About Kirsten
As a theologian and a scholar of religion, educated at the Radboud University of Nijmegen, I conduct research on the role of religion in our contemporary society. During my studies in theology I specialized in Christian theological ethics, and in my Master of religious studies I specialized in Islam. As a theologian and a scholar of religion, I reflect on trends and societal developments and I explain how religion, and theology in particular, can provide direction to contemporary events in our society. I share my findings with scholars and the wider public by means of academic publications, interviews and presentations at (inter-)national conferences and expert meetings.
In my current PhD research on the role of religious identity in the anti-immigration discourse of the European far right, I integrate knowledge from three academic disciplines: theology, philosophy and religious studies. I favor working interdisciplinary: from my perspective, applying knowledge and insights from different fields of study provides more insight. This methodology proved to be fruitful when I received the “Universitaire Studieprijs” of the Radboud University for my research on the history of the Qur’an (view also “Prizes” on this website). In July 2020 my research on the European far right has been selected as one of 18 research projects funded by the PhDs in the Humanities programme of NWO (The Dutch Research Council), which is aimed to give a boost to the supply and promotion of young talent in the humanities. This research grant has given me the opportunity to conduct my research as a PhD candidate at the faculty of Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies of the Radboud University Nijmegen.
In parallel to the aforementioned academic work, I am employed as minister at the Order of Transformants. By means of preaching, individual- and group coaching, I let Gods Word provide direction to life’s daily practice. Whether it are academic theories or theological concepts; it is my passion to make seemingly complicated matters accessible to everyone. It is my enduring endeavor to bridge the gap between theory and the daily practice, in order to show anyone who is willing, that the application of academic, theological knowledge and insights enables us to have a more enlightened and enriched life experience.
You can find my full curriculum vitae on Linkedin: https://nl.linkedin.com/in/kirstensmeets
More information about the Order of Transformants: ordedertransformanten.org
Publications
Smeets, K. (2025). ‘Deus Vult vs. War Never Again. ‘Just war’ and pacifism in the Roman Catholic Tradition.’ In Religioni e violenza, edited by Igor Baglioni. Rome: Edizioni Quasar. (forthcoming Fall 2025)
Smeets, K. (2025). Interviewed as a guest on podcast ‘In A Nutshell’, Episode: ‘Fath and Fear of the Far Right’. Hosted by Jara Majerus. VOX magazine/Spotify (17th of June 2025): https://open.spotify.com/episode/7k3uVMwPfuPdV8Rybp7mM0?si=37a5f2439db5443c
Smeets, K. (2025). Existentiële onzekerheid als oorzaak van religieuze polarisatie op TikTok. Article at the Dutch website Sociale Vraagstukken (27th of May 2025). https://www.socialevraagstukken.nl/religieuze-polarisatie-op-tiktok-komt-voort-uit-onzekerheid/
Smeets, K. (2025). Pulling the Emergency Brake! Why the Far Right is Successful in Juxtaposing Christianity against Islam in Secular Europe (Doctoral dissertation, Radboud University). Nijmegen: Radboud University Press. https://books.radbouduniversitypress.nl/index.php/rup/catalog/book/Pulling-the-Emergency-Brake
Smeets, K. (2024). ‘Religious Contra-Identities within the Political Rhetoric of the European Far Right.’ In When Politics Meets Religion. Navigating Old Challenges and New Perspectives, edited by Marko Veković & Miroljub Jevtić. Routledge: Routledge studies in Religion and Politics.
Smeets, K. (2022). ‘Europe in Crisis? The European Far Right and Religious Identity.’ Blog at the Swedish website of Religion in praxis: https://religioninpraxis.com/europe-in-crisis/
Smeets, K. & Sterkens, C. (2014). ‘Religieuze voorgangers tussen Schrift en recht. Botsing van godsdienstvrijheid en het gelijkheidsbeginsel in Nederland.’ Tijdschrift voor Religie, Recht en Beleid (3) 55-70. Den Haag: Boom Uitgevers.
Master theses:
Smeets, K. (2019). ‘Jesus Christ as Warlord or Peacemaker. The theoretical intertwining of framing and cultural memory in explaining the difference between pope Urban II and pope Francis I in their theological (de-) legitimization of violence.’ MA Thesis, Nijmegen: Radboud University.
Smeets, K. (2014). ‘De ontstaansgeschiedenis van de Koran in het licht van de Cultural Memory theorie van Jan Assmann.’ MA Thesis, Nijmegen: Radboud University.
Media appearances
Interview. Podcast In a Nutshell: ‘Faith and Fear of the Far Right’ of Vox magazine/Spotify. Hosted by Jara Majerus. June 2025. See: https://www.voxweb.nl/podcast/in-a-nutshell-s-2-e-18-faith-and-fear-of-the-far-right-with-kirsten-smeets
Interview. University Award 2015. Radboud University Nijmegen
Presentations
2025
RUNOMI Annual Congress on Migrant Inclusion and Populism
Speaker: Europe for Europeans: Immigration in far-right populist discourse on TikTok.
