UPCOMING
LANDSCAPES OF MYSTICISM
MOUNTAIN, OCEAN, DESERT
ANNUAL CONFERENCE
2026
MARCH 17-19, 2026
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
Mystical authors often speak of the divine within the spaces of the natural environment that surround them. They find God not only inside the recesses of the private self, but amidst vast exterior landscapes, real or imagined, whether scaling mountains, wandering deserts, or navigating the sea. Nonhuman life both contributes to the ambient landscape and dwells within it alongside human communities.
The 2026 MTN Conference will take place at Serra Retreat in Malibu, inspiringly located between the Santa Monica mountains and the Pacific Ocean.
The landscape of Southern California, first known to indigenous spiritual traditions, gathers all three of these influential formations together: mountain, desert, and ocean. Yet it also reminds us of their shared vulnerability to natural and human devastation, given the recent Los Angeles fires. The particular landscape of the Pacific, facing toward the global South and East, invites reflection on other landscapes past and present—whether Mediterranean, European, Atlantic, or otherwise—that continue to influence and inform modes of contemplative life today.
The Mystical Theology Network annual conference in 2026 invites scholars, artists, and practitioners to submit proposals for papers on the theme of the Landscapes of Mysticism.
How are Christian and other mystical traditions grounded in their respective geographies, both real and imagined?
How do mystical authors imagine, measure, or travel through spaces and
landscapes?
How might dialogues emerge across traditions that share similar topographies?
How does nonhuman life form or indwell the landscapes of mysticism?
How do spatial formations enable, limit, or otherwise govern mystical writing?
How are mystical practices or images mediated not only by interiority, but by the contours of the encompassing world?
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
(confirmed as of 2025-08-14)
Thomas Arentzen, Sankt Ignatios College (Stockholm School of Eastern Christian Studies), and Lund University.
Dr. Thomas Arentzen is Senior Lecturer at Sankt Ignatios College (Stockholm School of Eastern Christian Studies) and Reader in Church History at Lund University. In 2021, he published Byzantine Tree Life. Christianity and the Arboreal Imagination with Virginia Burrus and Glenn Peers, and in his forthcoming monograph The Gospel of Trees (2026), he explores a Christianity populated by plants. His research interests include ecology, popular piety, and poetry.
Min-Ah Cho, Georgetown University
Dr. Min-Ah Cho is an Associate Teaching Professor in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Georgetown University. Engaging the Christian mystical tradition alongside feminist and postcolonial theories, and drawing from Asian and Asian American religion, politics, and spirituality, Cho’s research explores the dynamics of conflict, negotiation, and reconciliation between the spirituality of Christian individuals—particularly the vulnerable and excluded—and the public or institutional representation of religion and theology. In 2025, she published The Silent God and the Silenced: Mysticism and Contemplation Amid Suffering. She is currently working on a research project that focuses on the theological and ethical dimensions of attention.
Simone Kotva, University of Gothenburg
Dr. Simone Kotva is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Literature, History of Ideas, and Religion at Gothenburg University. Her forthcoming book, Ecologies of Ecstasy: Mysticism, Philosophy and Vegetal Life, addresses the question of nature in Christian theology through a dialogue with the vegetal turn and critical plant studies.
Gary Nabhan, University of Arizona
Dr. Gary Nabhan is W.K. Kellogg Chair in Southwest Borderlands Food and Water Security at the University of Arizona. He is an ethnobiologist, agroecologist, conservation biologist and cultural geographer, author or editor of 26 books translated into 6 languages, and in addition to his research, teaching, and community service on sustainable food systems, he farms during the summer in Patagonia, Arizona.
PROPOSALS AND
REGISTRATION
We welcome 20-minute paper proposals or 3-paper session proposals on any aspect of the theme and from any methodological perspective. Please send paper or session abstracts of max. 300 words to: mtn2026losangeles@gmail.com. Proposal deadline: October 31, 2025.
In keeping with our theme, MTN 2026 will be convened within a significant local landscape: a Franciscan retreat in Malibu situated in the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Serra Retreat provides single and double room accommodations including all meals provided on site. Despite the recent fires in Los Angeles, the Franciscans have maintained their beautiful complex by prioritizing simplicity and sustainability. By offering affordable lodging on site integrated with the conference, we can support junior scholars, reduce our collective footprint, and foster closer exchange among participants. Optional excursions might include group visits to the Getty Museum, Malibu beaches, and local restaurants. Read more about the retreat on their website: https://serraretreat.com/.
The three conference days are March 17-19.
Participants staying at Serra Retreat can check in on March 16 before dinner and check out on March 20 after breakfast.
REGISTRATION FEES AND ROOM RATES:
Conference registration and payment is now open. The conference will be held at the Serra Retreat in Malibu approximately 25 miles (40 km) northwest of LAX airport. Participants are strongly encouraged to take advantage of the inexpensive lodging and meal packages provided at the conference site. Each conference participant must choose one of three levels, each of which has been generously subsidized by our co-sponsors.
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Registration fee ($200) + Commuter option ($100): $300 total
(Conference access; plus parking, 3 meals/coffee per day, on-site wine reception)
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Registration fee ($200) + DOUBLE (shared) room option ($200): $400 total (= room/meals for $50 per night)
(4 nights of shared double room with shared bath en suite; plus conference access, parking, 3 meals/coffee per day, on-site wine reception)
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Registration fee ($200) + SINGLE room option ($400): $600 total (= room/meals for $100 per night)
(4 nights of single room with shared bath en suite; plus conference access, parking, 3 meals/coffee per day, on-site wine reception)
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Rooms at Serra Retreat are simple but adequate, with a twin bed, towel, and soap. Each private bathroom (toilet and shower) is shared by two adjacent bedrooms; each bedroom has its own sink. Smoking is only permitted outdoors in designated areas.
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Meals are freshly cooked on site and include vegetarian but not vegan options (a salad bar with vegan protein is available for lunch and dinner). Coffee and tea are available around the clock. Guests with significant allergy or other dietary needs (e.g. gluten-free) are welcome to bring their own meals to store in the kitchen.
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Other costs:
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- Optional $20 ticket for shuttle bus from Serra Retreat to Getty Museum and Café Habana
- Optional $30 ticket for closing dinner at Café Habana in Malibu (short walk from the beach), including open bar
- In January 2026, ground transportation options from LAX to the Serra Retreat will be provided at cost to conference participants who need them.
