PhD Workshop: Critical Approaches in the Study of Religions – Methodology and Materiality

The Department of Ethnology, History of Religions and Gender Studies and the Department of Teaching and Learning at Stockholm University invites PhD students to a two-day interdisciplinary workshop on methodological and critical approaches to materiality in the broader study of religions.

The workshop brings together doctoral students and Swedish and international scholars to explore how attention to objects, bodies, spaces, collections, heritage, visual culture, and digital environments can contribute to the critical and comparative study of religion. Materiality will be approached not only as an empirical field of study but as a critical category that raises broader methodological and theoretical questions for research on religion.

The programme combines keynote lectures with intensive discussion of doctoral research. Confirmed speakers include Aaron Hughes (History of Religions, University of Rochester/Stockholm University), Gro Ween (Anthropology, University of Oslo/Museum of Cultural History), and Jonas Svensson (Study of Religions, Linnaeus University). Their contributions address critical approaches to materiality, Sámi Indigenous objects and museums, and AI-augmented research methods.

Doctoral workshops

PhD papers will be discussed in small thematic groups organized around three broad areas:

• Objects, Relics, and Embodiment
• Museums, Heritage, and Collections
• Methods, Theory, and Digital Approaches

Participants will circulate a draft paper in advance and discuss their research in a small workshop group. Each paper will receive feedback from a senior respondent and a peer discussant. The workshop concludes with a plenary discussion on materiality as a critical category in the study of religions and on future methodological and interdisciplinary research directions.
The workshop is intended as advanced doctoral training. It aims to strengthen participants’ methodological awareness, their ability to critically assess analytical categories and provide scholarly feedback, and their capacity to position their research within international and interdisciplinary debates on materiality.

Who can apply?

We welcome applications from PhD students across the humanities and related disciplines. Projects do not need to have material religion as their primary focus. We particularly encourage applications from doctoral students interested in exploring how materiality, broadly understood, may raise methodological or theoretical questions relevant to their research.
PhD students within the Humanities Faculty Graduate School at Stockholm University will be given priority. PhD students from other Swedish and international universities are warmly encouraged to apply.

Application

Please submit an application in the form of an abstract of approximately 200–300 words, briefly presenting your doctoral project, the paper or research problem you would like to discuss, and its relevance to the workshop theme. Please also include a short author bio and your email address, and the thematic area in which you would prefer your paper to be discussed.

Deadline for abstracts
Monday 5 October 2026

Notification of acceptance
Friday 9 October 2026

Deadline for circulation of papers
Monday 9 November 2026

Please send applications and questions to Susanne Olsson, Professor of History of Religions, Stockholm University: susanne.olsson@rel.su.se

Practical information

Dates
Thursday–Friday, 19–20 November 2026

Venue
Stockholm University

Preliminary times
Thursday 09:00–17:30, followed by a workshop dinner; Friday 09:00–17:00

Participation is free of charge. Lunches on both days and the workshop dinner are provided. Participants are responsible for their own travel and accommodation costs.

Organisers

The workshop is organised by Jenny Berglund (Religious Education), Emmanouela Grypeou (History of Religions), Lotten Gustafsson Reinius (Ethnology/Nordic Museum), Susanne Olsson (History of Religions), and Fredrik Wallenstein (History of Religions), Stockholm University.