My main research interests are in the field of current ritual dynamics, ritual and liturgy, popular religion and (early) Christian art, and sacred sites and pilgrimage, on which I have published books and articles. In recent years the focus of my research is on ritual space and place, included cyberspace and cyberritual, ritual dynamics, absent ritual and disaster ritual. I am now involved in two larger projects: one book project on disaster ritual, and an international project on redundant churches and ritual recasting. I am also writing a small introduction to ritual and the study of rituals (in Dutch).

Completed PhD supervisons:

- C. Wijers (carnavalsritueel in Limburg) [1995]

- J. Helsloot (feestcultuur in Goes) [1995]

- J. van de Ven (geschiedenis huwelijksritueel in de Nederlanden) [2000]

- P.J. Margry (processieritueel in Nederland, 19^e eeuw) [2000]

- S. de Jonge (moderne kerkarchitectuur) [2002]

- R. Bot (liturgische muziek en de Liturgische Beweging) [2003]

- T. Michels (actueel huwelijksritueel) [2004]

- C. Wepener (PhD at Stellenbosch, Zuid-Afrika) (riten en symbolen van verzoening) [2004]

- M. Hoondert (ritueel-muzikale bewegingen in de marge van de parochie (Gregoriaans, Taizé, jongerenkoren) [2006]

- I. Albers (Lopen als ritueel fenomeen) [2007]

- G. Juchtmans (Liturgie thuis) [2008]

- P. Versnel (Geschiedenis Nederlandse liturgiewetenschap, 20^ste eeuw) [2009]

- J. Holsappel-Brons (Ruimte voor stilte. Stiltecentra in Nederland als speelveld van traditie en vernieuwing, 23 sept. 2010)

- J. Tonnaer (Bomen voor het leven. Een studie naar een hedendaags collectief herdenkingsritueel voor overleden kankerpatiënten, 8 okt. 2010)

- Th. Van Dun (Invoeren in Vieren: Ritueel-Liturgische Strategieën. Een onderzoek naar de katholieke kerkdiensten in inrichtingen van justitie in Nederland, 7 dec. 2011)

- L. Sparks (Ambiguous Spaces: A Contextualisation of Shared Pilgrimage in Ephesus, 16 dec. 2011)

- A. Ossewaarde (Beelden van hoop en verwachting. Een onderzoek naar de afbeeldingen en hun betekenis op Romeinse christelijke kindersarcofagen uit de 3^e en 4^e eeuw, 12 dec. 2012)

- J. Schoenmakers (Officia propria. Liturgische rituelen en gebruiken in het sticht voor adellijke dames in Thorn, 25 juni 2014)

- L. Faro (Postponed memorials, 28 jan. 2015)

- H. Leijten (Objects with power: toe-eigeningen van Afrikaanse cultische voorwerpen)

- B.R. Monte (Tiny Zion. Harvest Hiolls. An intentional Zionic community, 2 dec. 2015)

- I. Schippers (Sacred places in the suburb. Casual sacrality in the Dutch VINEX-district Leidsche Rijn, 14 dec. 2015)

- Sh. Du Plooy (Phd at University of the Free State, Bloemfontein SA, faculty of Humanities, Centre for African Studies) (Pilgrimage to sacred sites in the Eastern Free State SA, July 2015)

- L. Wijnia (Festival Musica sacra Maastricht: discourses on sacrality, 12 sept. 2016) [cum laude / with distinction]

- M. de Ruijter (Confining frailty. Making place for ritual in rest and nursing homes, 16 nov. 2016)

Promotor ex officio (as director of the TSH/TiU Graduate School) formal replacement: H. Uijterwijk; R. Slegers-Leijsten; H. de Jong; W. Dickhoff; J. Hoeben

S. van der Beek (New pilgrim stories. Narratives – Identities – Authenticity, 18 June 2018)

G. ten Berge (Pelgrimeren met een missie, 12 June 2020)

PhD supervisions in progress:

- N. Stoppelenburg (historische religiografie in Oudewater)

- J. Mollenhorst (muziek in crematoria)

- al furqon mthi (Indonesian shrines between religion and tourism)

23-04-1953: Born as Paulus Gijsbertus Johannes Post in Bilthoven NL.

