Book launch: The Routledge Handbook of Spirituality, Religion, & The Medical Humanities

Name: Book launch: The Routledge Handbook of Spirituality, Religion, & The Medical Humanities
Start: 2026-03-13T18:00:00+00:00
End: 2026-03-13T19:30:00+00:00
Location: Durham, online

This book launch is a celebration of both the new Routledge Handbook of Spirituality, Religion, and the Medical Humanities as well as the growing and enduring interest in the overlap between those three domains.

To applaud and recognise that interest, the launch will include a panel discussion with the volume’s co-editors – Kristy Slominski (University of Arizona), Adam Powell (Durham), and Chris Cook (Durham) – as well as select chapter contributors. There will also be the opportunity for attendees to ask the panel questions as well as to enjoy a celebratory drink and network with like-minded researchers, clinicians, and others after the panel discussion.

Please note that the hybrid panel discussion runs 18:00 – 18:50, after which we will move into the in-person drinks reception and networking.

About the speakers

Kristy Slominski is Associate Professor in Religious Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara. She specializes in the interactions of religions, science, and health in U.S. history as well as the intersections of U.S. religions and sexuality, with a focus on sexual health education. She is also on the leadership team for Religion, Health, and Humanities Researchers (RHHR), a global network of scholars interested in the medical and health humanities with a focus on spirituality and religion.

Adam Powell is Assistant Professor in Medical Humanities in the Department of Theology and Religion at Durham University. He is a scholar of medical humanities and religion interested in how the social and cognitive sciences can illuminate the processes by which religion/spirituality is involved in identity formation and wellbeing. He is the founder of the Religion, Health, and Humanities Researchers (RHHR).

Chris Cook is a Reverend Professor and Professor Emeritus in the Institute for Medical Humanities, Durham University. He was Director of the Centre for Spirituality, Theology & Health until his retirement in 2022. He is broadly interested in the ways in which theological accounts of human behaviour may inform, challenge and extend scientific perspectives. He was the Co-Investigator for the Wellcome funded, AHRC award winning, Hearing the Voice project at Durham University.

Friday, 13 March 2026, 18:00 – 19:30 | Online & In-person | Bishop’s Dining Room, The Castle.