School of Theology and Religious Studies

Ülikooli 18
50090 Tartu linn,
Tartu linn, Tartumaa
EST
+372 737 5300
strukt.usuteaduskond@lists.ut.ee
Roland Karo
Roland Karo
Head of School
dr. theol.
+372 737 5962

Research interests:

  • systematic theology,
  • science-and-religion dialogue in general and the neuropsychology of religion and ritual behavior in particular,
  • neuropsychological links between human sexuality and spirituality.

CV and list of publications in Estonian Research Information System

Priit Rohtmets
Priit Rohtmets
Vice Head of School
PhD (Theology)

Research interests:

  • Estonian, Baltic, and Scandinavian church history in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries,
  • state-church relations,
  • the history of Orthodox Churches in the Baltic states and in the Balkans,
  • the relationship between nationalism and religion in Northern Europe,
  • the ecumenical movement in the Baltic states and Scandinavia. 

CV and list of publications in Estonian Research Information System

Kairi Ots
Kairi Ots
Coordinator 0.8 p
+372 737 5301
Ülikooli 18-310
Angela Aav
Angela Aav
Academic Affairs Specialist
+372 737 5300
Ülikooli 18-310
Riho Altnurme
Riho Altnurme
Professor of Church History
dr. theol.
+372 5344 1310
Ülikooli 18-312

Research interests:

  • history of theology in Estonia,
  • methodology and historiography of church history,
  • secularization,
  • interconfessional relations combined with national(ist) ideas,
  • Lutheran-Orthodox-Roman Catholic relations,
  • Baltic German heritage in Estonian context.

CV and list of publications in Estonian Research Information System

Irina Paert
Irina Paert
Associate Professor of Orthodox Church History
PhD (History)
Priit Rohtmets
Priit Rohtmets
Associate Professor of Church History
PhD (Theology)

Research interests:

  • Estonian, Baltic, and Scandinavian church history in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries,
  • state-church relations,
  • the history of Orthodox Churches in the Baltic states and in the Balkans,
  • the relationship between nationalism and religion in Northern Europe,
  • the ecumenical movement in the Baltic states and Scandinavia. 

CV and list of publications in Estonian Research Information System

James Matthew White
Research Fellow in Church History
PhD

Research interests:

  • history of the Orthodox Church in imperial Russia, inter-war Estonia, and the Soviet Union,
  • history of the Old Believers and edinoverie,
  • history of confessional pluralism and diversity,
  • history of freedom of conscience and religious toleration,
  • history of the Estonian Swedes.

CV and list of publications in Estonian Research Information System

 

inimene
Liina Eek
Research Fellow in Church History 0.15 p
PhD (Religious Studies)

Research interests:

  • sociological studies of religion in the contemporary Estonian Orthodox Church,
  • conciliarity (sobornost) in the contemporary Estonian Orthodox Church.

CV and publications in Estonian Research Information System

Alison Ruth Kolosova
Alison Ruth Kolosova
Research Fellow in Church History 0.5 p
PhD (Theology)

Research interests: 

  • Orthodox church history and theology,
  • history of the Russian Orthodox Church, particularly among Russia’s non-Slavic peoples in the imperial period,
  • intercultural theology,
  • interfaith dialogue,
  • missiology,
  • ecumenical relations.

CV and list of publications in Estonian Research Information System

Rahel Toomik
Rahel Toomik
Junior Research Fellow in Theology
MA (Theology)
Ülikooli 18-309A

Research interests:

  • Academic literature of Tartu University in the Early Modern Era,
  • Neo-Latin language and rhetoric,
  • Intellectual history and textual hermeneutics.

CV and list of publications in Estonian Research Information System

Madli Sepper
Madli Sepper
Junior Research Fellow in Religious Studies 0.66 p
MA (Native Crafts)

Research interests:

  • Orthodox ecclesiastical and liturgical textiles,
  • Christ Epitaphioi in Estonian Orthodox Churches.

CV and list of publications in Estonian Research Information System

Anne Kull
Anne Kull
Professor of Systematic Theology
PhD (Theology)
+372 737 5964
Ülikooli 18-314

Research interests:

  • contemporary theology,
  • science-and-religion,
  • philosophies of religion and science,
  • intercultural theology and interreligious studies,
  • gender studies,
  • theological anthropology. 

CV and list of publications in Estonian Research Information System

Roland Karo
Roland Karo
Lecturer in Systematic Theology
dr. theol.
+372 737 5962
Ülikooli 18-314

Research interests:

  • systematic theology,
  • science-and-religion dialogue in general and the neuropsychology of religion and ritual behavior in particular,
  • neuropsychological links between human sexuality and spirituality.

CV and list of publications in Estonian Research Information System

inimene
Enn Kasak
Visiting Lecturer
cand (Physics-Mathematics)

Research interests:

  • philosophy of science,
  • religiosity in science,
  • dialogue between science and religion,
  • pragmaticist approach to reality.

