Today process thought is growing in many parts of the world, albeit as a minority tradition in a world faced by many crises. Might it have a role to play? Might its voice be heard? Chris Hughes and Jay McDaniel will share ways this might happen, inviting discussion as we think together about the future of the process movement.
In this presentation Sandro Galea will discuss the philosophical foundations of health, why we value health, and the implications that has for our actions on health as a society.
When people claim to have experienced the presence of a dead loved one, a deity, or other spiritual entity, the way they knew the presence was there can vary widely, regardless of who they thought was present. Some say that they just knew the presence was there. Others say they saw, heard, or felt the touch of the presence. Others explain that the entity signaled its presence by arousing unusual feelings or by causing unusual things to happen. As part of a research team that attempted to understand such experiences scientifically, Ann Taves and a collaborator developed a typology of presence experiences designed to enable researchers to distinguish the different types of experiences that they wanted to explain. In this talk, Taves will explain the typology using experiences drawn from her research to illustrate and discuss how considering experiences as events can help us to understand the factors that interact to produce experiences of known presences.
The shift from theologies oriented around controlling power to one oriented around uncontrolling love radically reshapes what systematic theology can be. It centers experience in bold ways, and not just the experiences of white men. In this session, Thomas Jay Oord explores ten differences between his systematic theology of love and traditional systematic theologies.
The inaugural conference of the Mind-at-Large Project will be held fully online from April 15–17, 2026, hosted by the Center for Process Studies. The conference program will feature plenary lectures from leading thinkers, emerging scholar presentations, panel dialogues across disciplines and structured opportunities for substantive exchange.
This conference will be the first to birth this long overdue intellectual exchange as it offers an improved metaphysical framework for value and consciousness in all ontological entities to address various concerns that are facing humanity: economy, political, and environmental. Although there are hesitant answers to some of these global challenges facing humanity, the influence of substance-based analysis has yet to offer penetrative answers, in addition to the almost complete lack of interaction among scholars of process to explore their common ground for a common voice in the way that substance thought has done over the centuries.
Lopon Dorje Khandro and Rev. Dr. Dhammabodhi will present the 6 paramitas (perfections) as the theoretical framework that they utilize in their spiritual care practice in order to embrace the suffering of both humans and non-humans. Lopon-la will give an overview of the six paramitas and focus on the paramitas of patience and wisdom in spiritual care. Rev. Dhammabodhi will focus on how ethics and meditation practice apply to spiritual care.
In his presentation, Doug Lippoldt will illustrate manifestations of systemic challenges using a sectoral case study approach focused on a set of middle-income developing countries striving to engage more deeply in the AI economy. The sample will include countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
This global gathering of scholars, educators, and practitioners marks a pivotal moment to engage Alfred North Whitehead’s philosophy in dialogue with the pressing challenges and transformative opportunities of the 21st century. The theme of the 2026 International Whitehead Conference is: “Process Philosophy in a Time of Polycrisis: Science, Meaning, and Civilization.” The conference will explore how process thought can illuminate the great transitions of our time—toward a more sustainable, creative, and compassionate world.