Doctoral Dissertations
Digitized Dissertations on DSpace at University of Tartu, starting from 2012.
| 2025 | |||
| Author | Title | Degree | Supervisor(s) |
| Matthew Louis Kalkman | Enlightened Sovereignty: A Postsecular Semiotic "Image of God" | Doctor of Philosophy (Religious Studies) | Associate Professor T.-A. Põder Associate Professor V. Fabbrizi |
| Aleksandra Sooniste | Religious Literacy of Estonian Basic School Graduates | Doctor of Philosophy (Religious Studies) | Associate Professor O. Schihalejev |
| Ago Lilleorg | A Study of Church Growth Using the Example of Estonian Protestant Churches. Formulating a Church Development Strategy | Doctor of Philosophy (Theology) | dr. theol. K. Soom |
| Igor Ahmedov | Kierkegaardian Theology of Education | Doctor of Philosophy (Theology) | Professor A. Kull Professor N. Tubbs |
| Cristina Barcina Pérez | Before Civilization: A Non-Evolutionist History of Community-Making in Southwest Asia | Doctor of Philosophy (Religious Studies) | Associate Professor A. Annus Associate Professor V. Sazonov |
| Amir Vasheghanifarahani | Poetical Features of the Peshitta Psalter: A Comparative Study of the Hebrew and Syriac Psalms | Doctor of Philosophy (Religious Studies) | Professor U. Nõmmik |
| Indrek Linnuste | Exploring the Possibility of Integrating Spirituality into Health Care and Rehabilitation System | Doctor of Philosophy (Religious Studies) | Professor A. Kull |
| 2024 | |||
| Author | Title | Degree | Supervisor(s) |
| Indrek Pekko | Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church in 1991–2015 – Changes, Identity and Theological Orientation | Doctor of Philosophy (Theology) | Associate Professor L. Altnurme Associate Professor P. Rohtmets |
| Rain Soosaar | The Process of Secularization in Rural Communes of Estonia and Latvia (1920-40). Case Studies of Lutheran–Majority Parishes | Doctor of Philosophy (Religious Studies) | Professor R. Altnurme |
| Üllas Linder | Adam Reinhold Schiewe. Biography of the Founder of the First Estonian Baptist Congregation | Doctor of Philosophy (Religious Studies) | Professor T. Lehtsaar |
| 2023 | |||
| Author | Title | Degree | Supervisor(s) |
| Imar Yacine Koutchoukali | "Our ʿirbīt is not like your ʿarabiyya" – Linguistic and socio-political change in late antique South Arabia (550 – 850 AD) | Doctor of Philosophy (Religious Studies) | Associate Professor A. Annus Doctor P. A. Webb Doctor I. Gajda |
| Helen Haas | Alevis in Contemporary Izmir: Imaginaries, Beliefs and Practices regarding Hacı Bektaş Veli | Doctor of Philosophy (Religious Studies) | Doctor E. Süld Professor C. Raudvere |
| Iakov Kadochnikov | Deification of Kings in Ancient Mesopotamia (from III to II Millennium BC) | Doctor of Philosophy (Religious Studies) | Associate Professor A. Annus Professor V. V. Emelianov |
| 2022 | |||
| Author | Title | Degree | Supervisor(s) |
| Helle Kaasik | Sacred Medicine from the Forest: Chemical, Psychological and Spiritual Aspects of Ayahuasca | Doctor of Philosophy (Religious Studies) | Associate Professor L. Altnurme Professor K. Kreegipuu |
| Hedi Vilumaa | Open Communion of the Word and Eucharist. Admission of baptized children and young people to Holy Communion: Contexts and Conceptions in Estonian Lutheran Church 1917– 2005 | Doctor of Philosophy (Religious Studies) | Professor R. Altnurme |
| Ahenkora Siaw Kwakye | Transcendence, as a theme in Theology and technology | Doctor of Philosophy (Theology) | Professor A. Kull |
| 2021 | |||
| Author | Title | Degree | Supervisor(s) |
| Silja Härm | Professional choices of Estonian upper secondary school Religious Education teachers in teaching Religious Education | Doctor of Philosophy (Religious Studies) | Associate Professor O. Schihalejev |
| Triin Käpp | Christian Values Education in Christian Schools and the Role of the Christian Schools in Estonian Society in 21. Century | Doctor of Philosophy (Theology) | Associate Professor O. Schihalejev |
| 2020 | |||
| Author | Title | Degree | Supervisor(s) |
| Tiina-Erika Friedenthal | Quarrels and Disputes Regarding Theatrical Performances in Estonia and Livonia at the End of the 18th and Beginning of the 19th Century | Doctor of Philosophy (Theology) | Associate Professor L. Lukas Associate Professor U. Petti |
