Tetiana Kalenychenko holds a PhD in the sociology of religion (2018) from the Drahomanov National Pedagogical University (Kyiv, Ukraine), where she also obtained an MA in religious studies. The topic of her dissertation was “The Religious Component of Sociopolitical Conflict in Modern Ukraine.” She earned a BA in Sociology at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. She was a Junior Fellow at the Institute for Human Science in Vienna, where she participated in research, discussions and workshops.
She balances academic and practitioner work as a sociologist of religion, analyst, dialogue facilitator, mediator, evaluator and restorative practices trainer with experience in qualitative research as well as conflict and context analysis. Her work focuses on promoting and adapting peacebuilding practices, particularly within faith-based communities. She has published leading studies on religious aspects of armed conflict for the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) and PAX Netherlands and has contributed to projects on peacebuilding in religious communities and conflict transformation in schools, working with organizations such as the Peaceful Change Initiative (UK) and the Institute for Peace and Common Ground (Ukraine).
Dr. Kalenychenko is a co-founder of the NGO “Dialogue in Action” (DiA), an organization dedicated to cultivating and implementing restorative practices as well as developing practitioner networks. She is also a project coordinator, trainer and facilitator of educational and mediation processes. Since 2021, she has served as the organization’s head. Since February 2024, she has been a guest researcher at Sankt Ignatios College (Sweden), where she focuses on the peacebuilding prism of faith-based communities in Ukraine.
Selected Publications
Kalenychenko, T. (2023) ‘Reflections Upon the Ethical Dilemmas in Research Amidst the War’, Etnografia Polska, 67 (1–2), pp. 21-23.
Brylov, D., Kalenychenko, T., Hovorun, C., Brik, T. (2023) ‘Church Fragmentation and the Pandemic: Analysis of Four Eastern Christian Groups in Ukraine’, in Metreveli, T. (ed.) Orthodox Christianity and Covid-19 Pandemic. London: Routledge, p. 14-35.
Brylov, D. and Kalenychenko, T. (2023) ‘Identity Migration of Orthodox Churches During the War in Ukraine (Since 2014)’, Forum Transregionale Studien, 31 August.
Brylov D., Kalenychenko T., Kryshtal A. (2021) ‘The Religious Factor in Conflict. Research on the Peacebuilding Potential of Religious Communities in Ukraine’, PAX International, 6 April.
Kalenychenko T. (2020) ‘Orthodoxy on the Ground: How to Deal with Religion in Conditions of Armed Conflict’, Canadian Slavonic Papers, 62 (3-4), pp. 497-507.
