PHD

Dunja Sharbat Dar Successfully Defends Her Dissertation

CERES researcher Dunja Sharbat Dar successfully defended her dissertation, “Atmospheres in Religious Boundary-Making Processes — A Comparative Study of Christian Church Service Atmospheres in Twenty-First Century Japan,” on August 18, 2026. Her doctoral thesis was supervised by Prof. Dr. Monika Schrimpf (University of Tübingen) and Dr. Martin Radermacher (Ruhr University Bochum/CERES).

In her thesis, Sharbat Dar examines the atmospheres of Christian worship services in Japan and explores how these emerge through the interplay of space, materiality, social positioning, and semantic framing. Drawing on interviews, field research, participant observation, and photographs, she compares nine churches of different denominations, sizes, and social compositions. In doing so, she demonstrates the role that worship service atmospheres play in processes of religious boundary-drawing and identification, as well as in the positioning of Christian congregations within the Japanese religious landscape.

With this dissertation, Sharbat Dar brings together several of her primary research interests, including religion in Japan, religion and space, and sacred architecture. She previously worked at CERES as a research associate on the project “Sacredness in Transition: Religious Buildings in 21st-Century Urban Spaces in Germany.” Her dissertation also fits into the research context of the RelSAT project, in which Sharbat Dar has been active in recent years and which examines the socio-spatial arrangements of contemporary Christianity in Japan.

In addition to her research, Sharbat Dar was also active in teaching at CERES. In several undergraduate and graduate seminars, she explored topics such as religion in contemporary Japan, the relationship between music and religion, and religion in popular culture.

Her colleagues at CERES extend their warmest congratulations to Dunja Sharbat Dar on the successful defense of her dissertation and wish her all the best for the future!