1971: Gymnasium A at the Bernardinus-college in Heerlen NL, residing at Roman Catholic Seminary (OMI, Collegium Carolinum, Ravensbos, Valkenburg (NL))

1972: Propedeuse Katholieke Theologische Hogeschool Utrecht (KTHU).

1975: Kandidaats.

1975/6: ‘Primo Anno’ at the Pontificio Istituto di Archeologia Cristiana in Rome student at the Pontificio Collegio Olandese Pius XI; specialization: Christian iconography and architecture.

1977: KTHU ‘Doctoraal’ cum laude, specialization: history of liturgy, supervisor: prof.dr. Herman Wegman.

1978: Research in Aquileia (It.), Centro di Antichità Altoadriatiche.

1978-1980: Combining a PhD project with the function of coordinator/secretary of STEGON (Stichting voor Theologisch en Godsdienstwetenschappelijk Onderzoek in Nederland), part of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (ZWO, now NWO).

1980-1988: Assistant professor (UD) Liturgical Studies at the University for Pastoral Care (Universiteit voor Theologie en Pastoraat, Heerlen (HTP, later UTP)).

1984: PhD KTHU/Utrecht University (De haanscene in de vroegchristelijke kunst. Een iconografische en iconologische analyse, Voerendaal 1984); supervisors: prof.dr. Herman Wegman and prof.dr. Maarten Vermaseren.

1980ss.: Initiator and project leader of the large scale research project ‘Christian pilgrimages’, together with dr. M. van Uden and dr. J. Pieper.

1988ss.: Head of the Department of European Ethnology, Meertens Institute, KNAW (a research institute of the Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences), Amsterdam.

1988ss.: Initiator and project leader of the large documentation project ‘Places of Pilgrimages in the Netherlands’ (Bedevaartplaatsen in Nederland, BiN). Resulting in a four volume publication, last part published in 2004.

1992-2004: Chair of the editorial board of the BiN project.

1991-2001: Member of the Steering Committee of the NWO priority programme ‘Nederlandse cultuur in Europese context/Dutch culture in a European context’.

1994ss.: Full professor Liturgical (from 2008: and Ritual) Studies, Theological Faculty Tilburg (TFT) and director of the interuniversity Liturgical Institute (until 2014/5) (from 2009: Institute for Liturgical and Ritual Studies; from medio 2012: Institute for Ritual and Liturgical Studies (IRiLiS)). From 2013: Chair Ritual Studies.

1994ss.: Responsible for the national research programs of the Liturgical Institute: until 2000: ‘Liturgische bewegingen en feestcultuur’; from 2000: ‘Rituele personen en patronen’ (2001-2005); ‘Liturgische bewegingen III: Dynamiek van bewegingen en tegenbewegingen, heroriëntaties en herijkingen’ (2006-            2009); ‘Liturgical and Ritual Movements IV: Reframing liturgical and ritual identities’ (2009-2012).

2000-2001: Initiator and project leader: Disaster Ritual, financed by the KNAW, together with dr. H. Zondag en dr. A. Nugteren.

2006: Start research program ‘Holy ground: Re-inventing ritual space in modern Western culture’ (2006-2010), part of the NWO research program ‘The future of the religious past’, in cooperation with University of Groningen (prof.dr. A.L. Molendijk).

2006-2007: Research for Holy Ground program in: Rome (at the KNIR: Royal Netherlands Institute Rome), Berlin, Erfurt and Helsinki.

June 2006: Member of the National Assessment Panel Theology, Finish Academy of Sciences and Arts.

2007ss.: Initiator and coordinator of the international research project ‘Sacred Sites’, a SANPAD project (the South African Netherlands research Programme on Alternatives in Development), a joint program of Tilburg University and the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein, together with prof.dr. Wouter van Beek and prof.dr. Philip Nel (Bloemfontein SA).

2008-2009: Member of the management team of the Department Religious Studies and Theology (DRT), leader of the DRT research program.

2009: Start of the School of Humanities of Tilburg University, member of the Department of Culture Studies, member of the research group Religion & Ritual.

