Advisor: Professor Jeffrey J. Kripal

Stanislav Panin is a PhD candidate at the Department of Religion. His current research focuses on the study of unconventional spirituality in the USSR during the Cold War era with the aim to describe main motifs presented in the Soviet esoteric narratives, their functions in the Soviet society and in Russian-speaking diaspora, and the role of unconventional spirituality in exchange of ideas between the Soviet Union and the West. His publications about religion in the Soviet Union and Russia appeared in several academic journals including Open Theology and Religion Compass.