Happy to Be Where Theology and Psychology Meet and Have an Interdisciplinary Discussion

Joana Butėnaitė-Switkiewicz:

Library

“I am happy and feel the sense to be here at Fscire, where theology and psychology can meet and have an interdisciplinary discussion. First of all, I was impressed by the library and the literary sources related to religion. This library is a place where I can concentrate and devote myself to my scientific interest. Kind library staff helped me search for the necessary literature through online and physical methods and provided the necessary scans.

Interdisciplinarity

Second, I presented my research on the psychological resilience of Lithuanian adults to the interdisciplinary Fscire research group. The discussion with them gave me useful questions and insights for further investigation. Psychology, which studies the individual and his/ her psyche, helps to understand culture and history, and vice versa, culture and history reveal human psychology. It is a reciprocal effect that affects both personal resilience and community and nation resilience. By understanding these effects and entering into dialogue with other sciences, we can see a more complete picture of individuals living in a given period and country. This can help to improve not only the resilience of separate individuals but also to create resilience-friendly policies.

City

Finally, it was wonderful to spend these few weeks in charming Bologna. This is a city known as the Fat City for its rich cuisine, the Red City for its red-tiled rooftops, the City of Music and the Learned City due to its oldest university in the world. These memories will remain in my heart for a long time.

About Me

I studied Health Psychology at Vilnius University in Lithuania. In 2019, I defended my PhD thesis Roman Catholic Faith of older people: Types, Expression in the Life Course and its Impact on Psychological Resilience. Now I work as a lecturer at the Institute of Psychology and  as a postdoctoral scientist at the Lifelong Learning Laboratory, at Mykolas Romeris University. I continue my research interests in my postdoc project to reveal the expression of psychological resilience and experience of older people in the face of challenges in the course of life (financed by the Lithuanian Science Council, No. S-PD-22-60).

Many thanks to the Director of the Library, Davide Dainese, and his entire team for a warm and meaningful stay at FSCIRE Bologna.”

***

Thank you for this interview, Joana! It was our pleasure having you at Fscire, and we wish you all the best for your continued research.