I am interested in how and why rituals, sacrality, Christian heritage, and values and practices originating in the religious sphere surface in the secular sphere.

1) Spiritual Care. What does the transition from chaplaincy to ‘spiritual care’ imply? How is the expanding role of public-private cooperation related to the focus on ‘meaning making’ versus, e.g., Christian mission? Project (ZonMw): street pastors and ex-detainees.

2) Popular culture. How are the social worlds of religions and of comics interrelated? How do religions use comics?  How are religions represented in comics? How does the use of  comics function as a functional alternative for religion? International Book Project (with University of Agder): Comics, culture and religion: Gods in frames (Bloomsbury)

3) Public Domain. How is religion present in the public domain? I co-supervise PhD projects on the relevance of Catholic social thought for education and business and a Postdoc project on religion in social media.

1991-1995 Lecturer in Sociology and Sociology of Religion at Katholieke Theologische Universiteit, Utrecht

1996-1998 Lecturer in Sociology of Religion at Universitair Centrum voor Theologie en Pastoraat te Heerlen (University of Nijmegen)

1996-1997 Teacher in Religion and Sociology at Ashram College, Alphen aan den Rijn
Project assistant at the Faculty of Theology, University of Amsterdam
Coach youth ministry St. Bavo, Haarlem

1998-2002 Consultant for Church Development in the Diocese of Rotterdam

2000-2002 Lecturer in Sociology of Religion, Sociology of Education and Congregational Studies at Fontys Hogescholen, Faculty of Theology,Amsterdam

2002- present Assistant Professor in Practical Theology at Tilburg School of Catholic Theology

 2008-2010  research project 'New Forms of We' at the Dominican Study Center for Theolology and Society

2019- present Professor Sociology of Worldviews and Public Mental Health at Tilburg University. (KSGV Chair)

Click here for my courses.

Toon van Gestel MA, Meaning and reception of the Vatican II Declaration Gravissimum Educationis in the Netherlands (1965-2015)

Huub Ruel PhD, Catholic Social Thought and Corporate Governance in Multinational Corporations: A Conceptual and Empirical Exploration