Olav Hammer
Encyclopedia
Olav Hammer, is a Swedish
professor at the University of Southern Denmark
in Odense
working in the field of history of religion. He has written four books in Swedish
and one monograph Claiming Knowledge: Strategies of Epistemology from Theosophy to the New Age (2001) in English. This volume which was also Hammer's doctoral dissertation (in the year 2000 at Lund University
) investigates the rhetorical strategies of legitimization of a number of related new religious movements. He is also editor of several books, including Polemical Encounters (with Kocku von Stuckrad, Brill 2007), The Invention of Sacred Tradition (with James R. Lewis, Cambridge UP 2007) and Alternative Christs (Cambridge UP 2009). Since January 2009, he is also the editor of the journal Numen.
In 2002 the title of årets folkbildare in Sweden was bestowed on Hammer (an honor which could best be translated as "Public educator of the year"), by the society Föreningen Vetenskap och Folkbildning
"for his balanced and pedagogical books about the history of new religions
and the causes behind people's beliefs in pseudoscience
."
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
professor at the University of Southern Denmark
University of Southern Denmark
The University of Southern Denmark, with campuses located in the southwestern part of Denmark - i.e. Funen, Southern Jutland and Sealand - is a research and educational institution with deep regional roots and an international outlook. Reaching even further south, the university offers a number of...
in Odense
Odense
The city of Odense is the third largest city in Denmark.Odense City has a population of 167,615 and is the main city of the island of Funen...
working in the field of history of religion. He has written four books in Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
and one monograph Claiming Knowledge: Strategies of Epistemology from Theosophy to the New Age (2001) in English. This volume which was also Hammer's doctoral dissertation (in the year 2000 at Lund University
Lund University
Lund University , located in the city of Lund in the province of Scania, Sweden, is one of northern Europe's most prestigious universities and one of Scandinavia's largest institutions for education and research, frequently ranked among the world's top 100 universities...
) investigates the rhetorical strategies of legitimization of a number of related new religious movements. He is also editor of several books, including Polemical Encounters (with Kocku von Stuckrad, Brill 2007), The Invention of Sacred Tradition (with James R. Lewis, Cambridge UP 2007) and Alternative Christs (Cambridge UP 2009). Since January 2009, he is also the editor of the journal Numen.
In 2002 the title of årets folkbildare in Sweden was bestowed on Hammer (an honor which could best be translated as "Public educator of the year"), by the society Föreningen Vetenskap och Folkbildning
Föreningen Vetenskap och Folkbildning
Vetenskap och Folkbildning or The Swedish Skeptics' Association, abbreviated as VoF, is a Swedish skeptics' association. It was founded in 1982 with the purpose to raise the general public's awareness of scientific methods and results...
"for his balanced and pedagogical books about the history of new religions
New religious movement
A new religious movement is a religious community or ethical, spiritual, or philosophical group of modern origin, which has a peripheral place within the dominant religious culture. NRMs may be novel in origin or they may be part of a wider religion, such as Christianity, Hinduism or Buddhism, in...
and the causes behind people's beliefs in pseudoscience
Pseudoscience
Pseudoscience is a claim, belief, or practice which is presented as scientific, but which does not adhere to a valid scientific method, lacks supporting evidence or plausibility, cannot be reliably tested, or otherwise lacks scientific status...
."