Research at the Department of Study of Religion
Study of Religion approaches religion as traditions, institutions and lived vernacular religiosities. Non-religious worldviews, values and identities can also be researched from the perspectives of Study of Religion. Ethnographic and other qualitative approaches are at the heart of research in the Department.
Our research is focused on areas, such as:
- lived religion
- western esotericism
- civil religion
- cultural diversity of Christianity
- religion-like microcultures in economy
- vernacular spirituality and nature-related activities and knowledge production
Centres and networks
Centre for the Study of Christian Cultures (CSCC) is a multi- and interdisciplinary research centre focusing on humanistic and social scientific study of diverse forms of Christianity in different parts of the world. The Centre is based at the School of History, Culture and Arts Studies at the University of Turku, Finland. It aims to support and develop research on Christian cultures at the University of Turku and in Finland at large, and to foster international research collaboration in its specific field. More information: Minna Opas.
More information: Minna Opas
The research and teaching activities of the Research Center for Culture and Health are based on what is internationally defined as ’medical humanities’. In this context, medical humanities signify an approach to health, illness, cure and medical knowledge from a cultural viewpoint.
More information: Tiina Mahlamäki
Research projects
The aim of this multidisciplinary project is to offer new perspectives on the historical representation of Finland by drawing attention to people and phenomena previously left outside the canon, as well as by examining well-known figures in the light of new source material and new interpretational frameworks that have emerged in recent scholarship. Through an examination of personal material, such as letters and diaries, as well as public resources like newspapers, journals, and works of art and literature, the researchers seek to expose the wide scope and longevity of the interest in esotericism that gained in popularity towards the end of the 19th century. At the same time, the purpose is to reveal a network of individual actors that has never been under scholarly investigation before. Esotericism has brought together different groups within Finnish cultural elites and facilitated international contacts. Our approach makes it possible to analyse the meanings of Finnish esotericism on a broad scale, not only from the viewpoint of modern religiosity and the formation of national identities, but also as part of the transformations of modern art, science, and subjectivity that took place during this period.
The project has received funding from the Kone Foundation for the period 2018–2021.
More information: Tiina Mahlamäki
The value of life-long learning has expanded beyond the contexts of formal education, increasingly informing various spheres of culture. In contemporary pluralistic and individualistic societies, even religious learning is no longer confined to homes, schools, and the transmission of tradition. More and more individuals choose to independently acquaint themselves with previously unfamiliar religious and spiritual traditions. Our ethnographically oriented research project "Learning from new religion and spirituality" (LeNeRe) investigates the learning trajectories of adult residents of Finland who engage in a new religious or spiritual practice. We are particularly interested in how these people evaluate the transferable potential of the skills and notions adopted, and the resulting significance of their learning in their lives, outside the religious or spiritual context in question. The project produces new knowledge on religions as sites of learning and traces dynamics between the “religious” and “secular” domains of contemporary culture.
More information: Terhi Utriainen
Our ideas of good life, work life and wisdom are intimately tied to our conceptualisations of time. Temporality figures not only in the mental models of past, present and future, but also in how we understand our life course and our place in the cosmos at large. Hence, wisdom and spirituality overlap where fundamental questions related to human life are addressed. Our empirical cases are nature-related activities and life course wisdom. In this project, we use time as a key concept in analysing different constructions (scientific and folk models) of wisdom and spirituality. The project is carried out in collaboration with the University of Jyväskylä. We also study the work of Ken Wilber – how systems thinking and spirituality intertwine in his integral worldview. See the special issue of Approaching Religion titled “Systems thinking, spirituality and wisdom: perspectives on Ken Wilber”.
More information: Matti Kamppinen
The aim of the project was to study the current process of “contact” concerning the indigenous people living in voluntary isolation in the Peruvian Amazonia in order to produce knowledge on the different factors influencing such processes and, based on this knowledge, to find ways to protect these peoples’ right for self-determination. The project was international and interdisciplinary and was conducted in co-operation with the Peruvian Ministry of Culture and local indigenous organizations.
The project (2016-2020) was funded by the Kone Foundation.
More information: Minna Opas
The aim of the Pilgrimage in Motion research project is to explore why pilgrimages were and are made in medieval and contemporary Turku, and what going on a pilgrimage means to its practitioners. Through cultural historical and study of religions research, the project provides new insights into the phenomenon of pilgrimage and its history in Finland.