Habitability for Your Cosmic Future:
AstroAnthropology Meets AstroEthics
Star Island, NH

June 23–30, 2024

Registration

Registration opening in early 2024. Become an IRAS member and receive a reduced rate

Call for papers

Proposals for short academic papers on the announced Conference topic or on other facets of interactions between science and religion are invited: deadline December 22, 2023. We suggest that you check the IRAS website for the proposal format. If you see
this announcement beyond the deadline, please approach Conference Co-Chair Maynard Moore at emaynard8@yahoo.com to see whether there is still an opening for a proposal.

Star Island offers discounts

Discounts are available based on need. Learn more on the Star Island financial grants section of their registration page.

Fellowships & Scholarships

IRAS offers a range of Fellowships & Scholarships. ​

Streaming the Conference Sessions and Chapel Talks

Unable to go to the conference? Become an IRAS member and stream the conference sessions and chapel talks for free! Access will be provided at the start of the conference.
The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is a co-sponsor of the conference. AGU members will receive a discounted registration rate.

Have more questions?

2024 IRAS ​Conference Statement

Astrobiology, astronomy and planetary science — investigating Earth and local planets as well as planets orbiting other stars — invite us to consider life in cosmic context. This conference will weave together diverse interdisciplinary threads from the natural and social sciences and the humanities to consider the place and purpose of humanity in a context in which Earth might not be our only home and in which we may not be alone. Our plenary speakers (leading scientists, religionists and ethicists) will draw on cutting-edge thinking in astrobiology, including emerging thought on “habitability,” and astro philosophy and theology to consider many questions, including:
  • How would expanding humanity into outer space affect culture, arts and many other aspects of human civilization?
  • What impact would contact with alien life, or even alien civilizations, have on human religions?  Are ancient doctrines deep enough to grapple with the mind-boggling vastness of space?
  • Would our biology and anthropology apply to alien life?  What does it mean to be “alive”?  Would aliens be “intelligent” and “spiritual” in ways we could relate to?
  • Can we develop a concrete astroethics: moral principles in planetary perspective?  Would our familiar moral anthropologies need to become astroanthropologies to engage new kinds of beings?
  • Would earth-sourced colonists – to Mars and beyond – be so changed as to become alien?  Would our ethics need to become “astroethics” to prepare people for planetary journeys?  How might religion help and hinder the process?
  • What are the implications of “commercial” space exploration?
We invite all to engage in creative spiritual and moral speculation on a fast approaching future and fundamental issues that we confront in the present.  Confirmed Plenary Speakers:
 
Dr. Andrew M. Davis,  program director for the Center for Process Studies at Claremont School of Theology, author of Exotheology and Cosmic Religion: Extraterrestrial Life in a Process Universe (2023).
 
Dr. Lucas Mix author and manager Equipping Leadership in an Age of Science, and in 2021 NASA/Library of Congress Blumberg Chair in Astrobiology.
 
Conference Program Chairs:  Ted Peters and Maynard Moore
Copyright by The Institute on Religion in an Age of Science