ABOUT THE WORKING GROUP
The members of the Working Group engage in interdisciplinary, ethnographic study of lived religion and public life in Eastern Europe and Eurasia. Our focus on lived religion centers on the encounters, exchanges, and entanglements that religious practices, beliefs, and sentiments create. We consider contemporary forms of vernacular religiosity and the experiences of the transcendent they offer as well as institutional forms of religion and their transnational and global connections.
As an ongoing, long-standing research network that unites anthropologists, sociologists, and historians, the goal of the Working Group is to advance the critical study of religion in and of the region by supporting original research and insightful publications on how religion affects contemporary social and political life. Our events have featured such themes as Religion and Public Space; Sharing Sacred Sites; Religion and Public Life; and Conflict and Reconciliation.
THE WORKING GROUP AIMS TO:
1.
Promote anthropological and ethnographic research on religion in Eastern Europe and Eurasia
2.
Provide a platform for analytical comparisons across research sites, temporal frames, and confessions
3.
Develop crosscutting theoretical and methodological concepts suitable to studying religion
4.
Create opportunities for researchers to present and disseminate their findings in international, inter-disciplinary fora, initiate research projects, and pursue international funding schemes
5.
Support the next generation of graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and established scholars
OUR HISTORY
The Working Group hosted its first conference in Kyiv, Ukraine in 2014. Initially, we brought scholars from all over the world to Ukraine to present research on the latest trends in religious, social, and political life in the Black Sea Region, including Christian-Muslim interactions in the region.
Since 2021, our geographical scope has widened to include Eurasia. We now hold annual conferences in conjunction with partner institutions around the world and a monthly seminar on Zoom.
Our conferences and seminars feature several formats, including pre-circulated papers, author meets critics, and works in progress.
Our workshop for junior scholars and anthropology-ethnography workshop for advanced graduate students takes place each Spring in Ukraine.
The Working Group is funded by the
Center for Governance and Culture in Europe of the University of St. Gallen