2025: Nature
In 2025, Spirit & Place hosted Sacred Synergies: Faith, Science, and Nature with Katharine Hayhoe, internationally recognized climate scientist and communicator. Hayhoe shared insights on the science of climate change, its societal impacts, and the urgent need for informed civic engagement. The conversation highlighted the intersection of science, faith, and community action, emphasizing how dialogue about climate change can be a tool for action. Participants also took part in conversation training, learning strategies to discuss climate change thoughtfully across diverse perspectives, leaving equipped with knowledge, inspiration, and a shared sense of responsibility for the planet’s future.
2024: Gratitude
Our closing Public Conversation brought together psychology researcher Dacher Keltner and local creator of The Testimony Service, Ebony Chappel. Author and playwright R. Eric Thomas moderated a deeply intentional conversation that wove together reflections on awe, community, vulnerability, wonder, and, of course, gratitude.
2023: Nourish
We closed the 2023 festival with a live audience podcast recording of “Black Girls Eating,” hosted by Tannoria Askew and Candace Boyd featuring culinary historian and author Michael Twitty.
2022: Identify
Historian Kathleen Belew (A Field Guide to White Supremacy), religious studies scholar Stephen Prothero (God is Not One), and former White House staffer and co-founding partner of Culture House Media, Carri Twigg, engaged in a moderated conversation examining how Americans identify.
2021: Change
Robert P. Jones, author of White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity and Dean of Faculty at Christian Theological Seminary Leah Gunning Francis.
2020: Origins
Poet and theologian Padraig O’Tuama and spoken word artists and activist Manon Voice.
2019: Revolution
Nikole Hannah-Jones, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist for the New York Times Magazine’s “The 1619 Project.’
2018: Intersection
Zeynep Tufekci, techno-sociologist and author of Twitter and Tear Gas: The Power and Fragility of Networked Protest/
2017: Power
Dr. James Madison, Thomas and Kathryn Miller Professor of History Emeritus at Indiana University Bloomington, Dr. Maria Hamilton Abegunde, Visiting Lecturer in the Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies at IU-Bloomington, SongSquad, and the Indiana Historical Society Museum Theater program.
2016: Home
Matthew Desmond, author of Evicted: Poverty & Profit in the American City, Allison Luthe, Executive Director of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center, and Timothy Schmalz, sculptor (“Homeless Jesus”)
2015: Dream
Marshawn Wolley, Director of Partner Relations at VisitIndy, Rev. Anastassia Zinke, Senior Pastor of All Souls Unitarian Church, Phyllis Boyd, Executive Director Groundwork Indy, and David Sklar, Director of Governmental Affairs of the Indianapolis Jewish Community Relations Council.
2014: Journey
Bestselling writer and journalist Gail Sheehy, author of Passages and Passages in Caregiving: Turning Chaos Into Confidence; cancer survivor and New York Times #1 bestselling author/poet Mark Nepo; and Dr. Timothy E. Quill, Director of the Center for Ethics, Humanities and Palliative Care, University of Rochester School of Medicine.
2013: Risk
Scott Jones, ChaCha CEO & cofounder; Sarah Fisher, professional race car driver & team owner; Philip Gulley, author & minister; and David Baker, jazz performer & educator.
2012: Play
Jane McGonigal, author, futurist, game designer; and Susan Sparks, professional comedian, former trial lawyer, senior pastor of the Madison Avenue Baptist Church in New York City.
2011: The Body
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, basketball icon; Anita Diamant, author; and Thomas Lynch, poet.
2010: Food for Thought
Will Allen, CEO of Growing Power; Frances Moore Lappe, author; and Harrell Flectcher, gardner/international artist.
2009: Inspiring Places
Former Indianapolis Mayor William Hudnut III, and Braddock, Pennsylvania Mayor John Fetterman.
2008: Exploring Imagination
Producer, writer, and director Julie Dash; author, songwriter, and pastor Brian D. McLaren; and essayist and journalist Richard Rodriguez.
2007: Living Generously
Patty Stonesifer, CEO of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Nathan Dungan, president and founder of Share Save Spend; and Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon, singer, composer, founder of Sweet Honey in the Rock.
2006: Tradition & Innovation
Author and human rights activist Sr. Joan Chittister, author and scholar Manning Marable, and Hoosier film writer/producer Angelo Pizzo.
2005: Moving & Staying
Poet and novelist Wendell Berry, writer and humorist Rabbi Lawrence Kushner, and award-winning journalist A’Lelia Bundles.
2004: Building and Belonging
Author Andre Dubus III, educational reformer and psychologist Howard Gardner, and theologian Renita Weems.
2003: Remembering and Reconciling
Editor Jim Wallis, author Charles Johnson, and Nobel Peace Prize winner Betty Williams.
2002: Breaking Silence
Novelist Mary Gordon, journalist Barbara Ehrenreich, and critic bell hooks.
2001: Crossing Boundaries
Scholar Cornel West, novelist Jane Smiley, and author Rabbi Harold Kushner.
2000: Growing Up
Jonathan Kozol, Terry Tempest Williams, and Martin E. Marty.
1999: Changing Landscapes
Barry Lopez, Sister Helen Prejean, and Kathleen Norris.
1998: A Gathering of Voices
Peter Matthiessen, Reynolds Price, and Maxine Hong Kingston.
1997: Leaving and Returning
Thomas Keneally, Clifton Taulbert, and Joy Harjo.
1996: Thinking Out Loud about Indianapolis
Kurt Vonnegut, Dan Wakefield, and John Updike.