2010-2017: Member of the Faculty Board of the School of Humanities, vice-dean for research, director of the Graduate School of Humanities, director of IRiLiS.

2012-2013: Initiator and project leader of the CLARIN project PILNAR (Pilgrimage Narratives); this project creates a data corpus of pilgrimage narratives as a basis for research on profiles of the modern pilgrim. In cooperation          with the Meertens Institute (KNAW) and the Dutch Society of St James.

2013ss.: Initiator of the ‘Academy project’, an initiative to create platforms or ‘affinity spaces’ where practitioners and scholars meet en interact. Two of these Academies started in 2013: the ‘Funerair Academisch Platform’ (Funeral Academy) and the ‘Camino Academy’.

2014ss.: Member of the PRACMEM network group on Practices of memoralisation of victimhood (partners: Intervict (Tilburg), University of Bath, University of Leuven, Universit of the Basque Country (Universidad del Pais Vasco), San Sebastian).

2015ss.: Involved in projects on the position of the church buildings in Europe (esp. redundant churches) with as perspective the general dynamics of sacred space and place. Cooperation in conferences, seminars and publications with University of Bonn (prof.dr. Albert Gerhards and dr. Kim de Wildt), University of Bern (dr. Joh. Stueckelberger).

2016-2019: Book project on Absent ritual (editor together with dr. Martin Hoondert). Publication in 2019 (Caroline Academic Press, Durham, CA, Ritual Studies Monograph series).

2017ss.: Starting publication project on Disaster Ritual (editors: Paul Post, Marcel Barnard, Martin Hoondert & Mirella Klomp), in cooperation with Institute of Ritual and Liturgical Studies (Amsterdam). Book planned for 2020/1. Publisher: Peeters: Leuven etc.

2017ss.: Start project on Redundant church buildings in Europe and conversion of churches, together with Universities of Bern and Karlsruhe. International conference application with the Volkswagen Stiftung, Hannover, planned for 2020 in Hannover, ‘Herrenhäuser Symposium’(postponed due to the corona crisis, now planned for 2021).

2019: Valedictory lecture over Rituele herbestemming als recasting, 1 Nov., Tilburg University.

Books (selection): with Jos Pieper and Marinus van Uden, eds.: The Modern Pilgrim (1998); Het wonder van Dokkum: verkenningen van populair religieus ritueel (2000); with Marcel Barnard, eds.: Ritueel bestek: antropologische kernwoorden van de liturgie (2001); et al. eds.: Christian Feast and Festival (2001); et al.: Disaster Ritual (2003); Space for Liturgy (2004); with Benedikt Kranemann, eds.: Die modernen ‘Ritual Studies’ als Herausforderung für die Liturgiewissenschaft/Modern Ritual Studies as a Challenge for Liturgical Studies (2009); with Arie Molendijk, eds.: Holy Ground: Re-inventing Ritual Space in Modern Western Culture (2010); Voorbij het kerkgebouw: de speelruimte van een ander sacraal domein (2010); with Louis van Tongeren, Marcel Barnard, and Gerard Rouwhorst, eds.: Patterns and Persons: A Historiography of Liturgical Studies in the Netherlands in the Twentieth Century (2010); De Romeinse Katakomben in Valkenburg: het verhaal van een unieke kopie (2010); with Arie Molendijk and Justin Kroesen, eds.: Sacred Places in Modern Western Culture (2011); with Philip Nel and Walter van Beek, eds.: Sacred Sites, Contested Grounds: Space and Ritual Dynamics in Europe and Africa (2014); with Logan Sparks, eds.: The Study of Culture through the Lens of Ritual (2015); with Suzanne van der Beek: Doing Ritual Criticism in a Network Society. Online and Offline Explorations into Pilgrimage and Sacred Place (2015); ‘Ritual Studies’, in Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion, Oxford UP (2015); A Short History of the Roman Catacombs in Valkenburg, the Netherlands (2018); with Martin Hoondert, eds.: Absent ritual. Exploring the ambivalence and dynamics of ritual (2019); Rituele herbestemming als recasting. Rituele dynamiek voorbij inculturatie en syncretisme (2019).