PhD projects

Erika Boije

Boije studies church historical themes in Zacharias Topelius' (1818 – 1898) novel Fältskärns Berättelser. In the research, she analyzes ideals and counter-images in Topelius' portrayal of Christian practices and denominations and their function and role in Finnish nation-building.

Gustaf Forsell

Forsell's dissertation project examines Christian National Socialism in Sweden between 1925 and 1945 with a focus on how and to what degree Christian National Socialists used racial ideology, anti-Semitism, and Christian theology and how this was expressed in the articulation of different forms of Aryan Christianity.

Ida Olenius

Olenius' thesis project examines what was called "spiritual preparedness" (andlig beredskap) between 1939 and 1945, with a focus on what role the Church of Sweden was perceived to have in preparing the Swedish society during war-time and what its representatives did e.g. to strengthen the population's national defense will, resilience, and cohesion.

Therese Tamm Selander

Tamm Selander's dissertation project deals with Mathilda Foy (1813–1869), an author of children's books. She devoted herself to missionary work in Stockholm with Sunday schools within the New Evangelical revival and her international travels and contacts also played an important role in this work.

Samuel Wenell

In his thesis, Wenell studies the missionaries at the Swedish Israel Mission's center in Vienna from 1938 to 1941. The dissertation revolves around issues of everyday faith, the relationship between Christians and Jews, and a small group of people's understandings of, and orientation within, their value system.

Philip Widell

In his thesis project, Widell examines the nearly 600 men belonging to the Church of England, who were active as field chaplains within the Royal Airforce during the Second World War. He examines their mission, how they carried it out, the tensions that existed between their roles as priests and officers, and how they and their efforts were interpreted by contemporaries and by posterity.