PhD students

Elli Barsnes, MTh,
Doctoral student in systematic theology.

How does that which we consider beautiful shape our perceptions of what we deem true? In my thesis, I investigate this from a theoretical and theological perspective by examining the relationship between these two concepts, ‘beauty’ and ‘truth.’ My research is based on the American Orthodox theologian and author David Bentley Hart (1965-). I clarify, interpret, and evaluate Hart’s theology of ‘God’s beauty as truth’ as an example of an influential (post)postmodern Christian perspective on truth. My project contributes to the discussion on the significance of theological aesthetics in the matter of truth and understanding of reality in a postmodern cultural context.

Sara Högberg, Mth,
Doctoral student in practical theology

Being a menstruating Christian woman in the developed world means living with one’s menstrual cycle and religious experience in an environment of multiple narratives about women, bodies, and Christianity. In my thesis, I shed light on this complex world of experience by examining the intersection between the menstrual cycle and religiosity. The research project is designed as a case study in the Finnish-Swedish Protestant context, with a focus on women’s lived experiences. I work empirically with interviews and other innovative and more day-to-day methods to delve deep into the informants’ experiences and dig into the cyclical nature of the research topic. The purpose of my research is to contribute to an expanded understanding of the interaction between the menstrual cycle and the religious interpretation of life.

Simon Johansson, MTh,
Doctoral student in Old Testament exegesis

The research project I have the opportunity to devote myself to takes place at the intersection of three exciting areas: the Book of Isaiah, pneumatology, and reception history. I study how texts in the Book of Isaiah that address the spirit of God/YHWH (e.g. Isaiah 11:1-5; 42:1-4; 61:1ff.) have been received, translated, interpreted, and used in early Christian and Jewish contexts up to and including the second century AD. The purpose is, among other things, to improve knowledge about how early Christian and Jewish pneumatology developed, as well as to show the ways in which Christian interpretations are dependent on earlier Jewish interpretations. My work is part of a larger project – Isaiah in the borderland between the Jewish and the Christian – which you can read more about here.

Mikael Nilsson,
Doctoral student in systematic theology

My research interests mainly concern public theology, theological anthropology, social ill health, healing, and bullying in the workplace. In my research, I develop a systematic theological contribution to the interdisciplinary field of research that deals with bullying in the workplace. The aim of the project is to develop a new understanding of the ill health that can follow from social exclusion and to thereby propose guidelines for appropriate healing processes for vulnerable people. In my research, people who have been bullied at work speak about their experiences through stories and interviews. I also use theological resources to develop a deeper understanding of experiences of social ill health and healing. In this context, theological perspectives on issues such as human relationality, vulnerability/healability, exposure to sin, memories, and stories.

Daniel Mladenovic, Mth,
Doctoral student in church history

My research project studies the monarchy’s claim to power and communication with the intention of describing how royal power takes on content and form in two different Protestant traditions between 1780 and 1830. Specifically, it deals with how the legitimacy of the monarchy’s power is constructed and conveyed to the population via the church in Sweden and the United Kingdom at a time when new currents of ideas and freedom-inspired ideals challenge prevailing religious and political traditions. With this, the thesis seeks to specify the degree to which the Anglican and Evangelical Lutheran churches differ, based on their respective Protestant traditions, in their role of legitimising the monarchy in a space where monarchy and subject are under constant negotiation.

Emilia Plichta, MEd, MA,
Doctoral student in practical theology

My research project focuses on the lived experiences of childless women in the Polish context. Childlessness, both voluntary and involuntary, is a growing phenomenon. I focus on Poland, due to its unique characteristics with low fertility rates, relatively low level of childlessness, one of the strictest abortion laws and the lowest level of access to contraception in the EU. Through interviewing childless women from different societal groups and with different level of involvement in institutional worship, I want to explore how women make sense of their experience with childlessness in a pronatalist, Catholic country. Researching how women cope or fail to cope with their desired or forced childlessness may allow for providing better spiritual support. Bringing women’s voices may also help in destigmatising a relatively common phenomenon.

Ilona Blumgrund, MTh,
Doctoral student in systematic theology

My research project combines systematic theology with forced migration studies. In my doctoral thesis, I’m examining conversion to Christianity. I’m concentrating on people who come to Finland from Muslim countries as asylum seekers and convert during their asylum process. Conversion can have consequences for a person’s asylum process, as conversion away from Islam can expose the convert to persecution in their home country. In the asylum process, the Finnish Immigration Service assesses the credibility of the conversion. In my thesis I also address this aspect of the phenomenon. I approach my research field through the analysis of official documents, such as asylum decisions which address the credibility of the conversion, as well as through interviews with asylum seekers themselves and other parties working on the theme. I analyse the material qualitatively with a special interest in theological and ethical themes that emerge from the material. My research interests are religious conversion, asylum seeking, human rights, and migration.

