100 Years Rudolf Steiner: New Perspectives on the Founder of Anthroposophy, in the Centennial Year of his Death

 December 14-16, 2025 in Cambridge, Massachusetts

Call for Papers (CfP)--Submission Deadline May 1, 2025--EXTENDED DEADLINE JUNE 15, 2025

 Sponsored by Harvard Divinity School’s Program for the Evolution of Spirituality, with additional support from the Center for the Study of World Religions

This conference marks the centenary anniversary of Rudolf’s Steiner’s death. The driving force behind the esoteric and social reform movement of anthroposophy, Steiner left behind a complicated and transregional legacy. Considering the small number of participants in the movement's first decades, there are few spiritual currents of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries that have attracted as much public attention as anthroposophy—and few spiritual leaders who have been subject to as much scrutiny, both critical and sympathetic, especially in the German-language context. Following a twenty-year period that has seen a huge increase in the quality and the quantity of the scholarship on Steiner and anthroposophy, the centennial of Steiner's death in 1925 offers a perfect opportunity for scholars, practitioners in areas of “applied anthroposophy,” such as Steiner education and biodynamic agriculture, and interested members of the public to come together to debate major issues. While much of the key scholarship is still only available in German, and some only in other languages including Hebrew and Norwegian, the last decade or so has also seen breakthroughs in anglophone publications in the field, such as Peter Staudenmaier's Anthroposophy and the Politics of Race in the Fascist Era (2014), Dan McKanan's study of Anthroposophy and the History and Future of Environmentalism (2017), Helmut Zander’s article on “Rudolf Steiner and the Zeitgeist around 1900” (pub. 2021), and also significant publications in English translation, including Martina Maria Sam's The Library of Rudolf Steiner (2024; five translators). Parallel to this, the German-language Critical Edition of Steiner's Writings [Schriften—Kritische Ausgabe], with Christian Clement as general editor, has brought out eleven themed volumes since 2013, each complemented by forewords from world experts in the study of western esotericism. This conference will build on such scholarship, while not forgetting the work conducted by the administrators of Steiner’s literary estate—which includes thousands of manuscripts—in preparing quality publications of much archival material in digital and print editions. Our conference goal is to offer new perspectives on Steiner and critical approaches to his legacy, which has been extremely fruitful in multiple fields, from education and organic farming to modern art and architecture. By bringing together a diverse range of scholars and researchers, we hope to shed new light on this legacy and provide a forum to explore complex issues.

We warmly invite interested scholars to submit abstracts of maximum 300 words. Alongside the keynote lectures that will start and end our proceedings, we intend to run eight 90-minute chaired panels, each consisting of at least three and at most four 15/20 minute papers, leaving ample time for questions from the floor. Each abstract must be attached to one of the following open panels (and referenced in the initial submission):

Panel One: Contested Beginnings—Disputed Anthroposophical Biographies: Alongside Steiner’s own biography, papers on other first and second generation anthroposophical leaders, such as Ita Wegman, Marie von Sivers-Steiner, or Karl König are welcome.

Panel Two: Steiner’s Philosophical Outlook: How were Steiner’s philosophical writings, including The Philosophy of Freedom, shaped by Fichte, Nietzsche, Idealism, Monism, Individualist Anarchism, and other antecedents?

Panel Three:  Steiner’s Goethean Vision of Participatory Research and “Spiritual Science”: Did Goethe offer Steiner a new way of doing natural science and a relevant critique of Newtonianism?

Panel Four: Steiner’s Activities within the Theosophical Society: How did Steiner adapt, transform, or distort Rosicrucian, Freemasonic, and Theosophical elements in crafting his own esoteric and organizational practice?

Panel Five: Social Threefolding, Politics, Economy, and Community: Did Steiner promote an anti-statist democracy, or take an anti-democratic turn? 

Panel Six: Esotericism, Evolution, “Race,” and Racism: Did Steiner’s teachings about spiritual bodies and cultural epochs constitute a spirituality for the modern world, or a spiritualization of early-twentieth century prejudices?

Panel Seven: Waldorf Pedagogy and Curative Education: How did Steiner draw on progressive pedagogy and theosophical spirituality in developing anti-authoritarian and holistic curricula?