Department of Comparative Religion
Roots of Finnish Comparative Religion can be traced back to the work of Uno Holmberg-Harva as a researcher and university teacher. As a Professor of Sociology from 1926 to 1949 he anchored Comparative Religion into University of Turku. Finnish prehistory, historical religious processes and so called new religious movements, as well as study of finnishness in the globalizing world form the central points of emphasis in Comparative Religion. Also, during the last decades, the field of ethnographic research has been widened towards India and South America.
Comparative Religion has been studied as an academic discipline in the Faculty of Humanities since 1963. When the professorship was founded, it was a combination post with folkloristics. Two subjects gained independent positions in 1970, and were joined to the School of Cultural Research, which was founded in 1974. As the first professor, Lauri Honko, retired in the fall of 1996, Faculty of Humanities ended the combination professorship of Comparative Religion and Folkloristics and founded the office of "Professor of Comparative Religion, especially of Anthropology of Religion", whose teaching field was Anthropology and Ethnography of Religion. Holder of the office is Ph.D Veikko Anttonen. In addition Comparative Religion has an office of Senior Lecturer and two five year Assistants posts. Comparative Religion has also eight Docents.
Picture by Usva Friman