Tiina

I am a Postdoctoral Research Assistant at the University of York and Research Fellow at the University of Tartu.

My role on the ‘Pilgrimage and England’s Cathedrals’ project is to research contemporary models of pilgrimage, and as such I have been conducting fieldwork at each of our four case study Cathedrals (Canterbury, Durham, Westminster and York). The information-gathering process involves participant observation, asking visitors to fill in questionnaires, and interviewing visitors as well as people who are part of the visitor services and pilgrim infrastructure.

I completed my MA (Anthropology of Religion) and PhD (Folkloristics) at the University of Tartu, Estonia. Both my MA and PhD were concerned with contemporary pilgrimage and pilgrim hierarchies; the title of my PhD thesis was Pilgrims’ reflections on the Camino de Santiago and Glastonbury as expressions of vernacular religion: fieldworker’s perspective.

I have conducted fieldwork in England, Estonia and Spain and I have published various articles as well as two popular books about contemporary pilgrimage.

My other research interests include vernacular religion, fieldwork methodology, cathedrals as city spaces, folklore.