“Nones and Dones” Project Awarded Prestigious International Research Grant

Led by Prof. Dr. Kelly James Clark from the Department of Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence, the international and multidisciplinary research project titled “In What Can I Hope?: Spiritual Yearning in the Nones and Dones” secured a prestigious global research grant supported by Templeton and Hill College.

With a budget of 100,000 USD, the project deeply examines the philosophical boundaries of spiritual yearning experienced by those with no religious affiliation (“Nones”) and those who have left their current religious beliefs or institutions (“Dones”), in light of theoretical and empirical studies.

Spiritual Experiences and Approaches to Knowledge

The primary goals of the research are to develop a robust theoretical framework that will illuminate the intellectual and moral virtues and vices inherent in the nature of spiritual yearning and establish its relationship with human flourishing; to analyze the philosophical tension between the risk of spiritual satisfaction leading to closed-mindedness or dogmatism, and the epistemic humility and openness fostered by spiritual yearning; and to investigate how the epistemological ruptures brought about by leaving behind religious and belief affiliations shape individuals' processes of re-evaluating sources of knowledge and authority.

In addition to the project's Principal Investigator, our faculty member Prof. Kelly James Clark, our Department Chair Prof. Enis Doko is also taking part in this global project as a researcher.

Contributing to the project from the perspective of the Islamic intellectual tradition and Sufism, Enis Doko will conduct the sub-study titled “From Ḥayra to Ṭalab: A Sufi Account of Spiritual Yearning, Epistemic Humility, and Human Becoming”. This study will examine how human spiritual yearning, as a wayfarer of seeking, can transform into an epistemic virtue in the process extending from bewilderment (ḥayra) to seeking (ṭalab).

A Research Project Enriched with an Interdisciplinary and Intercultural Approach

The project, which will run from October 2026 to September 2028, has an interdisciplinary structure that brings together philosophy, theology, religious studies, virtue ethics, and the social sciences.

The project team includes esteemed researchers from around the world—such as Türkiye, Indonesia, Thailand, Nigeria, Brazil, China, Iran, India, and the USA—with diverse religious and cultural backgrounds.

As one of the most important pillars of the project, which aims to build lasting bridges between the intellectual traditions of different civilizations, a comprehensive, international conference will be held in Istanbul in the Spring of 2028.

At the end of the research process, it is planned to publish articles in international peer-reviewed journals, to create a theoretical framework document serving as a guide for mental health professionals and educators, and to introduce a semi-academic book appealing to a broad audience into the literature.