The Donner Institute
The Donner Institute for Research into Religion and Culture is a private research institute connected to the Åbo Akademi University Foundation. We gather researchers, students and cultural agents and provide a meeting point for research on religion and culture in Finland and in the Nordic countries. We work to strengthen the visibility of research and create spaces where new knowledge can be born.
News
See all

Research & publications
See all
Approaching Religion 13/1 on death and funerals in the North
The new issue of Approaching Religion (Vol. 13/1 2023) is based on a roundtable seminar arranged in Åbo/Turku, in April 2022, with the theme “‘Death comes equally to us all, and makes us all equal when it comes’? Funerals in the North of Europe – similarities and differences”. The event was organised jointly by the Swedish funerals research network, based at The Centre for Multidisciplinary Research on Religion and Society (CRS), Uppsala University, and the Donner. Guest editors for the issue are Martha Middlemiss Lé Mon (UU), Magdalena Nordin (GU) and Måns Broo (ÅAU). The roundtable explored similarities and differences in funerals in...


Events
See all
15.05.

12.06.
Religion: Memory and Innovation
The aim of the summer school and conference is to bring together doctoral candidates and researchers from various academic fields that engage with the study of religion, such as theology, study of religions, history, philosophy, the arts, social and political sciences and other.



Our donors Olly and Uno Donner were forerunners of their time.
The endowment made by Olly and Uno Donner in 1956 was one of the largest donations received by Åbo Akademi University to date. In addition to supporting research on religion and culture, the couple shared an interest in languages and anthroposophy.