CV and list of publications in Estonian Research Information System

Viktar Niachayeu
Viktar Niachayeu
Junior Research Fellow in Theology
MA (Intercultural Theology)
Ülikooli 18-309A

Research interests:

  • general, systematic and practical Christian theology, 
  • connection between Christian theology and positive/existential psychology,
  • Eastern and Western Christian asceticism and spirituality in modern application. 

CV and list of publications in Estonian Research Information System

Lea Altnurme
Lea Altnurme
Associate Professor of Sociology of Religion
dr. theol.
Ülikooli 18-312

Research interests:

  • religiosity of Estonians in history and today,
  • religious trends in the western cultural space in the 21st century. 

CV and list of publications in Estonian Research Information System

Olga Schihalejev
Olga Schihalejev
Associate Professor of Religious Education
dr. theol.
Ülikooli 18-312

Research interests:

  • didactics of religious education,
  • values of education in schools more broadly, and issues related to cultural and religious diversity in schools from the perspective of both learners and teachers.

CV and list of publications in Estonian Research Information System

Kaido Soom
Kaido Soom
Lecturer in Practical Theology
dr. theol.
+372 5662 0334
Ülikooli 18-312

Research interests:

  • practical theology,
  • analysis of confirmation and sociological research on the Christian worldview,
  • analysis of Christian worship and the process of liturgical renewal in the Lutheran Church.

CV and list of publications in Estonian Research Information System

inimene
Robert Bunder
Junior Research Fellow in Theology
MA (Theology)

Research interests: 

  • practical and systematic theology,
  • Christian faith and practice in modern society,
  • Lutheran identity and developments in Lutheran theology,
  • different forms and factions of Christianity.

CV and list of publications in Estonian Research Information System

Pille-Riin Makilla
Pille-Riin Makilla
Junior Research Fellow in Didactics of Humanities
MA (Religious Education)

Research interests:

  • methodology and didactics of humanities and social studies,
  • teaching of sensitive and controversial topics,
  • students' experiences with sensitive and controversial learning content. 
CV and list of publications in Estonian Research Information System
 
Tõnu Lehtsaar
Tõnu Lehtsaar
Professor of Psychology of Religion (employment contract suspended) 0.8 p
PhD (Psychology of Religion)
+372 502 3626 (3626)

Research interests:

  • psychology of religion,
  • pastoral psychology,
  • psychology of interpersonal conflict and public speaking,
  • psychology of pastoral counseling.

CV and list of publications in Estonian Research Information System

Ain Riistan
Ain Riistan
Lecturer in New Testament, Programme Director
dr. theol. (Theology)
Ülikooli 18-309A

Research interests:

  • interpretation of the Early Christian texts from the perspective of cultural analysis,
  • interaction of religion and society.

CV and list of publications in Estonian Research Information System

 

Ergo Naab
Ergo Naab
Research Fellow in New Testament 0.5 p
PhD (Studies of Cultures)
Ülikooli 18-309A

Research interests:

  • New Testament exegesis, hermeneutics and theology,
  • socio-historical and ideological studies of New Testament literature,
  • pseudepigraphic literature of the late Second Temple period.

CV and list of publications in Estonian Research Information System

Urmas Nõmmik
Urmas Nõmmik
Professor of Old Testament and Semitic Studies
dr.theol.habil.
+372 737 5962
+372 503 6326
Ülikooli 18-309

Research interests:

  • form history of the Ancient Hebrew and West Semitic literature (wisdom, psalms, prophetic literature, narratives),
  • history of traditions and religion of Ancient Israel in the first and second temple periods,
  • exegesis, hermeneutics and theology of the Old Testament / Hebrew Bible,
  • literary, form and reception history of the Book of Job.

CV and list of publications in Estonian Research Information System

Amar Annus
Amar Annus
Associate Professor of Near Eastern Religions
PhD
Ülikooli 18-309

Research interests:

  • Semitic philology,
  • folkloristics,
  • the comparative study of ancient narratives,
  • the ideological and cultural aspects of ancient Near Eastern societies, 
  • anthropology,
  • evolutionary psychology,
  • cognitive science of religion, which approaches he aspires to apply alongside with traditional philology in the study of historical texts,
  • cognitive historiography.

CV and list of publications in Estonian Research Information system

Anu Põldsam
Anu Põldsam
Lecturer in Jewish Studies
PhD (Theology)
Ülikooli 18-309

Research interests:

  • history of Jewish ideas and identity and Jewish ethics,
  • religion in modern-day Israel,
  • history of Jewish ideas in 19th century,
  • religious and cultural life of the Estonian Jewish community in the first half of the 20th century,
  • reception history of the biblical book of Job in early rabbinic literature.

CV and list of publications in Estonian Research Information System

Andreas Johandi
Andreas Johandi
Research Fellow in Near Eastern Religions
PhD (Religious Studies)
Ülikooli 18-309

Research interests:

  • religious history of the ancient Near Eastern region,
  • the early (pre-Hammurapi) Mesopotamian pantheon with a focus on the deities of magic and healing,
  • parallels between the Old Testament and the ancient Near Eastern literatures,
  • the religions and history of ancient and modern Iran. 

