About us
The Inez and Julius Polin Institute is an arena for high-quality, relevant, and internationally interesting theological research at Åbo Akademi University. We strive to be locally anchored but with a clear Nordic and international outlook.
Being locally anchored means that we operate within Åbo Akademi University’s strategic framework, which means, for instance, that we provide an open Swedish-language environment for high-quality research and studies. It also means that we create and maintain a purely physical research environment at Åbo Akademi University. Although the research is always international and tested against international norms and standards, we want to preserve a research environment where researchers from different theological subjects and specialisms can develop in close co-operation with each other.
Working within Åbo Akademi University’s strategic framework also means that we consciously support theological research that is innovative, groundbreaking, cross-border, and preferably interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary, based on the conditions of theological research. Our vision is to contribute to the development of high-quality and internationally respected research through collaboration and interaction.
The activities of the Inez and Julius Polin Institute are based on time-limited and thus flexible elements. Although the institute can support theological research projects and networks that involve researchers and research environments both at Åbo Akademi University and at other universities – national or international – the projects must always have their basis in theology at Åbo Akademi University. The institute may also announce post-doctoral and senior temporary positions on the same terms. These positions are open to both national and international researchers but are always linked to the local operating environment.
The strategy for The Polin Institute can be found here.
If you’re interested in theology and religion with an emphasis on research and studies at Åbo Akademi University, join our mailing list, which is open to anyone who’s interested. Write to polinkoordinator@abo.fi to ask for your e-mail address to be added to the list.
Mika Vähäkangas, ThD,
Head of Research
Tfn 02 2154224, 050 4733523
mika.vahakangas@abo.fi
I’m originally a systematic theologian with a focus on African Christian theology. Alongside my studies in theology, I’ve also studied African research. Through this, empiricism and fieldwork have come into the frame. Over the years, I’ve also looked at issues relating to mission theology, ecumenism – especially in the majority world (formerly the third world) – and relationships between the Christian faith and cultures or politics. I’m now working with questions relating to Kimbanguist theology (there are around 20 million Kimbanguists, and this church originating in the Congo was kicked out of the World Council of Churches in 2021). I will also start working with questions relating to Christian identity in Finland. Among other roles, I’ve previously worked as a lecturer in systematic theology at the Makumira campus at Tumaini University in Tanzania and as a professor in mission studies with ecumenics at Lund University. My most recent books are Context, Plurality, and Truth: Theology in World Christianities (monograph), Faith in African Lived Christianity: Bridging Anthropological and Theological Perspectives (co-edited with Karen Lauterbach), and Contextual Theology: Skills and Practices of Liberating Faith (co-edited with Sigurd Bergmann).
Mika Vähäkangass publications →
Laura Wickström, MA, MSSc,
Co-ordinator for The Polin Institute
Tfn 02 215 3578, 050 440 8578
polinkoordinator@abo.fi
My research is on the connection between Islam and ecology. The aim is to present Islamic ecological perspectives and their distribution and areas of activity, as well as key stakeholders. Among other topics, I’ve been interested in how ecotheology has developed within Islam and how the social system affects environmentally friendly practice. The primary theoretical perspective is religio-sociological, with special regard for legal development, urbanisation, and global change. Four central themes in the thesis are transnationalism, social movements, ecology and religion, and religiousness and secularism. The material primarily consists of literature studies and field research, which I collected mainly in Turkey and Lebanon. In Turkey, I concentrated on interviewing representatives from civil society, the ruling political party, and religious leaders. In Lebanon, I worked as a research co-ordinator for the Finnish Institute in the Middle East (FIME) in 2015 and 2016.
Laura Wickströms publications →2018–2021:
Anni Maria Laato, ThD, MA,
Associate Professor, Director 2018-2021
As the director of The Polin Institute between 2018 and 2021, I led, developed, and supervised the institute’s day-to-day operations in accordance with the guidelines of the executive board. As the institute’s director, I provided information about its activities.
My primary research interests can be split into two groups: the theology and life of the early church from different points of view, and modern theology of religion and ecumenism. My doctoral thesis, Jews and Christians in De duobus montibus Sina et Sion, dealt with the relationship between Jews and Christians in a Latin text from 2nd-century Africa. I then continued to research the same theme in texts from the antiquity to the present, right up to modern religious theology. Other themes that I have published on include the women of the early church and their theology, biblical interpretation in the early church, the office of the deacon, and the doctrine of the church both in patristic times and in modern ecumenical discussion. I’m part of the UNIPAR network (Between Universalism and Particularism: The Reception of Abraham and Jacob Stories in Jewish and Christian Writings) and SRB (Studies in the Reception History of the Bible).
Anni Maria Laatos publications →
Mikael Lindfelt, Professor,
Chair of the Executive Board, 2018-2021
Professor Mikael Lindfelt was chair of The Polin Institute’s executive board between 2018 and 2021. He led planning and development efforts at The Polin Institute. These efforts included operational and budget planning, and he was also responsible for the institute’s activities and their academic quality.
The emphasis of my own research profile is on research in theological ethics, the philosophy of religion, and research on the theological outlook on life. My primary personal interests are how theological and ethical outlooks on life illuminate contemporary issues. The topics that I have focused on in particular are sport (in the crossroads of theology, ethics, philosophy, and understanding of religion) and relational, sexuality, and marriage theology issues, as well as topics such as professional ethics, research ethics, secularisation, and communicative ethics.
Mikael Lindfelts publications →