{"id":195,"date":"2023-04-25T09:08:55","date_gmt":"2023-04-25T09:08:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs2.abo.fi\/religionlearning\/?page_id=195"},"modified":"2023-04-25T09:26:40","modified_gmt":"2023-04-25T09:26:40","slug":"abstracts-sessions-1-3","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs2.abo.fi\/religionlearning\/abstracts-sessions-1-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Abstracts sessions 1-3"},"content":{"rendered":"

Monday 15 – 13:30-15:00<\/h2>\n

Session 1 – Aud. Westermarck C101<\/em> – Chair: Ville Husgafvel<\/h3>\n

Reet Hiiem\u00e4e<\/strong> – Department of Folkloristics, Estonian Literary Museum<\/p>\n

Hop-on hop-off spirituality: from consumerism and entertainment to learning <\/em><\/p>\n

In contemporary spirituality-related behavior in Estonia (as well as in a number of other regions), a phenomenon can be observed that I call hop-on hop-off spirituality. This means testing and tasting of various forms of contemporary spirituality (via courses, lectures, books, etc.) out of curiosity or for fun or just because a friend said that this or that teaching has changed their life. Such experimenting can sometimes result in deeper spiritual involvement or change in worldview but often doesn\u2019t bring along anything that could be defined as deeper spiritual or religious commitment or belonging. Based on interviews and written life-history narratives from Estonia from the period of 1990s to 2020s, I will analyze how such \u201cnon-serious\u201d participation can be still seen as a process of learning that influences one\u2019s values, meaning-making, coping models and lifestyle.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Marcus Moberg<\/strong> & Tommy Ramstedt<\/strong> – \u00c5bo Akademi University<\/p>\n

Teaching Mindfulness in Church: The Case of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland<\/em><\/p>\n

During the past couple of decades, several well-being oriented practices mainly associated with the so-called holistic milieu have gradually started to become adopted within \u201cmainline\u201d Christian church settings. This has led to the development and gradual establishment of distinctively \u201cChristian\u201d versions of meditation techniques such as mindfulness and yoga. This paper focuses on recent, and currently still ongoing, efforts towards the adoption of mindfulness within the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. These efforts contain a strong educational component, the main purpose of which is to educate church members and personnel in the practice of mindfulness and, by extension, to argue for its suitability as a supplement to conventional practices of Christian edification and pastoral care. The paper is based on an analysis of Christian mindfulness guidelines and instructions produced by various actors within the church during roughly the past decade.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Katarina Plank<\/strong>, Helene Egnell<\/strong> & Linnea Lundgren<\/strong> – Karlstad University, Sweden.<\/p>\n

The new ritual specialists of the Swedish folk church – lived religion, new spiritual practices and theological legitimacy<\/em><\/p>\n

Since the 1970s spiritual practices labelled as \u201dNew Age\u201d have become more widespread and lately practices with a focus on \u201dbody-mind techniques\u201d have especially been given more space within the Church of Sweden. Some of these practices are highly contested by other Christians on theological basis.<\/p>\n

The presentation will highlight practices that traditionally have not been found within the Lutheran Church and how these are integrated in its activities. The presentation will focus on the new ritual specialists that are teaching meditation, yoga, qi gong and other new spiritual practices. Are these new communities of learning? What is being taught? Who are these teachers?<\/p>\n

The presentation will draw on both quantitative and qualitative data from the ongoing research project New Faces of the Folk Church<\/em>, that takes on the quest to investigate everyday spiritual activities laypeople engage in within<\/em> ecclesial institutions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Session 2 – Aud. Voltaire M127<\/em> – Chair: Helena Kupari<\/h3>\n

Joanna Krotofil<\/strong> – Jagiellonian University, Dagmara M\u0119tel<\/strong> – Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski University & Dorota W\u00f3jciak<\/strong> – Jagiellonian University<\/p>\n

Learning to navigate the alliance between the Catholic ideal of a mother and the ideology of intensive mothering \u2013 the experiences of women attending a Catholic mother and child group<\/em><\/p>\n

