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
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Research & publications
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Approaching Religion 14/3 on Paul Ricoeur, peace and understanding
Persistent and new conflicts around the world have made the search for successful conflict resolutions necessary. The new issue of Approaching Religion presents articles based on presentations at the workshop "Peace and Understanding: A Ricoeurian View" held in Turku in September 2023. The workshop focused on the French philosopher Paul Ricoeur's contributions to issues of war, power, violence, social justice, interreligious understanding, and peace and reconciliation. The issue contains an editorial and eight research articles. The articles deal with, among other things, religious dialogue, the ontology and narrative possibility of peace, the human condition, violence and goodness, all in close...
Events
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09.06.
Religion: Concealed and Revealed
The summer school and conference June 9-12, 2025 The aim 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.
20.08.
The Witching of Art History – or How to Approach Women, Art and Esotericism
This interdisciplinary seminar brings together scholars who have studied women artists interested in such esoteric currents as spiritualism, theosophy and magic. The goal is to highlight the important role of women artists in heterogeneous fields of occulture, while reflecting on theoretical and methodological issues.
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.