Morgan Shipley

Foglio Endowed Chair of Spirituality & Associate Chair of Religious Studies, Michigan State University
Morgan Shipley (Ph.D.) is the Inaugural Foglio Endowed Chair of Spirituality and Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Michigan State University. My research, projects, teaching, and work related to the Chair focus on 1) understanding mystical and esoteric new religions that highlight spirituality as opposed to institutional religiosity, 2) positioning individuals and groups who increasingly identify as spiritual but not religious, and 3) situating the nature and manifestations of secular spirituality.

In his 2012 Commencement Speech Address, Father Foglio spoke about the enduring power and place of love: “To be human presumes the ability to love…one of the surest ways of practicing your humanity is to practice unconditional love…at the heart of being virtuous, then, is to love with our will, which is to act humanly.” Father Foglio’s comments stress the value of a universal, unconditional love that transcends and persists regardless of circumstance, identity, or community membership. Within this vision of secular spirituality, Father Foglio implores us to consider the ways in which a college education, in addition to providing transferable skills, affords unique opportunities to consider not only what it means to be human, but also what it means to exist in a world with others. It helps us take a step back in order to recognize a values-driven approach to education and professional development, and offers a way to see the college experience as a mechanism to cultivate engaged, compassionate, empathetic, and virtuous citizens and leaders. Within this transformational setting, we can construct an orientation and environment for developing a positive ethos that pushes students, staff, and faculty to identify tolerant, inclusive, and welcoming solutions to the social, political, spiritual, and quotidian quandaries we face.