On a snowy Saturday morning, February 17th, 2024, at Chancellor Green, SPO graduate student You-Jin Kim (G-4), co-organized a colloquium on Mediated Spiritualities in collaboration with Chloe Wheeler, graduate student in Comparative Literature and SPO alumna Kathryn Phipps ‘19 (graduate student at Penn). The interdisciplinary event explored spiritual mediation across diverse disciplinary boundaries, delving into topics ranging from Ethiopian Catholic devotion to translating spiritual experiences into texts, and writing as a form of resistance.

The highlight of the colloquium was the discussion centered around Úrsula de Jesús, the Afro-Peruvian mystic from seventeenth century Lima. Three speakers, including SPO graduate student María Alejandra Peñuela (G-1), shared insights into the mystic experiences found in the spiritual diary of Úrsula de Jesús. Marina Brownlee, faculty sponsor of the event, and Christina Lee chaired panel discussions, fostering enthusiastic conversations among respondents and the audience, who brought their expertise to discuss spiritual experiences embedded in mediated texts.

This colloquium was co-sponsored by the Department of Comparative Literature, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, Humanities Council, Program in Latin American Studies, Department of Religion, Department of English, and Department of Spanish and Portuguese (University of Pennsylvania).