Estonian-Latvian doctoral conference in theology and religious studies 2022

The conference of doctoral students in Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Tartu and University of Latvia will be held for the fourth time on 26-27 May.

This year we have the pleasant opportunity to meet again in Pühajärve Spa & Holiday Resort, where the first event in this series took place in 2019. Since then, the past two years of the conference had to be held online. Considering the international mobility of doctoral students, there will be some presentations via Zoom this year as well, but now we have better adapted to such technical solutions.

There are 26 presentations planned (more than ever before), covering a very wide range of research areas.

The presentations traditionally start from ancient Mesopotamia and extend to the religious peculiarities of today's world. Medieval sign language in monasteries, the role of hashish and cannabis in Shivism, the connections between modernist literature and practical magic, and the influences of spirituality and secularism in hip-hop are just a few examples of the exciting research topics. The Lutheran, Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches and theology are also discussed. There are several topics on church history that link Estonia and Latvia as one area of research. All these, and many other topics, are in the process of being formed into doctoral dissertations in Estonia and Latvia.

As part of a common module in the doctoral curricula of Theology and Religious Studies at the universities of Tartu and Latvia, the doctoral conference is a practical exercise in doctoral studies. Doctoral students will give an overview of their progress in their doctoral work, which is also listened to by the supervisors. The spring meeting summarizes the work done during the year.

Estonian-Latvian doctoral conference schedule: