Research Projects

The most relevant and predominant research fields of the recent period include the history of ancient Middle-Eastern religions, science and religion, Estonian church history, and modern religious trends. Cooperation is supported by the Research Group on the History of Church and Religion in Estonia and the Collegium of Science and Religion, both founded at the theological faculty. In addition to these main research areas, notable contributions have been made in the study of the Old and New Testaments, psychology of religion, the study of Inca religion, Islamic studies, Judaic studies, classical systematic theology, practical theology, and religious education.

International cooperation projects

Title   Principal investigator  Years Financing institution
Religion and Gender Equality: Baltic and Nordic Developments (ETIS, Web page) Anne Kull 2021-2023 EAA and Norway Grants
Religious Toleration and Peace (ETIS)
Web page
Lea Altnurme 2018-2022 Horisont 2020
Tackling Sensitive Issues in Classroom (SensiClass) (ETIS, Web page) Elo Süld 2019-2022 Erasmus+
Understanding Unbelief in Estonia (ETIS) Atko Remmel 2018-2019 John Templeton Foundation
Cultural and religious diversity in primary school (Web page) Olga Schihalejev 2014-2017 Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies

 

Title Principal investigator Years Financing institution
Teaching Religion and Thinking Education at the Baltic-Barent Brim (Web page) Olga Schihalejev 2010-2014 Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies
Religion in biocultural paradigm Anne Kull 2009-2013 Metanexus Institute
Religion in Education. A contribution to Dialogue or a factor of Conflict in transforming societies of European Countries (ETIS) Pille Valk † 2006-2009 European Commission FP6
Churches and European Integration Riho Altnurme 2001-2004 European Commission FP5


 

 

 

National research grants

Title  Principal investigator  Years  Financing institution
Orthodoxy as solidarity: an examination of popular and conciliar Orthodoxy in the Baltic provinces and independent Estonia, 1890s-1930s (ETIS) Irina Paert 2021-2026 Estonian Research Council
Methodological and Theoretical Foundations for Cross-disciplinary Cooperation and Compatibility in the Study of Religion (ETIS) Indrek Peedu 2021-2023 Estonian Research Council
The Emergence of the Biblical Book of Job on the Backdrop of the so-called Job Literature (ETIS) Urmas Nõmmik 2020-2024 Estonian Research Council
Compilation of a book on the history of Estonian-Japanese relations (ETIS)     Elo Süld  2020-2021 Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Seeing Through Numbers: Counting and Mapping Religious Communities in the Baltic Provinces, 1840-1914 (ETIS) Catherine Helen Gibson 2019-2021 Estonian Research Council
Forms of Creativity in the Intellectual History of Ancient Mesopotamia (ETIS) Amar Annus 2017-2020 Estonian Research Council
Altar and classroom: the Orthodox schools in the Baltic provinces 1870-1914 (ETIS) Irina Paert 2014-2017 Estonian Research Council
The Ancient Near Eastern Creation Mythology and the Structural Developments of the Pantheon: Diachronical Analysis from the Earliest Sources to the First Dynasty of Babylon (ETIS) Peeter Espak 2014-2017 Estonian Research Council

 

Title   

Principal investigator Years   Financing institution
Orthodoxy as solidarity: an examination of popular and conciliar Orthodoxy in the Baltic provinces and independent Estonia, 1890s-1930s (ETIS) Irina Paert 2021 Estonian Research Council
Secularisation (de-institutionalisation and de-Christianisation): Religion in Estonia from the Modern Period to the Present (ETIS) Riho Altnurme 2011–2016 Ministry of Education and Research

Contextual factors of young people's attitudes and convictions in relation to religion and religious diversity (ETIS)

Olga Schihalejev

2012-2015

Estonian Research Council

Formal and Theological Markers of Religious Groups in the Late Old Testament and Related Literature (ETIS)

Urmas Nõmmik

2012-2015

Estonian Research Council
A Religious Studies research group participated in the Centre of Excellence in Cultural Theory (ETIS) Pille Valk, Anne Kull, Riho Altnurme   2008-2015 Archimedes Foundation
Mapping and Research of the Historical-Cultural Heritage of the Estonian Exile Churches (ETIS 1234)   Riho Altnurme 2010-2014 Ministry of Education and Research

War and Religion in Near Eastern Cultures: Development of the Concept of Holy War from the Earliest Mesopotamian Cultures to Modern Day Islam (ETIS)

Thomas Kämmerer

2008-2009, 2011

Estonian Research Council

The relations between religion and the state in early totalitarian society  (ETIS)

Tarmo Kulmar

2006-2009

Estonian Research Council
The Relations between the Church and the State in Estonia in the 20th Century (ETIS) Riho Altnurme