| Liina Kilemit | Reasons for Joining Christian Congregations | Doctor of Philosophy (Religious Studies) | Senior Research Fellow L. Altnurme |
| 2019 | |||
| Author | Title | Degree | Supervisor(s) |
| Indrek Peedu | Positioning the Scholar: Issues of Epistemology and Methodology in the Evolutionary Study of Religion | Doctor of Philosophy (Religious Studies) | Lector R. Karo |
| Andreas Johandi | The God Asar/Asalluḫi in the Early Mesopotamian Pantheon | Doctor of Philosophy (Religious Studies) | Professor T. Kulmar Senior Research Fellow Senior Research Fellow V. Sazonov |
| Ege Lepa | The Dynamics of Estonian Islamic Community since the Restoration of Independence | Doctor of Philosophy (Religious Studies) | Professor T. Kulmar Doctor R. Ringvee |
| 2018 | |||
| Author | Title | Degree | Supervisor(s) |
| Liidia Meel | Interdisciplinary Team Based Pastoral Care Model for Estonian Healthcare Institutions | Doctor of Philosophy (Religious Studies) | Professor T. Lehtsaar |
| Marju Lepajõe | Pastors and Written Culture: On the Variations of Christian Humanism in Estonia and Livonia in the First Half of the 17th Century | Doctor of Philosophy (Theology) | Professor A. Kull |
| 2017 | |||
| Author | Title | Degree | Supervisor(s) |
| Liina Eek | Catechesis and Beliefs among Contemporary Estonian-Speaking Orthodox | Doctor of Philosophy (Religious Studies) | Senior Research Fellow L. Altnurme |
| 2016 | |||
| Author | Title | Degree | Supervisor(s) |
| Marko Uibu | Religiosity as cultural toolbox: a study of Estonian new spirituality | Doctor of Philosophy (Religious Studies) | Senior Research Fellow L. Altnurme |
| 2015 | |||
| Author | Title | Degree | Supervisor(s) |
| Erki Lind | The Concept of the Body in Chinese and Indian Bodily Practices: Transformation, Perspective, and Ethics | Doctor of Philosophy (Religious Studies) | Professor T. Kulmar |
| 2014 | |||
| Author | Title | Degree | Supervisor(s) |
| Mart Jaanson | A grammatical, theological and musical analysis of the standard Latin Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed (in Estonian) | Doctor of Philosophy (Theology) | Associate Professor U. Petti Professor M. Humal |
| Elo Süld | Muhammad, der Gesandte Gottes, und Paulus, der Gesandte Christi. Ein Vergleich der Berufungs- und offenbarungsgeschichtlichen Vorstellungen mit Bezug auf die islamische sowie die biblische Tradition | Doctor of Philosophy (Theology) | Doctor P. Roosimaa, Professor S. Schreiner |
| 2013 | |||
| Author | Title | Degree | Supervisor(s) |
| Raul Tiganik | Social control and religion | Doctor of Philosophy (Religious Studies) | Professor A. Kull |
| 2012 | |||
| Author | Title | Degree | Supervisor(s) |
| Maire Latvala | Congregational pastoral care according to the example of four Estonian denominations | Doctor of Philosophy (Theology) | Professor T. Lehtsaar |
| Priit Rohtmets | Theological Factions in the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church 1917–1934 | Doctor of Philosophy (Theology) | Professor R. Altnurme |
| 2011 | |||
| Author | Title | Degree | Supervisor(s) |
| Ain Riistan | The Historical Jesus: the Problem of Science in the Context of Religion | doctor theologiae | Professor A. Kull Professor P. Torop |
| Kaarina Rein | Medicine at the Gymnasium and University of Tartu from 1630 to 1656. Medical Disputations, Orations and their Authors | Doctor of Philosophy (Religious Anthropology) | Doctor A. Tering Professor A.Kull |
| Anu Põldsam | Lazar Gulkowitsch – eine vergessene Stimme der Wissenschaft des Judentums. Seine Tätigkeit, sein Werk und seine Wirkung im zeitgeschichtlichen Kontext | Doctor of Philosophy (Theology) | Professor K. Kasemaa |
| Atko-Sulhan Remmel | Anti-religious struggle in Estonian SSR in 1957–1990. Main institutions and their activities | doctor theologiae | Professor R. Altnurme |
| Ringo Ringvee | State and Religion in Post-Soviet Estonia 1991–2008 | doctor theologiae | Professor T. Kulmar Professor R. Altnurme |
| 2010 | |||
| Author | Title | Degree | Supervisor(s) |
| Piret Lotman | Heinrich Stahl's activities in the Swedish Baltic provinces in the first half of the seventeenth century | doctor theologiae | Professor R. Altnurme |
