Exploring Sexuality and Spirituality: An Introduction to an Interdisciplinary Field (At the Interface / Probing the Boundaries, 132)

The wide spectrum of links and interrelations found amongst the diversity of human sexual expressions and spiritual practices around the world constitutes one of the most fruitful grounds of scholarly research today. Exploring Sexuality and Spirituality introduces an emerging academic field of studies focused on the multiplicity of problematizations intersecting spirituality and sexuality, from eroticism and ecstasy embodiments to inner spiritual cultivation, intimate relationships, sex education, and gender empowerment. This collection of essays addresses subjects such as prehistoric art, Queer Theology, BDSM, Tantra, the Song of Songs, ‘la petite mort’, asceticism, feminist performative protests, and sexually charged landscapes, among others. Through varied methodologies and state-of-the-art interdisciplinary approaches, this volume becomes highly useful for readers engaged in the integration of scholarly and practical knowledge.

Phil Shining, founder and director of the Sexuality and Spirituality Research Network (S&SRN), is an interdisciplinary academic researcher, international speaker, writer, and physical trainer focused on sex life cultivation, arts of living, and practice-oriented spirituality. www.sexualityandspirituality.org / www.philshining.net

Nicol Michelle Epple is an English faculty member who teaches writing, literature, speech, and spirituality studies for a number of universities in western Pennsylvania. She is also a Doctoral Candidate in the Graduate Studies in Literature & Criticism Program at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Her research is focused on developing Holistic Embodied Theory which incorporates physicality, emotion, cognition, experience, and pedagogy. She is also a Naturopathic Doctor and Certified Health Practitioner. To serve women across the globe who have experienced sexual trauma, Nicol founded the ngo, The LOV Foundation, Inc.

Contributors: Huai Bao, Ana Álvarez Borrero, Assumpta Sabuco Cantó, Rita Dirks, John R. Dupuche, Nicol Michelle Epple, Pavel Hlavinka, Richard Alan Northover, Catherine Papadopoullos, Phil Shining and Dennis Alan Winters.