Dr Marta Trzebiatowska

Dr Marta Trzebiatowska The University of Aberdeen School of Social Science

Lecturer work +44 (0)1224 272766 pref m.k.trzebiatowska@abdn.ac.uk pref Department of Sociology, Room F21 School of Social Science, Edward Wright Building, King's College, Aberdeen, AB24 3FX.

Lecturer

BA (Exeter), MA (Exeter), PhD (Exeter)

Personal Details

Telephone:	+44 (0)1224 272766
Email:	m.k.trzebiatowska@abdn.ac.uk
Address:	Department of Sociology, Room F21 School of Social Science, Edward Wright Building, King's College, Aberdeen, AB24 3FX.

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Biography

I joined the Department of Sociology in September 2007. My research focuses on 'taking religion seriously' and on the relationship between religious discourses and gender politics. More specifically, I am interested in sociologically examining the ways in which religious women construct their femininity under circumstances commonly perceived as restrictive, or even oppressive, by secular feminists.

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Research Interests

I am predominantly interested in the relationship between religion and gender. My doctoral research explored the lives of Catholic sisters in Polish convents and their constructions of 'consecrated femininity'. My second piece of empirical work investigated the complex web of interactions between Polish Catholic migrants and the local churches in Scotland. Most recently I have co-written a book with Steve Bruce, Why Are Women More Religious Than Men? (Oxford UP 2012), in which we critique competing explanations of women's greater religiosity and suggest that the (seemingly universal) gender gap in religious involvement is not the result of biology but is rather the consequence of important social differences —responsibility for managing birth, child-rearing and death, for example, and attitudes to the body, illness and health — over-lapping and reinforcing each other.

My current work focuses on the sociology of the afterlife and on gender differences in approaches to the questions of life and death.

I am also interested in the methodological and ethical aspects of researching religion. In particular, I am concerned with the issues of covert versus overt fieldwork, 'uncomfortable' research relationships, and the trouble with reflexivity.

Research themes:

sociology of religion
religion and gender
religion and sexuality
religion and migration
Catholicism in Central and Eastern Europe
structure and agency

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Research Grants

Porticus (formerly Derwent Consultancy Trust), Polish parishioners and Polish priests in the UK and Ireland: Identifying Problems and Possibilities, a co-investigator, with Claire Wallace and Halina Grzymala-Moszczynska, Duration: October 2008 – September 2009

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Teaching Responsibilities

SO1005 Introduction to Sociology 1

SO2004-5 Studying Social Life 1

SO3066 Thinking Sociologically

SO3067 Religion and Society

SO4028 Dissertation

MSc Religion and Society

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Conference papers

Feminism: Secular and Sacred,BSA Religion Study Group Conference, University of Edinburgh, April 2010

The Advent of the Easyjet Priest, Department of Sociology, University of Aberdeen, Feb 2010

The Logic of Spiritual Capital: Bourdieu and the Sociology of Religion, co-presented with Dr. Andrew McKinnon (University of Aberdeen), BSA Religion Study Group Conference at the University of Durham, March 2009

Polish Parishioners and Polish Priests', BSA Annual Conference in Cardiff, April 2009

'…and she saw habits in hell'. Disobedient Nuns and Catholicism in Poland, the 19^th Nordic Conference in Sociology of Religion, 13-15 August 2008, Abo Academy University, Turku, Finland, August 2008

Becoming a Nun Avenger: Doing Feminist Research with Non-Feminist Women, BSA Annual Conference, University of East London, UK, April 2007

Catholic Nuns and the Experience of the Numinous, Alternative Expressions of the Numinous, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, August 2006

Riding the Wave in Habits; Polish Nuns and the Possibility of Feminist Agency, Gender, Religion and Society, Bar-Ilan University, Tel Aviv, Israel, May 2006

'Ain't I a Woman?' Catholic Nuns and Consecrated Femininity. Religion and the Individual BSA Religion Study Group Conference, Manchester University, UK, April 2006

'Is your Mother Superior as Evil as the One in the Film'? Cultural representations of Catholic nuns, Reading Spiritualities, Lancaster University, UK, Jan 2006

Common Pathways, Different Lives: the Sacred and the Profane in the 'Coming Out' Stories of Catholic Nuns and Gay Women in Poland, Women and the Divine, Liverpool Hope University College, UK, June 2005

'Habit Does not a Nun Make'? Religious Dress in the Lives of Polish Catholic Nuns, BSA Gender and Religion Conference, Lancaster University, UK, April 2005

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Postgraduate Supervision

I welcome queries from potential doctoral students interested in the sociology of religion, gender and sexuality, and migration.

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Professional activities

member of PG Committe, Research Committee and SAC in the School of Social Science
Referee for papers for Theory, Culture and Society, Cultural Sociology and Fieldwork in Religion
Referee for book proposals and manuscripts for Sage
Member, British Sociological Association, 2004 - present
Co-organiser of the BSA Sociology of Religion Study Group Conference, April 2011, Birmingham

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Publications

Contributions to Journals

Articles

Trzebiatowska, M. (2013). 'Beyond Compliance and Resistance: Catholic Nuns Negotiating Femininity'. European Journal of Women's Studies, vol 20, no. 2, pp. 204-218.
[Online] DOI: 10.1177/1350506812455985
Llewellyn, D. & Trzebiatowska, M. (in press). 'Secular and Religious Feminisms: A Future of Disconnection?'. Feminist Theology.
[Online] DOI: 10.1177/0966735013484220
McKinnon, A., Trzebiatowska, M. & Brittain, C. (2011). 'Bourdieu, Capital and Conflict in a Religious Field: The Case of the Anglican Communion'. Journal of Contemporary Religion, vol 26, no. 3, pp. 355-370.
[Online] DOI: 10.1080/13537903.2011.616033
Trzebiatowska, M. (2010). 'Habit does not a nun make?: Religious dress in the lives of Polish Catholic nuns'. Journal of Contemporary Religion, vol 25, no. 1, pp. 51-65.
[Online] DOI: 10.1080/13537900903416812
Trzebiatowska, M. (2010). 'When Reflexivity is Not Enough: Researching Polish Catholics'. Fieldwork in Religion, vol 5, no. 1.
Trzebiatowska, M. (2010). 'The Advent of the Easyjet Priest: Dilemmas of Polish Catholic Integration in the UK'. Sociology, vol 44, no. 6, pp. 1055-1072.
[Online] DOI: 10.1177/0038038510381618

Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings

Chapters

Trzebiatowska, M. (2009). 'Common pathways, different lives: The 'coming out' narratives of Catholic nuns and lesbians in Poland'. in H S. (ed.), Contemporary Christianity and LGBT Sexualities. Ashgate, Aldershot, United Kingdom, pp. 51-66.
Trzebiatowska, M. (2008). 'Vocational Habit(u)s: Catholic Nuns in Contemporary Poland'. in G Vincett, K Aune & S. Sharma (eds), Women and Religion in the West: Challenging secularization. Theology and Religion in Interdisciplinary Perspective Series in Association With the Bsa Sociology of Religion Study Group, Ashgate, Aldershot, United Kingdom, pp. 83-89.
Trzebiatowska, M. (2006). 'Habit does not a nun make? Religious dress in the everyday lives of Polish Catholic nuns'. in Kobiety i religie (Women and Religions); NOMOS, Krakow; Leszczynska, K., Koscianska, A. Kobiety i religie (Women and Religions); NOMOS, Krakow; Leszczynska, K., Koscianska, A, pp. 185-209.

Books and Reports

Books

Trzebiatowska, M. & Bruce, S. (2012). 'Why Are Women More Religious Than Men?'. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

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