A conference on “Old religion and new spirituality: continuity and changes in the background of secularization,” will be held at the University of Tartu, Estonia, 26-29 May 2015. This conference is organized by the research group of religious studies of the Centre of Excellence in Cultural Theory (Estonia) in cooperation with Nordic Network, “Norms and Narratives in the Nordic Countries.”
Estonia is an extremely secularized European country, characterized by the diminishing institutionalization of religion (de-institutionalization) and the decline of the Christian practices and beliefs (de-Christianization). In order to investigate the historical roots of the situation and clarify the characteristics of the current picture, the research project about religiosity in Estonia was started in 2011. This conference takes a comparative approach to the religious situation in Europe by addressing contemporary developments or historical perspectives.
Topics of the lectures and discussions include spirituality, secularization, politics and religion, specific cases, atheism, gender, traditional and new religions, Roman Catholicism, and Protestantism. An updated program is available at this website.