We focus on the comparative, philosophical, theoretical, cross-cultural, and transnational nature of mysticism, religious experience, and spiritual practice. Creative, imaginative, and scholarly proposals with a clear methodology are invited on: 1) Mystical love poetry; 2) The spiritual senses in Eastern Christianity and other religious traditions (proposals welcome on all aspects of the phenomenon of spiritual perception and/or the senses, e.g., sensus divinatus, "eyes of the mind/heart"), to be co-sponsored with the Eastern Orthodox Studies Group; 3) Stages of mystical development; 4) Mysticism and neuroscience/consciousness studies; and 5) Techniques of induction of mystical states (trance, drugs, etc).

Due to the international composition of our steering commitee, we are able  to accept submissions only via the official website of the AAR through its online paper proposal  (OP3) system. Paper proposals may be submitted until Monday, February 25, 2008. In order to present a paper at the Annual Meeting, one must be a current member of the AAR.