RT Article
T1 Rooms of Silence at Three Universities in Scandinavia
JF Sociology of religion
VO 80
IS 3
SP 299
OP 322
A1 Reintoft Christensen, Henrik
A1 Kühle, Lene 1971-
A1 Høeg, Ida Marie
A1 Nordin, Magdalena 1980-
LA English
PB Oxford Univ. Press
YR 2019
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1672136563
AB In recent decades, a new type of room has been established in public institutions in Europe: the rooms of silence. In this article, rooms of silence at three Scandinavian universities are analyzed with focus on intention, materiality, and use in relation to increased religious diversity in the student population, individualization, and ongoing secularization. This is done by using a typology which distinguishes between individual and collective use and use associated with religious, spiritual, and secular practices. The analyses show that plans and policies for the rooms emphasize stress-reduction and spiritual or secular reflection. The chaplains actively facilitate the shift from collective to more individual use of the rooms. The analyses also show that the restricted materiality of the rooms shapes practices in ways that either hinder collective Muslim prayer or force students to perform prayer as an individual "silent" action.
DO 10.1093/socrel/sry040