Dr. des. Sarah Perez

Teaching

Teaching Interests:

Eco and Online Spirituality
Religion and Youth Culture
Early Modern Visions and Apparitions (1500–1800)
Genealogy of Modern Near-death Experiences
Death and Dying from the Perspective of the Study of Religion
Narratives on Religious Experiences
Literature and Religion

Given Courses:

2020–2025
Year	Course Title	Type
2025	Shamanic Landscapes: Eine systematische Untersuchung der Öko-Spiritualität in der Schweiz (with Piotr Sobkowiak)	Systematic
2024	University of Vienna: Etwas Altes, etwas Neues, etwas Geliehenes: Religionswissenschaftlich Quellenarbeit zu Jenseitsvisionen vom Mittelalter bis Heute (with Bastiaan van Rijn)	Method
2023	Ruhe in Frieden…oder? Frühneuzeitliche Erfahrungen und Prophezeiungen im Kontext von Kultur, Gesellschaft und Politik	Systematic
2023	To Be or Not to Be: Religions' Engagement with Death (mit Bastiaan van Rijn)	Systematic
2022	Paradise Lost: Are Hogwarts and Mordor Replacing the Ideas of Heaven and Hell?	Systematic
2021	Einführung in der Religionswissenschaft I	Systematic
2020	Confronting Death: An Introduction into Death, Dying, and Religion	Systematic
2020	Fiktionale Literatur als Medium für Religion: Theorie und Fallbeispiele	Systematic

Publications and Presentations

Books:

with Jens Schlieter und Bastiaan van Rijn, ed. 2024. Intentional Transformative Experiences:Theorizing Self-Cultivation in Religion and Esotericism. Berlin: De Gruyter.

Articles and Book Chapters:

2024. „Through the Looking-Glass: A Stage-Based Approach to the Intentional Transformative Experience of Reality Shifting“ In: Intentional Transformative Experiences: Theorizing Self-Cultivation in Religion and Esotericism.

Book Reviews:

With Bastiaan van Rijn. 2023. [Review of the book Virtual Immortality God, Evolution and the Singularity in Post and Transhumanism, by O. Krüger]. Journal of Posthuman Studies 6 (1): 89–94.
With Bastiaan van Rijn. 2022. [Review of the book Virtualität und Unsterblichkeit – Gott, Evolution und die Singularität im Post- und Transhumanismus, by O. Krüger]. Zeitschrift für Junge Religionswissenschaft 17.

Presentations:

17. Januar 2025. "Magic and Mulled Wine: From Play to Practice with Cozy Witch Aesthetics," Workshop Fun with Religion: Investigating Playfulness, Play, and Games in the Study of Religion, Universität Bern.
22. August 2024. "Becoming That Person: Implicit Religion and Online Trends on Vegetarianism, Mindfulness, and Transformation," Nature, Ecology, and Religious Responses to Climate Change, EASR, University of Gothenburg.
With Bastiaan van Rijn. August 7, 2024. "Heavenly Blackmail, Divine Intervention, and Subtle Empowerment: The Changing Roles of Angels in the Western Imagination," Ferienakademie Mit Pauken und Trompeten: Eine Akademie über Engel, Cusanuswerk.
With Bastiaan van Rijn. 13. Juni 13 2024. "Implicit Religion in Social Media," Religious Studies Workshop Series, Universität Wien.
6. September 2023. „Early Modern Religious 'clickbait: Analyzing the Use of Printing and Marketing to Distribute Religious Reports,“ European Association for the Study of Religion, University of Vilnius.
28. June 2023. „Boundary Work and Integration in Reality Shifting: The Appropriation of Spiritual Practices as New Methods and Tools,“ Conference of the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism, Malmö University.
29. June 2022. „A Quantum Leap Across Realities: Transformative Experiences as a Tool for Escape,“ European Association for the Study of Religion, University of Cork.
With Bastiaan van Rijn. June 17, 2022. “A Harsh Reality: Conceptualizing a New Spiritual Response to Devastating Crises,” Humanities Faculty Symposium, University of Leiden.
3. December 2021. „Narrative ausseralltäglicher Erfahrungen: Visionen, Prophezeiungen und Träume im Kontext wissenschaftlicher Kategorien und frühneuzeitlicher Realitäten,“ Forschungskolloquium des Instituts für Religionswissenschaft, Universität Bern.
With Bastiaan van Rijn. 17. September 2021. „Confronting Death: Inspiring Innovation through Interdisciplinary Dialogues,“ Interdisciplinary Dialogues on Death Rituals: Materializing the Absent, Universität Bern.
16. September 2021. „Der Einfluss der pietistischen Weltuntergangsfantasien auf die religiösen Visionen der Neuzeit (1550–1800),“ Deutsche Vereinigung für Religionswissenschaft, Universität Leipzig.
2. September 2021. „Signs of the Times - Investigating the Analytic Concept Behind Resilient Religious Experiences,“ European Association for the Study of Religion, Universität Pisa.
15. May 2020. „Ich sehe was, was du nicht siehst…: Zwischen mittelalterlicher Vision und moderner Nahtoderfahrung – Eine systematische Untersuchung religiöser Erfahrungen zwischen 1500 und 1800,“ Forschungskolloquium des Instituts für Religionswissenschaft, Universität Bern.

Public Outreach:

Interview. January 2025. "Hexen in Horgen" Sagenjäger Podcast.
Interview. March, 20th, 2024. "Moderne Hexe – Spirituelle Rituale und Praktiken als Lebenshilfe?" SRF Impact.

Research

Research Interests:

Eco and Online Spirituality
Religion and Youth Culture
Early Modern Visions and Apparitions (1500–1800)
Genealogy of Modern Near-death Experiences
Death and Dying from the Perspective of the Study of Religion
Narratives on Religious Experiences
Literature and Religion

Research Project:

Contemporary Eco Spirituality in Switzerland
Narrative außeralltäglicher Erfahrungen:Visionen und Engelserscheinungen im Kontext wissenschaftlicher Kategorien und frühneuzeitlicher Realitäten (Finished in 2024)

CV

Academic Curriculum Vitae

2024–present: Postdoctoral researcher (SNF)
2024: Scientific Staff at the PH Bern
2022–2023: Research member of the SNF project: Experiments with Experience: Experimenting with Religions and Spiritual Practice as Experimentation.
Seit 2019: PhD candidate at the Institute for the science of religion, University of Bern.
2018: MA, Religion und Ethik, University of Kiel.

Institute for the Science of Religion