This paper focusses on a group for mothers with young children functioning in a local Catholic parish in southern Poland as a religious community of learning. Based on the analysis of data from two years of participant observation and interviews with members of the group, we describe how two distinctive sets of ideas about appropriate child rising, one rooted in the religion and another broadly corresponding to the intensive mothering ideology, reinforce each other in the experiences of group members and analyse how young mothers learn and navigate them. The ability of Catholic mothers to operate at the intersection of these demands challenges the binary opposition between religion and modernity, as irreconcilable. Our findings contribute to the debate on secularisation and marginalization of religion, as they demonstrate that religiously shaped ideas and discourses have the potential to enter the spheres of functioning seemingly dominated by secular ideologies and be modified and reinforced by the latter in everyday life of religious individuals.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tiina Mahlam\u00e4ki<\/strong> – University of Turku<\/p>\n

Learning to knit <\/em><\/p>\n

Knitting has been an indispensable skill (for women) in the past to make clothes and accessories for protection against the cold. Knitting was learned at home or at school. Today, most of the clothes are factory-made, so handicrafts have become a voluntary way of spending free time. But knitting can be much more than a hobby. For many western women (sometimes men too), knitting can be a form of self-expression, a peaceful moment in the midst of stressful everyday life, time for one’s own self, a form of meditation. Knitting can also be seen as spiritual practice (religious practice as well, but that\u2019s another story). Based on several studies, knitting or learning to knit has been found to support coping with exhaustion, stress and traumatic experiences. This is a familiar idea for many women, who (re)start knitting, for example, while recovering from depression. One recent example is Michelle Obama, who in her recent work describes how she coped pandemic and depression by learning to knit. Knitting is a democratic hobby: it can be practiced by almost anyone and almost anywhere. But in order to learn to knit, a person still needs to have a certain, capable and functional body. In my paper, I look at knitting as a skill to be learned \u2013 in which it is possible to develop almost indefinitely \u2013 and as a spiritual practice, a form of meditation.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Mari Metso<\/strong> – University of Eastern Finland<\/p>\n

Neo-Buddhist women transforming caste and gender boundaries through studying, learning, and teaching<\/em><\/p>\n

Among contemporary Indian Neo-Buddhist women studying is a way to strengthen the Buddhist identity, but also an action of taking power and exceeding caste- and gender-based boundaries. Majority of Neo-Buddhist come from a Mahar caste which is, from the orthodox Hindu perspective, considered to be ritually impure and polluting. Therefore, access to religious knowledge and religious practices was denied from Mahar and other unprivileged communities for centuries. According to my research data, Neo-Buddhist women experience religious studying and learning as a restorative and empowering action but also an obligation that arises from the hard work and struggles of past generations. Furthermore, sharing their gained knowledge with others is both an act of honoring the work of the ancestors and an implementation of Buddhism.<\/p>\n

For this paper I analyze the data conducted during my fieldwork in Maharashtra among Neo-Buddhist women in autumn 2022. I investigate the act of studying, learning, and teaching in Neo-Buddhist context aiming to identify the ways these actions transform caste and gender boundaries. Additionally, I explore what this means for the religious agency of the women in my study. The theoretical background of the analysis is Sherry B. Ortner\u00b4s practice theory combined with Dalit feminist theory.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Session 3 – Aud. Goethe L104<\/em> – Chair: Ruth Illman<\/h3>\n

Hanoch Ben Pazi<\/strong> – Bar- Ilan University<\/p>\n

Religion and Spirituality as Sites of Learning <\/em><\/p>\n

Emmanuel Levinas is well-known as the philosopher of ethics and responsibility: he develops a new philosophical approach which places great significance on the meaning of the face-to-face meeting, as the idea of the other. Implicit in this is the \u2018ethical imperative\u2019: ”Thou shalt not kill”, and the responsibility imposed on one in relation to the otherness of the other. The ethical significance of teaching, as an idea but also as a practice, is the way in which the teacher is required to fulfil a responsibility towards others, and towards their students especially, in their role as \u2018learners\u2019. An ethical position is required, so that the person can learn to relinquish their \u2018narcissism\u2019 in order to learn from fellow students, as well as, from the teacher.<\/p>\n

