Although there is wide acknowledgement that spiritual transformations occur and that they can have profound effects on the life of a person, group or society, there have been few integrated scientific studies conducted that account for the nature of the various biological, psychosocial, and cultural conditions and factors that underlie spiritual transformations. This lack of scientific study is due, in part, to the long-term historical divide between scientific investigation and matters of religion.

The Spiritual Transformation Scientific Research Program seeks to fill this important gap in our knowledge by rigorously investigating various aspects of the sociocultural, psychological and neurological factors that underlie the processes of spiritual transformations of individuals and groups.

The research conference and the funded projects will help to create an interdisciplinary field in the human sciences for researching spiritual transformation using cutting edge methodologies and experimental designs that may potentially provide new insights in this area of investigation. We have an opportunity to create a new field of inquiry, freed from the prejudices of the past, to examine diverse religious and spiritual phenomena with scientific rigor.

Click here for the Directors of the program.