognitive science, sociology, political science, policy and legal analysis, the arts, and narrative storytelling.
Public Engagement: A dialogue between academia and lived experience, ensuring accessibility and relevance for wider audiences.
Applied Practice: Insights for clinicians, educators, policymakers, and religious leaders.
Areas of interest for this symposium include, but are not limited to, the following topics: the overlapping of religious abuse with gender, race, sexuality, and culture; religious identity deconstruction and reconstruction; survivor stories; data-based approaches to healing; harmful and life-giving theologies; perspectives from policy/legal analysis or the cognitive sciences, among others.
We encourage professionals across academic fields to submit proposals for papers on a topic of their choice relating to the symposium theme, with the understanding that religious trauma falls on a spectrum of experience. Authors who submit papers should specify their primary field of study, methodological approach, and indicate how their conclusions or lessons learned could be applied in conversation with other disciplines or applied professions.
Why Contribute? The symposium aims to move the conversation surrounding religion and mental health forward, ensuring the voices of those most affected by religious trauma are heard and providing insights into the best practices for responding to religious trauma for clinicians, educators, policymakers, and religious leaders. This is an opportunity to help shape the discussion surrounding religion and mental health in the months and years to come as the United States and the world face a resurgence of religious nationalism and religious actors with authoritarian agendas.
Submission Requirements: Please submit an English-language abstract for an anticipated 2,500-3,000-word paper lasting no more than 20 minutes. Submissions should not be under review elsewhere. Submit your abstract here.
Important Dates:
Deadline for submission: January 30, 2026
Notification of acceptance: February 20, 2026 T
his symposium is an independent event run by a group of graduate students. It is not an official event of Harvard Divinity School. Any use of the Harvard Divinity School name is strictly for the purpose of identifying the location where the event is being held and the affiliation of the student organizers as students of the institution.
For submission inquiries, contact:
Religious Trauma Symposium Board – religioustraumasymposium2026@gmail.com
Jacob Bennett, Head of Academics & Symposium Content – jkhbennett@utexas.edu