Henrik Johnsén

I teach the courses "Kristendomens historia" (History of Christianity)(RHG003/RKVG13) and "Abrahamitiska religioner" (Abrahamic religions) (RHG506), "Religionshistoriska perspektiv på epidemier och sjukdomar" (Religious perspectives on epidemics and diseases) (RHG510), and "Religiös fromhet och asketism" (Religious piety and asceticism) (RHG512). I also supervise essays on Christianity in general.

My research is focused on Christianity, and especially late antique Christian monasticism and its relation to late-antique Greco-Roman philosophy and literary culture, but also Syriac Orthodox Christianity in present-day Sweden. My dissertation dealt with literary issues and questions related to tradition and change in The Ladder of Divine Ascent by John Climacus, an early Byzantine monastic text. My research on early monasticism and late antique philosophy was part of a seven-year project “Early Monasticism and Classical Paideia”, funded by Riksbankens jubileumsfond.

Since 2018 I’m part of a research project on “Integration and Tradition: the Making of the Syriac Orthodox Church in Sweden”, funded by the Swedish Research Council, but also a minor project on monastic maxims literature and literary culture in early Byzantine monasticism. 

Från Januariy 2022 I'm also part of a new research project on the emergence of early Western monasticism, "Authority, community and individual freedom - Latin monastic culture and the roots of European educational ideals," funded by Riksbankens jubileumsfond.

2022-cont. Post-doc, “Authority, community and individual freedom - Latin monastic culture and the roots of European educational ideals”, Lund University           

2018-cont. Post-doc, “Integration and Tradition: the Making of the Syriac Orthodox Church in Sweden”, Stockholm University

2017-2018 Scandinavian guest professor, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel

2017 Visiting fellow, Yale University

2009-2016 Post-doc, "Early Monasticism and Classical Paideia", Lund University