About me, Maria
My thesis Oreda i skapelsen (Disorder in Creation). Kvinnligt och manligt i Svenska kyrkan under 1920- och 30-talet (The feminine and the masculine in the Church of Sweden in the 1920s and 1930s) (2010) examines how the understanding of men and women interacted with contemporary theological and ideological notions of gender, sexuality, home, church and nation. My current research develops the arguments presented in the thesis regarding gender, women’s faith and the Church. I am responsible for the Society, Theology and the Church Research Centre and serve as secretary of the Church of Sweden’s Theological Committee.
CV
Employed at national level in the Church of Sweden, Uppsala. 2011–
Member of the Board of Society for the Study of Religion, Stockholm. 2000–2023 (Chair 2017–2023).
Researcher at the Research Department and the Evaluation Department of the Swedish National Agency for Higher Education. 2004–2011
Prize for meritorious scientific work, Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities. 2011.
Doctor of Theology in Faiths and Ideologies, Uppsala University. May 2010.
Guest Researcher at Harris Manchester College, Oxford University. 1996; 2000.
Member of the editorial board of Svensk Kyrkotidning (Swedish Church Journal). 1994–2000.
Member of the Reference Group of the Bible Commission. 1992–1996.
My current research
I am currently researching the life and work of theologian Ester Lutteman (1888–1976). In the 20th century, Lutteman was an oft-heard voice in church and society, not least on the issue of women as priests; “the central female figure in Swedish church life”. Today she is unknown to most people, and in accounts of the 20th century history of the Church of Sweden, she is a name in the margins. In addition to discussing Ester Lutteman’s theology, women’s thinking and social views, I raise questions about how we write history. How could such a public and central figure – in debate, the Church and the world of women – as Lutteman end up in the shadow of church history? What does it say about values and priorities in the writing of history?