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                Divine Devices: Religion and Emergent Technologies of Wonder, Enchantment, and
Mediation
Online Workshop on October 30, 2025
University of Barcelona and Adam Mickiewicz University
Call for Abstracts

We are pleased to invite you to participate in the online workshop Divine
Devices: Religion and Emergent Technologies of Wonder, Enchantment, and
Mediation, organized in collaboration between the University of Barcelona (ERC
Project Visual Trust) and Adam Mickiewicz University. We seek to bring
together scholars and researchers from across disciplines to explore the
intersection of contemporary technologies and religion. Grounded in
anthropological research on the material and sensory dimensions of religious
thought, practice, divine manifestation, and agency, this workshop aims at
discussing how current technological advancements shape religious imagination,
ethics, experience and trustand how they are transformed through acts such as
proselytising and ritual enactment.
Emergent technologies such as AI systems, robots, and digital platforms are
increasingly integrated into various aspects of society, including religious
life. Technological innovations in artificial intelligence and robotics
converge to redefine visions of human and divine potential, fuelling new
eschatological visions and techno-soteriologies (Bialecki 2022, Geraci 2022,
Keane 2025, Singler 2025). Yet devices meant to evoke the sense of awe, aid in
proselytising and assist in religious practice, were being dreamt up, made and
used for centuries, across the denominational spectrum (Devecka 2013, Mayor
2018, Rambelli 2018). To what extent innovations, like autonomous agents and
digital communication, are novel phenomena rather than just a continuation of
already established convergence between religion and technology? Are the new
technologies changing the ways in which traditional implements and material
representations are being used, treated and engaged? How important are the
historical precedents of mechanical devices and automatons designed for
religious purposes?
This workshop is structured around three main axes:
Agency and mediation
First, our objective is to examine how emergent technologies mediate the
relationship with the sacred by bestowing and acquiring agency, while
simultaneously transforming acts of worship. As digital and automated systems
increasingly participate in religious life, they also introduce new forms of
'ambiguous agency (Johnson 2021), a form of agency enacted by technological
nearhumans, whose actions cannot be attributed entirely to human will or
clear divine autonomy. Does the literal automatism and autonomy of emergent AI
and robotic actors redefine the specifically religious automacity (Johnston
2008) of agents that act outside or beyond conventional human will? In this
context, are technologies perceived as agents rather than tools, and if so, by
what means? Do they embody or mediate sacred presence? Can automated systems
be considered co-performers in ritual practices, or even subjects of devotion
themselves?
Enchantment and disenchantment
Second, to explore how emergent technologies produce effects of wonder,
fascination, awe, or a sense of magic through their technical complexity and
aesthetic and material qualities (Srinivas 2018). Are these the new examples
of what Alfred Gell (1992) called the technology of enchantment and
enchantment of technology at the intersection of art and religion? If so, how
do they captivate and generate belief? Is it through their appearance of
autonomy or technical sophistication?  In this vein, what kind of emotional or
aesthetic responses do these technologies elicit: Do they inspire awe,
fascination, or evoke the sense of spiritual intimacy with an object? Or do
they instead disrupt or diminish the devotional experience?
Trust, authenticity and authority
The question of trust and trustworthiness is central to the debates on the
future of human existence alongside robots and AI (Canals 2020; Pink and
Quilty 2025). We seek to discuss how emergent technologies inspire trust or
mistrust, challenging or reinforcing established notions of authority and
authenticity in religious settings.  This axis delves into technologys
perceived reliability as a medium to access the divine, its capacity to
simulate personhood and empathy, and its alignment with doctrinal teachings
and institutional values. In religious contexts where technologies are
perceived as deceptive or deviating, distrust may not only exclude them from
devotional life but also activate punitive responses ranging from moral
discredit to institutional sanction. We might then ask: under what conditions
are these technologies deemed authentic or authoritative, and when are they
rejected as illegitimate, unorthodox, or dangerous?
Format and participation
Motivated by the desire to create a forum for scholars working at the
intersection of religion and technology, we invite contributions from across
the spectrum of sciences and humanities and by scholar at any point of their
career. While the foundational theoretical framework is primarily informed by
anthropology and religious studies, the aim of this workshop is to foster an
encounter of cross-disciplinary perspectives and generate new heuristic
possibilities. Participants are welcome to present ongoing research,
conceptual works, or theoretical reflections that engage with the questions
outlined above. Contributions may be open-ended, with the intention of
triggering a collective conversation on the role of emergent technologies in
religious practice and imagination.
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The workshop will take place online, on October 30, 2025. The event will
include presentations grouped into thematic panels, discussion sessions and
keynote talks by Prof. Tulasi Srinivas and Prof. Roger Canals. Please send an
abstract of your presentation (250500 words) to:
divinedevices.workshop@gmail.com
before September 1, 2025. Presentation should be no longer than 20 minutes.
Notifications of acceptance will be sent out by September 15.
Organizers:  Jan Lorenz (Assistant Professor, Adam Mickiewicz University) and
Juan Francisco Cuys (PhD Candidate at ERC Project Visual Trust, University of
Barcelona).
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