| Ingmar Kurg | The Perspectives of Ecumenical Evangelization in Europe: a Missiological and Religio-sociological Study | doctor theologiae | Associate Professor U. Petti Professor A. Laats |
| Peeter Espak | The God Enki in Sumerian Royal Ideology and Mythology | Doctor of Philosophy (Theology) | Professor Th. Kämmerer Professor T. Kulmar |
| 2009 | |||
| Author | Title | Degree | Supervisor(s) |
| Roland Karo | Eros & Mysticism. Are Mystical States of Consciousness Evolutionary Byproducts of Sexual Response? | doctor theologiae | Professor A. Kull |
| Olga Schihalejev | Estonian Young People, Religion and Religious Diversity: Personal Views and the Role of the School | doctor theologiae | Associate professor P. Valk Professor R. Jackson |
| Jaan Lahe | Gnosis und Judentum. Alttestamentliche und jüdische Motive in der gnostischen Literatur und das Ursprungsproblem der Gnosis | doctor theologiae | Doctor P. Roosimaa Professor K. Rudolph Doctor H.-G. Bethge |
| 2008 | |||
| Author | Title | Degree | Supervisor(s) |
| Andrei Sõtšov | The Estonian Orthodox Eparchy under the Influence of the Soviet Religious Policies in 1954–1964 | doctor theologiae | Professor R. Altnurme |
| Meelis Friedenthal | The Tractatus moralis de oculo of the Tallinn City Archives | doctor theologiae | Associate Professor U. Petti |
| 2007 | |||
| Author | Title | Degree | Supervisor(s) |
| Veiko Vihuri | Hugo Bernhard Rahamägi, the second Bishop of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church 1934–1939 | doctor theologiae | Professor R. Altnurme |
| Kaido Soom | Adult confirmation in the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church | doctor theologiae | Professor T. Lehtsaar |
| 2006 | |||
| Author | Title | Degree | Supervisor(s) |
| Vasyl Vepruk | Феномен аскетизма в религиозной жизни человечества. Системно-сравнительный анализ модификаций аскезы с позиций Святого Православия | doctor theologiae | Professor T. Kulmar |
| Dace Balode | Gottesdienst in Korinth | PhD (Theology) | Associate Professor P. Roosimaa |
| Aira Võsa | Johann Georg Gichtel - a supporter of the Theosophical Idea in the Early Modern Europe | doctor theologiae | Associate Professor U. Petti |
| Lea Altnurme | From Christianity to own belief. A study about the changes in the religiosity of the Estonians in the 2nd half of the 20th century | doctor theologiae | Professor T. Kulmar |
| 2005 | |||
| Author | Title | Degree | Supervisor(s) |
| Einike Pilli | A Holistic concept of Lifelong learning in the context of Estonian Protestant Churches | doctor theologiae | Professor T. Lehtsaar |
| Tõnis Nõmmik | The Military Chaplain Service in Estonia | doctor theologiae | Professor T. Kulmar |
| 2004 | |||
| Author | Title | Degree | Supervisor(s) |
| Peeter Roosimaa | About the Estonian translations of the New Testament and about exegesis-supporting translating | doctor theologiae | Professor T. Paul Associate Professor A. Kull |
| 2003 | |||
| Author | Title | Degree | Supervisor(s) |
| Pille Valk | The concept of religious education for Estonian schools | doctor theologiae | Professor T. Lehtsaar Professor M. Pyysiäinen |
| Ilmars Hiršs-Iršs | Ein Volk aus Juden und Heiden. Der ekklesiologische Beitrag des Ersten Petrusbriefes zum christlich-jüdischen Gespräch | doctor theologiae | Professor F. Siegert |
| 2000 | |||
| Author | Title | Degree | Supervisor(s) |
| Riho Altnurme | The Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church and the Soviet state, 1944-1949 | doctor theologiae | Professor T. Kulmar Professor M. Lamberijts |
| Arne Hiob | The main features of the philosophy of religion of Uku Masing | doctor theologiae | Professor A. Laats |
| 1997 | |||
| Author | Title | Degree | Supervisor(s) |
| Kalle Kasemaa | About semitic studies and poetics | doctor theologiae | - |
| 1994 | |||
| Author | Title | Degree | Supervisor(s) |
| Tarmo Kulmar | The theology of the earliest stratum of Estonian power, god and soul beliefs | doctor theologiae | Professor J. Puhvel Professor A. Rupp |
| Toomas Paul | The history of Estonian Bible translation. Part I (XVI to XIX century) | doctor theologiae | Member of the Estonian Academy of Sciences J. Kahk |
