About the group
A main goal of the research group is to analyze and interpret Protestant tradition from the Reformation period through the early modern period and the 19th and 20th centuries to the current multi-religious context within a Nordic and an international context, bringing research on Norway and the Nordic countries into a broader international comparative discourse on religion, culture and society.
The group takes as its point of departure the fact that Norwegian society has been deeply influenced by Protestant religion in several respects. This influence not only is relevant for analyzing religious life but also for understanding broader sets of values, ethical standards, cultural traditions and political systems in Norway/Nordic societies. Contrary to most of traditional Norwegian research in this field, the group presupposes that Nordic Protestantism has to be investigated within an interdisciplinary and international context in order to be properly interpreted.
Recently completed research projects
Projects financed by the Norwegian Research Council:
- The ambiguous memory of Nordic Protestantism (MEMORY)
- Good Protestant, Bad Religion? Formatting Religion in Modern Society (GOBA)
- Death in Early Protestant Tradition (completed)
Project financed by HERA (Humanities in the European Research Area):
- Protestant Legacies in Nordic Law: Uses of the Past in the Construction of the Secularity of Law (Research group leader is the Norwegian PI)
Projects in progress
- The Nordic Pastor. A Profession in Historical Perspective.
- Exporting Nordic sin: Value encounters in Danish and Norwegian missions 1720-1850.
Cooperation
The research group is engaged in a broad spectrum of international and national research cooperation.
The former group leader Tarald Rasmussen is a board member of the Reformation Research Consortium (REFORC).
The group members are active participants in the annual conferences of REFORC, the American Sixteenth Century Society, the American Academy of Religion and the Norwegian Historical Association (Norske historiedager)
PhD candidates connected to the research group and their projects
- Sjur Atle Furali – defended his PhD thesis on 9 December 2022: «Misgjerningenes orden. Danske lovs Siette Bog som kongelig representasjonssymbol og formidler av Guds orden i det tidlige eneveldet». Congratulations!
- Jon Petter Heesch - will be defending his PhD thesis on 22 May 2023: «The Spirituality of the Sichtungszeit, as expressed in the thirty-four homilies on the Litany of the Wounds».
- Helge Asbjørn Staxrud – Hunting for Witches
- Frode Lagset – Tor Aukrust som kirkebygger
- Kaja Merete Haug Hagen – defended her PhD thesis on 10 December 2021: “’O holy cross, you are all our help and comfort”. Wonderworking Crosses and Crucifixes in Late Medieval and Early Modern Norway”.