CV and list of publications in Estonian Research Information System

Jason Van Boom
Jason Cronbach Van Boom
Visiting Research Fellow
MA (Philosophy)

Research interests:

  • Semiotics of Abrahamic religions, with a focus on Judaism and Eastern Orthodox Christianity;
  • modeling information dynamics within Jewish and other communities, considered as semiospheres; 
  • Semiotics of Jewish identity, especially in terms of individual agency navigating within and among semiospheres;
  • Juri Lotman and C.S. Peirce studies.
Sander Tulk
Sander Tulk
Junior Research Fellow in Theology
MA
Ülikooli 18-309A

Research interests:

  • exegesis, hermeneutics, and theology of the Old Testament / Hebrew Bible,
  • the development, form, and interpretation history of the Books of Jonah and Joel,
  • the influence of linguistic and literary studies methods on reading Old Testament narratives.

CV and list of publications in Estonian Research Information System

Kristin Klaus
Junior Research Fellow in Religious Studies 0.5 p
MA (Classical Philology)
Ülikooli 18-309A

Research interests:

  • classical philology (Ancient Greek and Latin),
  • the style and poetry of the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible (Septuagint),
  • Old Greek Job.
CV and list of publications in Estonian Research Information System
Atko Remmel
Atko-Sulhan Remmel
Associate Professor of Religious Studies
dr. theol.
Ülikooli 18-313

Research interests:

  • intellectual history and sociology of religion,
  • Soviet antireligious policy and atheist propaganda,
  • secularization,
  • historical and contemporary forms of religion and nonreligiosity,
  • changes in the religious landscape,
  • and the junctions of (non)religion and nationalism, and (non)religion and nature.

CV and list of publications in Estonian Research Information System

jaan lahe
Jaan Lahe
Associate Professor of Religious Studies 0.2 p
dr. theol.

Research interests:

  • Religious history of the Roman empire,
  • so called oriental cults in the Roman empire,
  • cult of Mithras,
  • gnosticism.

CV and list of publications in Estonian Research Information System

Elo Süld
Elo Süld
Lecturer in Islamic Studies 0.5 p
PhD (Theology)
Ülikooli 18-308

Research interests:

  • historical and present-day context of Islam,
  • the diversity problems in Islamic countries,
  • Islamophobia in Estonia.

CV and list of publications in Estonian Research Information System

Erki Lind
Erki Lind
Lecturer in Religious Studies
PhD (Religious Studies)
Ülikooli 18-308

Research interests:

  • religious concepts of the human body,
  • the relations between verbal and physical expressions of religiosity, and areas of cultural contact. This may involve historical contacts between people with different religious backgrounds, as well as overlapping of vernacular and literary cultures in texts and practices, which offer different perspectives for viewing the world.

CV and list of publications in Estonian Research Information System

Indrek Peedu
Indrek Peedu
Lecturer in Religious Studies
PhD (Religious Studies)
Ülikooli 18-308

Research interests:

  • Method and Theory in the Study of Religion,
  • Evolutionary and Cognitive Sciences of Religion,
  • Intellectual history of Social, Cultural and Religious Evolutionism,
  • History of the Study of Religion.

CV and list of publications in Estonian Research Information System

Reyhaneh Ghoroghchian
Reyhaneh Ghoroghchian
Junior Research Fellow in Religious Studies
MA (Folkloristics and Applied Heritage Studies)

Research interests:

  • folklore and religious syncretism,
  • the influence of pre-Islamic traditions on modern Iranian religious practices,
  • the relationship between vernacular beliefs and Islamic orthodoxy in Iran.

CV and list of publications in Estonian Research Information System

Elo Süld
Elo Süld
Head of Centre
PhD (Theology)
Ülikooli 18-308

Research interests:

  • historical and present-day context of Islam,
  • the diversity problems in Islamic countries,
  • Islamophobia in Estonia.

CV and list of publications in Estonian Research Information System

inimene
Kikee Doma Bhutia
Research Fellow in Asian Studies
PhD (Folklore)
Ülikooli 20-315

Research interests:

  • institutional Buddhism's symbiosis,
  • the Himalayan region's indigenous belief system,
  • vernacular religious practices,
  • importance of vernacular symbols in redefining and understanding the perspective of different communities and ideas of belonging,
  • the role of religion and culture on the broader social conflict,
  • foreign policymaking within the transnational framework of the politics of globalization,
  • conceptualization of national identity.

CV and list of publications in Estonian Research Information System

Helen Haas
Helen Haas
Research Fellow in Middle Eastern Studies 0.375 p, Middle East Coordinator 0.3 p
PhD (Religious Studies)
Ülikooli 18-308
inimene
Anastasia Sinitsyna
Research Fellow in Asian Studies
PhD (Economics)

Research interests:

  • globalization and labor market adjustments to global structural shocks,
  • migration and economic and social integration of immigrants,
  • digitalization and new ways of work, including growth of remote work, rise of coworking spaces and increasing flexibility of work.

CV and list of publications in Estonian Research Information System

Evelyn Pihla
Evelyn Pihla
Head of Communication and Administration 0.6 p
MA (Information and Knowledge Management)
+372 5615 8017
+372 737 6380
Ülikooli 20-315