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"Hundreds of millions of people embark annually on pilgrimages with numbers steadily increasing. Pilgrimage is one of the most ancient practices of humankind and is associated with a great variety of religious and spiritual traditions, beliefs and sacred geographies. As a global phenomenon, pilgrimage facilitates interaction between diverse peoples from countless cultures, occupations, and walks of life. In the 13" Global Conference, we will explore pilgrimage's personal, interpersonal, intercultural, and interconfessional dimensions. This includes similarities and differences in the practice in Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, Taoism, and other traditions, as well as secular pilgrimage. The impact of the internet and globalization, pilgrimage as protest, and pilgrimage and peace building, among others, are all topics of interest, as are the concepts of the internal pilgrimage and the journey of self-discovery.

Other topics include: (1) pilgrimage and the marketplace (2) the metaphor of the journey as explored by writers, artists, performers, and singers, including humanists and agnostics (3) pilgrimage and 'miracles' and the related topic of thanksgiving, and (4) 'dark' pilgrimages (5) the use and misuse of the term pilgrimage. Also of interest are pilgrimage and decolonization, pilgrimage and nationalism/militarism, Indigenous pilgrimage, and pilgrimage towards healing and reconciliation."