Olga Shevchenko, M.A.

PhD project

The proposed ethnographic research aims to summarize lived religious experiences of the members of the Ukrainian military since the full-scale invasion of 2022. With the martial law and general mobilization, people of various religious backgrounds have joined the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, adjusting to a highly demanding environment and facing numerous personal and social challenges. This research will go beyond the procedurally defined and structured forms of religious expression offered by the military organization and look into personal and collective informal beliefs, religious ideas, rituals etc. that emerge within the Ukrainian military. Methodologically, this goal will be achieved through grounded theory, where the narratives of the participants’ experiences will be co-constructed in the process of data collection. Primary research tools will comprise in-depth interviewing and observation (the latter pertaining to the context of mourning/commemoration rituals).