2006-2009

Estonian Research Council
Cultural interactions and religious influences in the Near East and the Mediterranean region in the first millennium BC  (ETIS)

Amar Annus

2006-2009

Estonian Research Council

Early Christianity in the Context of the Late Antiquity and its Impact on Today (ETIS)

Peeter Roosimaa

2006-2009

Estonian Research Council

Theology in Tartu in the 19th Century: The Role of Theological Faculty of the Imperial University of Tartu in Estonian Church and Cultural History (ETIS)

Urmas Petti †

2005-2008

Estonian Research Council
Religiosity Dynamics in Civilisation (ETIS) Kalle Kasemaa  2004-2007 Ministry of Education and Research

Theoretical and Practical Problems of Religious Education in Estonian Schools (ETIS)

Pille Valk †

2004-2007

Estonian Research Council

Religion in totalitarian states of ancient and medieval times

Tarmo Kulmar

2003-2005

Estonian Research Council

Structure and development of theological and religious vocabulary in Estonian

Siret Rutiku

2002-2005

Estonian Research Council

History of Estonian theological thought

Riho Altnurme

2002-2005

Estonian Research Council
Religion ja totalitarism in Estonian recent histrory   Tarmo Kulmar  2003-2004  Ministry of Education and Research

Homiletics in the perspective of communication theory

Tõnu Lehtsaar

2002-2004

Estonian Research Council

Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church and the Soviet state 1950–1969 

Riho Altnurme

2001-2004

Estonian Research Council
Socio-cultural functions of religion  Kalle Kasemaa 1998-2003 Ministry of Education and Research

Development of a modern concept of religious education for Estonian general education schools

Pille Valk †

2001-2002

Estonian Research Council

The role of religion in ancient totalitarian states (based on the example of the Inca state)

Tarmo Kulmar

2001-2002

Estonian Research Council

Proportional attitudes: attributed objectivity

Jaan Kivistik

2000-2001

Estonian Research Council

Christology in Lutheran and Eastern Orthodox theology

Alar Laats

1999-2002

Estonian Research Council

The history and modern influence of the Dorpat school of the psychology of religion

Tõnu Lehtsaar

1999-2000

Estonian Research Council

Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church and the Soviet state 1944–1949

Riho Altnurme

1999-2000

Estonian Research Council

Development of a methodology of pastoral diagnostics

Tõnu Lehtsaar

1997-1998

Estonian Research Council

The structure and development of the religion of ancient Peru from the Chavin culture to the beginning of the 16th century

Tarmo Kulmar

1996-1997

Estonian Research Council

Changes in Estonian religion through communication with Indo-European nations

Tarmo Kulmar

1994

Estonian Research Council

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University grants

Title     Principal investigator Years  
Ofthodoxy as Solidarity: an exarnination of popular and conciliar Orthodoxy (the case-study of the Baltic provinces and independent Estonia, 1891-1940 in a comparative perspective) (ETIS) Irina Paert 2019-2020

 

Title    Principal investigator Years 
Scientific heritage Uku Masing's and Arthur Võõbus' scientific heritage  Urmas Nõmmik, Amar Annus 2011-2015

Religious dimension  of societal and cultural processes in Estonian recent history

Riho Altnurme 2009-2010
Dialogue of religion and science Anne Kull 2006-2007

 

 

 

Privately funded Estonian grants  

Title  Principal investigator Years Financing institution
An effect of mindfulness-based intervention of Silent Minutes on the students of secondary school: their capacity of attention, difficulties in emotion regulation, behavior and level of stress (ETIS) Kristel Põder 2018-2020 MTÜ Vaikuseminutid
Replenishment of basic definitions in the glossary of religious studies (ETIS) Tarmo Kulmar 2017 Estonian Association for Applied Linguistics

 

Title Principal investigator Years    Financing institution

History of Estonian Ecumenism 

Riho Altnurme 2007-2009 Estonian Council of Churches

 

ESITIS

ESITIS 2024 "Methodologies and Ideologies in Interreligious Engagement: Building Bridges in a Multipolar World"

Doctoral defence: Imar Yacine Koutchoukali ""Our ʿirbīt is not like your ʿarabiyya" – Linguistic and socio-political change in late antique South Arabia (550 – 850 AD)"

On 8 December at 14:15 Imar Yacine Koutchoukali will defend his doctoral thesis "Our ʿirbīt is not like your ʿarabiyya" – Linguistic and Socio-Political Change in Late Antique South Arabia (550 – 850 AD)" for obtaining the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (in Religious Studies).
raamatud ja lambipirn

Books edited by Riho Altnurme are now available in a cheaper paperback version