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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.

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). Apologies for cross-posting EASST's Eurograd mailing list -- eurograd-easst.net@lists.easst.net Archive: https://lists.easst.net/hyperkitty/list/eurograd-easst.net@lists.easst.net/ Edit your delivery settings there using Account dropdown, Mailman settings. Website: https://easst.net/easst_eurograd/ Meet us on Mastodon: https://assemblag.es/@easst Or X: https://twitter.com/STSeasst