The British Association for the Study of Spirituality (BASS) was launched in London on Friday, Jan 29th, 2010. 

Dr Bernadette Flanagan and Dr Michael O’Sullivan, who have the distinction of being the only two Irish people to have been elected to the Governing Board of the International Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality, were Irish delegates at the launch.  BASS will hold its inaugural international conference in Windsor, England, from 4th - 6th May.  The conference will explore the relevance of spirituality for the socio-economic, political and cultural challenges in contemporary society.  Michael will deliver a paper at the conference.  

The creation of BASS is a further and very important manifestation of a worldwide trend concerning the emergence and development of spirituality as a new academic discipline.  BASS aims to promote the interfacing of spirituality and other fields of human life such as social care, health care, counselling, and business studies.  The Spiritual Capital Ireland Centre, which is co-hosted by All Hallows (Bernadette and Michael) and Waterford Institute of Technology (Dr Michael Howlett, Head of Applied Arts, and Jacqui Quinn,

Coordinator of Childhood Studies), is engaged in similar activities.