Lise-Lotte Hellöre, DEc, MTh,
Post-doctoral researcher in social science and theology, doctoral student in practical theology

Post-doctoral researcher in social science and theology, doctoral student in practical theology. In my research project, which is part of a larger interdisciplinary project, I connect economics, social science, and theology to understand value creation today. What value can we create that is not financial? In particular, I’m looking at the diaconate’s contact with shelters within Borgå diocese. Does the diaconate help those clients who are really vulnerable in society, and if so, what does this co-operation look like? The purpose is to discuss the church as a welfare stakeholder and service provider in our society, and whether the diaconate receives recognition for the work it does. In the best case, the study will result in a model in which church, society, and above all the individual affected by violence can reach a better position: a win-win-win situation. It is then that you achieve an increase in value for all stakeholders, which, although it may be financial, is not primarily driven by this goal.

Topias Tanskanen, Mth,
Doctoral student in Old Testament exegesis

My research project is about the early Jewish reception of the Jacob story found in Genesis. In particular, I’m researching how the Jacobite tradition in Genesis has been received, used, and interpreted in the Book of Jubilees (c. 150 BC), by Philo of Alexandria, and by Flavius Josephus. I emphasise in particular the reception Jacob has with the blessing of Abraham (Genesis 12:3) and how Deuteronomy has influenced the interpretation of the Jacobite traditions and thus also the interpretation of the blessing of Abraham.

I’m conducting the research in connection with the UNIPAR project (= Between Universalism and Particularism: The Reception of Abraham and Jacob Stories in Jewish and Christian Writings), SRB (= Studies in the Reception History of the Bible), and OTSEM (= Old Testament Studies: Epistemologies and Methods) networks.

Johannes Huhtinen, PhD,
Doctoral student in church history

My research project revolves around religious and cultural history in early modern Britain. My previous research has been devoted to the intellectual consequences of the Protestant reformation both on a local and a literary level. In general, I’m interested in the history of Christianity in the Atlantic tradition, but my research interest is limited to questions about the history of ideas, memory research, and historiography from a national as well as an international perspective. I’m currently investigating the writing culture of the reformation in Britain during the late 16th century. I’m doing this by contextualising a significant literary debate that was waged between reformation and counter-reformation writers. The focus of the research is on the historical works written by John Foxe – one of the most prominent Protestant writers of this era – and more specifically on the inventive narrative strategies he used in his texts. My primary aim is to expose how John Foxe retold the post-biblical story.

Niklas Antonsson, MTh,
Doctoral student in church history

My research interests primarily concern early modern church history with a focus on the role and importance of priests for both church and society. In my doctoral thesis, I examine how the clergy’s contemporary social outlook is expressed in Sunday and holy day sermons held in the Swedish kingdom between 1680 and 1770. More specifically, I take a closer look at how the priests approached notions of family, church, and authority in their preaching. The thesis is based on both unprinted and printed source material and strives to explain both continuity and change in the clergy’s teaching. The material is analysed qualitatively with regard to different types of statements in the sermons.

Mikael Nouro, MA, MTh,
Doctoral student in Old Testament exegesis

The Book of Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament is a unique writing in many respects. In the book, one can discern a break with an earlier tradition of wisdom, such as regarding traditional notions of retribution and the redress of good and evil. In my thesis, I primarily examine the influence of Hellenistic philosophy on the book, especially regarding Ecclesiastes’s view of death. The intention is to approach the preacher’s theological/philosophical thinking from two different points of view: the traditional Hebrew wisdom theology, with its Near Eastern background, and the Hellenistic philosophy whereby I examine the preacher’s affirmation and rejection of these. The thesis analyses conceptual and thematic parallels with Hellenistic philosophy, as well as how these function in the structure of the book as a whole.

Laura Brännkärr-Väänänen, MTh,
Doctoral student in systematic theology

My dissertation work is best placed within life outlook research. As part of a larger interdisciplinary research project on vaccine attitudes, I’m studying what cognitive and existential beliefs and values are connected with different attitudes to vaccines. In this context, questions about knowledge, truth claims, and interpretive preferences become particularly important. The project collects extensive empirical material which I will anchor within the framework of life outlook theory based on my specific question.