Fields of Research
These pages intend to give an overview of the main fields of research at the School of Theology and Religious Studies.
Currently there are four main fields of study at the school. Each of these study fields has multiple faculty members working on it together with PhD students.
In addition to these fields of research, several other topics have also received some attention – such as Old Testament studies, protestant systematic theology, and the study of religious education in schools to mention some of the more notable. However, the majority of research at the school has been done on the following main topics.
Estonian church history has been a very important field of study at the school since the early 20th century. Latterly, research has mostly focused on the 20th century – largely because during the Soviet era there were limited opportunities for this. Main research questions have dealt with the relationship between churches and the state and society. Various grants have supported research in this field. Read more…
The contemporary religious trends research field principally focuses on religious and spiritual developments in present-day Estonia. This includes both global trends with their local versions as well as original local phenomena. The researchers observe emergent phenomena in new religious or spiritual groups, as well as changes taking place in traditional religious organisations. Read more…
Ancient Near Eastern studies is a research field with a long history at the School of Theology and Religious Studies. However, it has experienced a particular resurgence in the past few decades. The cornerstone of Ancient Near Eastern studies is the study of texts and artefacts; therefore, the main emphasis of teaching is on culturally important languages. Read more…
Religion and Science has been one of the main research fields at the School of Theology and Religious Studies since the beginning of the 21st century. Main research questions in this field deal with the relationship of religion and science, as well as on the neurological, technological, and philosophical aspects of this relationship. Read more…
In addition, there are several research groups that are related to the school. The Research Group for the History of Church and Religion in Estonia has mostly united Estonian church historians, but scholars of contemporary religious practices have also actively collaborated with them. The Collegium of Science and Religion organises annual spring schools for Masters students and occasionally other seminars and events for PhD students and others. The Arthur Vööbus Centre of Near Eastern Studies is a recently established centre, which aims to foster competence in Oriental Christianity, Early Christianity, patristics, and the textual history of the Bible at the University of Tartu.
There has also been a significant amount of cooperation and research into religious education at public schools.