Research Output per year
Personal profile
Personal information
Katya Tolstaya is Associate Professor and Founding Director of the Institute for the Academic Study of Eastern Christianity (INaSEC) at Vrije Universiteit, as well as Founding President of the International Association for Post-Soviet Theology and Study of Religion (PAST). Her main research and valorisation interest is to establish the totally new field of an interdisciplinary and interreligious post-Soviet theology, within the interdisciplinary landscape/scope of post-traumatic, post-totalitarian and post-genocidal studies. Her project Theology after Gulag is the first phase of this endeavour. Tolstaya has created a global network to support her in this ambition. Tolstaya obtained her MA (cum laude, 2000) and her PhD (cum laude, 2006) both at the Protestant Theological University (PThU), Kampen, The Netherlands.
Dr Tolstaya was laureate of a prestigious NWO VENI Talent Scheme Innovational Research Incentives Humanities (2009-2012). As a Visiting Professor she teaches in different post-Soviet countries, e.g. at Lev N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Astana, Kazakhstan, and at the Ukrainian Catholic University, Lviv, Ukraine. She was Visiting Researcher at the Karl Barth-Archiv, Basel (2009) and recently Visiting Fellow at Aleksanteri Institute, Finnish Centre of Excellence in Russian Studies, University of Helsinki (May-July 2017).
RESEARCH
Tolstaya’s initial research was dedicated to Western systematic theology, a.o. Barth and early dialectical theology, and literary studies, a.o. Dostoevsky and Bakhtin. For over a decade Tolstaya’s research focuses on the post-Soviet religious revival, and the role of theology in public and societal engagement with the past. To promote the research field of post-Soviet theology she has established four international research networks: the project “Theology after Gulag” within INaSEC; a research group “Theology after Gulag” in the Netherlands School for Advanced Study of Theology and Religion (NOSTER); an NWO-Internationalisation in the Humanities network on the Russian Orthodox Church (2015-2018); and an interdisciplinary Working Group at the European Academy of Religion on "Negotiating the Soviet Past" (2018 - ). These projects engage over twenty academic, ecclesial and cultural institutions, and NGO’s, and over 100 committed international scholars and stakeholders working in post-Soviet studies, post-Holocaust theology, transitional justice, Gulag studies and further related fields who support her call for a rethinking of methodological and theoretical issues in the study of post-Soviet religion and theology. With her INaSEC-team Tolstaya devotes herself to a broad valorisation program, varying from (inter)national conferences and public lectures to exhibitions.
For further information see www.in-a-sec.com.
TEACHING
Dr Tolstaya’s teaching interests cover post-traumatic, post-totalitarian and post-genocide theology, methodology in the study of religion, Christian systematic theology, research skills, reading Classics in Theology and Religion, and religious topics in literature.
Ancillary activities
- Netherlands Institute in St Petersburg | St Petersburg | Bestuurder | 2016-09-01 - present
Ancillary activities are updated daily
Ancillary activities
Member Scientific Advisory Board, Netherlands Institute in Saint Petersburg (NIP)
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Network
Recent external collaboration on country level. Dive into details by clicking on the dots.
Research Output 2005 2018
Religion or Ideology?
Tolstaja, K., 30 Nov 2018Research output: Online publication or Non-textual form › Online publication or Website › Professional
Общее прошлое как основа для переосмысления теологии
Tolstaja, K., 2018, (Accepted/In press) Диалог религий в современном мире: проблемы и перспективы 2. Материалы. Kolosova, I. & Tolstoj, E. V. (eds.). Moscow: Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Vol. 2.Research output: Chapter in Book / Report / Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Academic › peer-review
Расчеловечивание как ключ к реальному пониманию образа Божьего: Размышления, навеянные антропологией о. Георгия Кочеткова
Tolstaja, K., 2018, (Accepted/In press) In : Свет Христов просвещает всех: Альманах Свято-Филаретовского православно-христианского института . 12, 2Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
School shootings: Existential concerns and implicit religion
Pfeifer, B., 2017, 267 p.Research output: PhD Thesis › PhD Thesis - Research VU, graduation VU › Academic
Введение к сборнику
Tolstaja, K. & Kemper-Bakshi, N., 2017, Швейцарская теология и русская религиозная философия: Рецепция и воздействиe. Tolstaya, K. & Kemper, N. (eds.). Nestor-istoriya: St Petersburg, p. 1-11 11 p.Research output: Chapter in Book / Report / Conference proceeding › Chapter › Academic › peer-review
Activities 2010 2020
Religion, State and Society (Journal)
E.V. Tolstoj (Guest editor)Activity: Peer review and Editorial work › Editorial work › Academic
Working group at the European Academy of Religion Annual Conference
E.V. Tolstoj (Organiser), M. Napolitano (Organiser)Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Conference › Academic
Dehumanization and God's Image
E.V. Tolstoj (Speaker)Activity: Lecture / Presentation › Academic
Gulag Legacy
E.V. Tolstoj (Organiser)Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Conference › Academic
Karl Barth-Tagungen in den Niederlanden (External organisation)
E.V. Tolstoj (Board member)Activity: Membership › Academic
Prizes
Press / Media
Report and video INaSEC Conference "Gulag Legacy", Amsterdam
21/06/18
1 media contribution
Press/Media: Other
Video Registration International Conference 'Gulag Legacy', Hermitage Amsterdam
8/06/18
1 media contribution
Press/Media: Public Engagement Activities
E.V. Tolstoj, Introduction to international conference 'Gulag Legacy', 8 June 2018
8/06/18
1 media contribution
Press/Media: Public Engagement Activities
Report Nederlands Dagblad 'Vergeven zonder berouw ook in Rusland moeilijk' (Herman Veenhof)
18/02/18
1 item of media coverage
Press/Media: Other