Tatiana Tiaynen-Qadir

As a social anthropologist (Doc. Soc. Sci., University of Tampere, 2013) and a historian (Candidate of Historical Sciences, Petrozavodsk State University, 2006), I have an abiding interest in research on religion, comparative mysticism, art and symbols, especially in Eastern Christianity and Islam. I have examined therapeia and experiential reality surrounding rites and individual practices, focusing on sensorial, embodied, interpretative and symbolic aspects of religious experience. I have published over 30 academic articles in international journals and book chapters, mostly in English. Jointly with Dr. Ali Qadir, I have recently co-authored the book "Symbols and Myth-Making in Modernity: Deep Culture in Art and Action" (Anthem Press), which explores how cross-cultural symbols erupt in popular culture today and what work they do in transforming self and society. 

I have been working as doctoral and postdoctoral researcher in the field of transnational anthropology, multi-sited ethnography and anthropology of religion at Tampere University and University of Turku in Finland. I recently taught at Seneca College (2020-2022) in Canada and as Visiting Professor at Fatima Jinnah Women University (2017) in Pakistan. I also conducted research as Research Fellow at the Centre for Studies on Religion and Society at the University of Victoria in Canada in 2018. 

I am currently working as Senior Research Fellow in PRISM funded by Templeton Religion Trust. 

Anthropology of religion

Comparative mysticism

Material religion

Eastern Christianity

Islam

Symbols

Deep culture/popular culture

Transnational anthropology

Multi-sited ethnography

Qadir, Ali and Tatiana Tiaynen-Qadir (2025) Demystifying mysticism: A critical realist perspective on ambivalences in the study of mysticism. Religions 16(1):10.

Tiaynen-Qadir, Tatiana and Ali Qadir (2024) Home and journey in experiences of the Eastern Orthodox Divine liturgy. Material religion: the journal of objects, art and belief 20(2):151–175.

Tiaynen-Qadir, Tatiana and Ali Qadir (2022) Symbols and Myth-Making in Modernity: Deep Culture in Art and Action. Anthem Press. 

Tiaynen-Qadir, Tatiana (2022) Ylirajaiset babuškat. Isoäidit ja perheyhteyden ylläpitäminen Venäjän Karjalan ja Suomen välillä, 108-123. Teoksessa Babuškoja, terävaareja ja digisenioreita: Muuttava vanhuus Suomessa ja Venäjällä, Anna Kinnunen, Maija Könönen ja Sinikka Vakimo (toim.). Gaudeamus.       

Kupari, Helena and Tatiana Tiaynen-Qadir (2021) Women as Agents of Glocalization: the Case of the Orthodox Church of Finland. In Women in Eastern Orthodoxy. Edited by Ina Merdjanova. Fordham University Press, Pp. 206-240.

Tiaynen-Qadir, Tatiana, Qadir Ali, Vuolanto Pia and Petteri Hansen (2021) Negotiation of Science and Religion in Nordic Institutions: An Ethnographic Approach. Religions 12, no. 1: 45.  

Tiaynen-Qadir, Tatiana (2020) Migrating in later lives: Collective identities of Russian-speaking women in Finland. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology. Volume 35, Issue 2, Pp. 155-175.

Tiaynen-Qadir, Tatiana and Anna Matyska (2020) A postsocialist legacy in transnational families: Russian and Polish women in Finland. Global Networks. Volume 20, Issue 1, Pp. 85-105.

Tiaynen-Qadir, Tatiana (2020) Therapeutic and therapeia within Orthodox Christianity. In Assembling Therapeutics. Edited by Suvi Salmenniemi, Johanna Nurmi, Inna Perheentupa and Harley Bergroth London: Routledge, Pp. 58-73. 

Tiaynen-Qadir, Tatiana, Qadir, Ali, and Pertti Alasuutari (2019) Russia in World Society. A Comparative Perspective on International References in Parliamentary Debates. Acta Sociologica, Volulme 62, Issue 2. Pp. 228-242.

Tiaynen-Qadir, T., Ikonen, E., & Qadir, A. (2019). Bird: Symbols and stories from Europe, Middle East and Ancient Egypt. Agricola -opintokeskuksen julkaisuja. 

Qadir, Ali and Tatiana Tiaynen-Qadir (2018) Deep Culture and the Mystical Agency of Mary in Eastern Christianity. Religions. 9 Volume, 383, Pp. 1-18. 

Tiaynen-Qadir, Tatiana and Suvi Salmenniemi (2017) Self-help as a Glocalised Therapeutic Assemblage. European Journal of Cultural Studies Volume 20, Issue 4, Pp. 381-396. 

Tiaynen-Qadir, Tatiana (2017) Glocal Religion and Feeling at Home: Ethnography of Artistry in Finnish Orthodox Liturgy. Religions. 8 Volume, No 2 (23). Pp. 1-14. 

Qadir, Ali and Tatiana Tiaynen-Qadir (2016) Toward an Imaginal Dialogue: Archetypal Symbols between Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Islam. Approaching Religion. Volume 6, No 2. Pp. 81-95. 

Qadir, Ali and Tatiana Tiaynen-Qadir (2016) Uncanny Images and the Literalism of Modernity. Web blog post. Material Religions. 21 September 2016. 

Tiaynen-Qadir, Tatiana (2016) Orthodox Icons Generating Transnational Space between Finland and Russia. Lähde – tieteellinen aikakauskirja. Pp. 138-171. 

Tiaynen-Qadir, Tatiana (2016) Transnational Grandmothers Making their Multi-sited Homes between Finland and Russia. Pp. 25-37. In Re-thinking Home. Transnational Migration and Older Age. Edited by Katie Walsh and Lena Näre, Routledge.

Tiaynen-Qadir, Tatiana (2016) Transnational Babushka: Grandmothers and Family-making between Russian Karelia and Finland. Pp. 85-104. In Transnational Aging: Current Insights and Future Challenges. Edited by Vincent Horn and Cornelia Schweppe, Routledge.

Tiaynen-Qadir, Tatiana (2014) Maaseudun babuškat. 256-269. Teoksessa Naisia Venäjän Kulttuurihistoriassa, Arja Rosenholm, Suvi Salmenniemi & Marja Sorvari (toim.), Gaudeamus.