In this lecture, I would like to propose the ethos of learning as the founding element of society, wherein it situates responsibility, partnership and listening, as the most important aspects that constitute society as fraternity. This partnership means that the idea of learning shifts from being an instrumental issue, to a partnership of infinite development in the realm of interpersonal and inter-communal relationships.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Miriam Feldmann Kaye<\/strong> – Bar Ilan University & St Andrews University<\/p>\n

Learning as an Idea: \u2018Hospitality\u2019 from a Philosophical Perspective<\/em><\/p>\n

This paper will examine some modern and postmodern theories of the idea of spiritual learning as a process of philosophical awareness, understanding and reflection. The idea of \u2018hospitality\u2019 as originally developed by Emmanuel Levinas from a philosophical perspective, relates to understanding those who are different from ourselves through \u2018hosting\u2019 their views.<\/p>\n

This paper will examine Jacques Derrida\u2019s development and critique of Levinas\u2019 claim, which includes an appreciation the idea of being \u2018hospitable\u2019 towards the one who is Other, but also adds layers of inter-communal, inter-cultural and even international perspectives. This lecture will examine in particular the text \u2018A-dieu\u2019 written by Derrida and the ways in which he develops the idea of culture, language and translation in light of this philosophical interpretation of \u2018hospitality\u2019.<\/p>\n

In this lecture I will propose that according to Derrida\u2019s critique, the concept of \u2018learning\u2019, from this philosophical perspective, is actually re-defined as effectively a process of inculcating the idea of \u2018difference\u2019 between different cultures and groups. Derrida shows how a philosophy of hospitality is limited, given that \u2018true\u2019 understanding between individuals, groups and countries is never really possible. I will propose that this theory could be manifested through challenging individuals and communities to be \u2018hospitable\u2019 to ideas which are foreign to their own.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ville H\u00e4m\u00e4l\u00e4inen<\/strong> – Tampere University<\/p>\n

Dangerous Dialogue: The Teacher, Learner, and Communication in Kierkegaardian Religious Learning<\/em><\/p>\n

Danish philosopher S\u00f8ren Kierkegaard (1813\u20131855) makes several remarks on learning\u2019s role in becoming a Christian. Based on three writings\u2014Johannes Climacus\u2019 Concluding Unscientific Postscript<\/em>, Anti-Climacus\u2019 Practice in Christianity<\/em>, and Kierkegaard\u2019s unpublished lectures on communication\u2014this paper seeks to explain Kierkegaardian religious learning. My approach comes in three parts: 1) scrutinizing the key concepts and their vivid use, 2) approaching Kierkegaard\u2019s combination of Christianity and the maieutic, and 3) discussing the potential dangerousness of dialogue in this communicational learning.<\/p>\n

Kierkegaard has a critical stance toward teaching as merely academic knowledge-sharing (to which he refers with the Latin verb docere<\/em>). By contrast, Kierkegaard considers learning as communication (Meddelelse<\/em>), meaning literally \u2018together sharing\u2019. The communication between the teacher (L\u00e6rere<\/em>) and the learner (L\u00e6rende<\/em>) may still fail. As in Socratic maieutic, the teacher awakens the interlocutor\u2019s desire to learn\u2014and become a Christian. Therefore, the dialogical form may prove to be dangerous for delivering the religious truth. I still argue that certain openness separates religious learning from other types of learning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Monday 15 – 13:30-15:00 Session 1 – Aud. Westermarck C101 – Chair: Ville Husgafvel Reet Hiiem\u00e4e – Department of Folkloristics, Estonian Literary Museum Hop-on hop-off spirituality: from consumerism and entertainment to learning In contemporary spirituality-related behavior in Estonia (as well as in a number of other regions), a phenomenon can be observed that I call … <\/p>\n

Forts\u00e4tt l\u00e4sa \u201dAbstracts sessions 1-3\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":740,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-195","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs2.abo.fi\/religionlearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs2.abo.fi\/religionlearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs2.abo.fi\/religionlearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs2.abo.fi\/religionlearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/740"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs2.abo.fi\/religionlearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs2.abo.fi\/religionlearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/195\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":219,"href":"https:\/\/blogs2.abo.fi\/religionlearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/195\/revisions\/219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs2.abo.fi\/religionlearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}