Helena Kupari

I started working at the School of Theology of the University of Eastern Finland in August 2022. My background is in study of religions. I received my doctorate from the University of Helsinki in 2015. Between 2015 and 2022, I worked as Postdoctoral Researcher and University Lecturer (fixed-term) at the same university. I have been granted the title of docent from the University of Helsinki in 2023.

My research is situated in-between anthropology and sociology of religion. I study contemporary Finnish religiosity and spirituality, often focusing on Orthodox Christianity. I am particularly interested in everyday lived expressions of religion and their embodied, material, ritual, and experiential dimensions. Through this grass-roots lens, I examine questions related to stability and change in individual religiosity; religion, power, and intersectionality; and the porous boundaries between religion, spirituality, and secular society and culture.

My research is qualitative in nature and utilizes ethnographic as well as written data. In and through my work, I engage with various theoretical discussions, such as critical social theory, practice theory, ritual theory, social memory studies, semiotic anthropology, theories of conversion, anthropological theories of learning, and feminist theory.