30/06/2026 14:30 - 17:30

HALL: Pola - A108

Chair: Muratova E., Zasanska N.

Contact: Zasanska N.

In times of uncertainty, faith becomes increasingly significant for those seeking support, compassion, and hope for the future. Recent studies on religious responses to crises have primarily focused on faith-based activism in the context of humanitarian efforts, peacebuilding initiatives, conflict management, and social services. However, the predominant emphasis on traditional religious institutions and authorities offers a top-down perspective on crisis responses, overlooking the experience of individual believers who rely on faith as a source of social support and emotional well-being.
This panel aims to broaden the scope of research beyond institutional frameworks, giving greater visibility to those whose agency remains underrepresented in academic discourse - women of faith. The term 'women of faith' refers to female believers or practitioners representing diverse religious traditions, beliefs, and spiritual practices. The panel explores how women of faith respond to the challenges posed by collective existential crises, such as military conflicts, wars, natural disasters, and epidemics.
We invite scholars from Religious Studies, Anthropology, Digital Religion, and Gender Studies to consider the following questions:
1) How do women of faith respond to the experience of a crisis, and how might these experiences reshape their religious identity, gender roles, sense of a community, or faith-based practice?
2) How do women of faith use digital and other spaces to foster support, solidarity, and resistance within religious communities and beyond in non-religious contexts?
3) In what ways do women of faith influence civic activism in crisis-affected societies?