Conference Program

Thematic Description

The aim of the conference focuses on the interplay between technological evolution and religion, which has shaped spiritual practices, theological discourses, and religious identities throughout history. The postmodern, and now metamodern, eras have seen societies navigate the complexities of digital transformation, including the development of biotechnology, artificial intelligence, and unprecedented technological growth. Consequently, religious traditions face new challenges of reformulation, epistemic transformations and opportunities for redefinition. Thus, this conference tried to situate itself within the ongoing debates on modernity, technocriticism and hermeneutics of religious change. It aimed at understanding the inter-section between technology, secular modernity, and religious tradition, as well as the dynamic reconfigurations of religious life in our contemporary era. The conference invited a diverse array of scholars from various religious backgrounds. During the conference, they addressed the historical trajectories of technological change in religious contexts and the theological debates stirred by digital media, AI, biotechnology, robotics, military technology, and transhumanism.

The Centre for Intra-Religious Studies (CIRS) at AMI, in collaboration with The McLean Center for the Study of Culture and Values at Catholic University of America (CUA), invites papers examining the dialectical relationship between religion and technology, shedding light on how religious traditions adapt and transform in response to technological change. The conference aims to look at how technology reshapes religious epistemologies, spaces, and ideas of religious ethics. Reflexively, the conference also aims to study instances of how religious frameworks influence technological development and their implementation. The Conference welcomes abstract submissions for papers addressing historical trajectories of technological change in religious contexts and theological debates stirred by digital media, AI, biotechnology, robotics, military technology and transhumanism. Topics may incorporate the impact of the digital revolution on religious practices, ethical dilemmas emerging from surveillance and warfare, and biomedical innovations.

Key thematic areas include, but are not limited to:

Historical Perspectives on Technology and Religious Transformation

Theological Engagement and Digital Epistemologies

Ethics and Human Nature in the Technological Age

Technology, Power, and Religious Communities

Cybernetic Futures: AI, Transhumanism, and Posthuman Spirituality

Abstract
Please send an abstract (300 to 500 words) and a brief CV to [tajrim@almahdi.edu] by July 18, 2025. Final paper will be due on Februry 13, 2026.

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