Religion and the public sphere. Interdisciplinary approaches

Research Project
2010 – 2013

This project was funded within the grant-scheme "Promoting Research in Priority Fields" by the Bulgarian National Science Fund at the Ministry of Education and Science

T E A M

The core research team involved 11 established scholars, as well as doctoral students and junior scholars representing three Bulgarian and three foreign academic institutions.

Bulgarian Participants:

• Assoc. Prof. Dr. Simeon Evstatiev, Department of Arabic and Semitic Studies, Sofia University – Principal Investigator
• Prof. Dr. Habil. Vladimir Gradev, Department of History and Theory of Culture, Sofia University
• Prof. Dr. Habil. Plamen Makariev, Department of Philosophy, Sofia University
• Assoc. Prof. Dr. Anna Krasteva, Department of Political Science, New Bulgarian University
• Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rossitsa Gradeva, Institute of Balkan Studies with Center of Thracian Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
• Asst. Prof. Dr. Ilia Iliev, Department of Ethnology, Sofia University
• Asst. Prof. Dr. Galina Evstatieva, Department of Arabic and Semitic Studies, Sofia University
• Dr. Daniela Kalkandzhieva, Sofia University

International Team Members:

• Prof. Dr. Dale F. Eickelman, Dartmouth College, USA
• Prof. Dr. Angelika Neuwirth, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
• Prof. Dr. Tim Jensen, University of South Denmark, Secretary General of the International Association in History of Religions

WHAT THE PROJECT IS ABOUT

The overall goal of the research was to contribute to a better understanding of public policies related to managing religious diversity in Bulgaria and its region.

The specific objectives were:

1. To develop innovative interdisciplinary methodologies for the study of the relationship between religion and the public sphere, with an emphasis on the social experiences of Eastern Orthodox and Muslim communities;
2. to facilitate the academic integration and to establish the effective partnership among senior and junior scholars, as well as doctoral and MA students, from different disciplines through joint research work, seminars, and conferences;
3. to reveal – within the Bulgarian and Balkan context – the optimal parameters of public policies with regard to the public manifestations of diversity based on religious identity.

Research Activities

The relationships between religion and the public sphere have been studied via comparative multidisciplinary research procedures focused on the role of Orthodox Christianity and Islam in Bulgaria and its region:

1. Studying of texts
2. Fieldwork
3. Four international workshops
4. Project seminar
5. Roundtables
6. International Conference "Religion and the Public Sphere"