Project: “Theology and Religious Studies in Russia: Between Media and Expert Dialogue”: Experience and Prospects

The project “Theology and Religious Studies in Russia: Between Media and Expert Dialogue: Experience and Prospects” describes a number of aspects of the problem of cooperation between experts in the fields of theology and religious studies. This issue is extremely relevant today, since it develops the domestic academic tradition of dialogue between the so-called believers and the so-called non-believers in the study of typological models of symbolic descriptions and interpretations of the “highest order of nature” (Cicero), which take on a variety of forms from radical conflict to sincere dialogue in domestic theological and religious studies discourses, going back to the works of Plato, Aristotle and Cicero. The analysis is from the standpoint of modern Russian philosophical religious studies and social philosophy, distancing from the expert and media positions. The significance of these studies is explained by a comprehensive analysis of the prospects for overcoming the stereotypes of “Eurocentrism” and “confessional centrism” in the philosophical and religious studies discourse, including illustrative factual materials from the sociology of religion data obtained during a pilot survey of students in Arkhangelsk and Vladimir. The survey demonstrates secular and rational priorities among young people. During the project implementation, two articles were published (Q1 Scopus, Q2 Scopus, WebofScience, RSCI); 12 articles in journals on the HAC list and 25 articles in publications on the RSCI list, including the collections “Svecha-2021”, “Svecha-2022” and the monograph “Theology and Religious Studies in Russia: Media and Expert Dialogue” (2023). All of them are posted on the website of the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies of VLSU “Academic Religious Studies” (http://religion.vpti.vladimir.ru/).