June 2025, Radboud University Nijmegen
IISRA 4th Annual Conference
Speaker: Islamophobia on TikTok: transcending far-right boundaries.’
May 2025, University of Granada, Spain
2024
Filosofische Kring Rozendaal
Speaker: ‘Religie en Radicaal Rechts.’
November 2024, Rozendaal
Research Colloquium Islam and Arabic & Religious Studies
Speaker: ‘Pulling the Emergency Brake! Why the Far Right is Successful in Juxtaposing Christianity against Islam in Secular Europe.’
October 2024, Utrecht University, Utrecht.
ECPR General Conference 2024
Speaker: ‘Secularism and the Construction of Religious Contra-Identities in European Far-Right Discourse.’
August 2024, University College Dublin, Ireland.
RCPS Meeting
Speaker: ‘Religious Contra-Identities in the Anti-Immigration Discourse of the European Far Right’
May 2024, Radboud University Nijmegen
NOSTER Spring Conference
Speaker: ‘The Rise of the European Far Right and the Role of Religion’
April 2024, Nieuwkuijk.
2023
Conference ‘Politology of Religion: IV Bi-Annual Conference 2023’
Speaker: ‘Religious Contra-Identities within the Political Rhetoric of the European Far Right’
May 2023, at the Faculty of Political Science, University of Belgrade, Serbia
NGG Spring Meeting 2023
Speaker: ‘The European Far Right and Social Media’
April 2023, at Trippenhuis (KNAW), Amsterdam.
Festival ‘Denkwerk’
Speaker: ‘Eenzaamheid, identiteit en rechts-radicalisme.’
March 2023, De Lindenberg, Nijmegen.
Course New Religious Movements
Guest Lecturer: ‘Crisis as a breeding ground for new religious identities: 'Cultural Christianity' and 'The Order of Transformants'’
March 2023, Radboud University Nijmegen.
2022
Conference ‘Christianity and Crisis in European Contexts’
Speaker: 'The Populist Far Right and Secularized Christianity: signifier to a European identity crisis?'
October 2022, at LUX, Lund University, Sweden
Workshop 'Are religious worldviews still relevant to democracy today? Anglo-American, Dutch, and German perspectives'
Speaker: 'Religion needs to strike back? Christian ethics as a cornerstone for Dutch democracy.’
June 2022, at the Faculty of Divinity, Cambridge University, England
The Race-Religion Constellation Project
Speaker: 'Characteristics of the far right.’
May 2022, Radboud University Nijmegen
NOSTER Spring Conference
Speaker: 'The European Far Right: beyond definitions.’
April 2022, Abdij Mariënkroon in Den Bosch, The Netherlands
2021
Course Russian Philosophy, Politics, Society
Guest Lecturer: ‘Identity.’
April 2021, Radboud University Nijmegen.
2019
Seminar ‘The Things of Conflict; a Religious Studies Perspective’
Speaker: ‘Trade your Gun for a Bible. The symbolic positioning of ex-gang members as evangelicals in El Salvador.’
November 2019, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
2018
Theological Festival Wanderlust.
Speaker: ‘Het verschil tussen paus Urbanus II en paus Franciscus I in hun theologische (de-) legitimatie van geweld.’ (‘The difference between pope Urban II and pope Francis in their theological (de-) legitimization of violence’)
Maart 2018, De Waagh, Nijmegen.
2017
Conference ‘Religioni e Violenza. Ideologie, Riti, Conflitti’ (Religions and Violence. Ideologies, Rites, Conflicts).
Speaker: ‘Deus Vult vs. War Never Again. Analyzing the shift in the papal authorization of violence within the Roman Catholic Tradition.’
Juni 2017, Università Telematica “Pegaso” in Rome (Velletri), Italy.
NOSTER Spring Conference.
Presentation: ‘Cultural memory and the interpretation of religious texts advocating violence in Judaism, Christianity and Islam.’
April 2017, Conferentiehotel Kontakt der Kontinenten, Soesterberg.
2015
Seminar Dynamics of Islamic Politics
Presentation: ‘The History of the Qur’an in the light of the Cultural Memory Theory of Jan Assmann’. J. Wagemakers, N. Boekhoff-van der Voort.
Mei 2015, Radboud University Nijmegen.
2014
The Sahaba Project
Presentation: Jan Assmann & The History of the Qu’ran. N. Boekhoff-van der Voort, H. Motzki, J. Scheiner, A. Görke.
December 2014, Radboud University Nijmegen.
Grants and Awards
GSH Award
For finishing the PhD thesis Pulling the Emergency Brake! Why the Far Right is Successful in Juxtaposing Christianity against Islam in Secular Europe before the end of contract. Graduate School for the Humanities, Radboud University Nijmegen.
Doctoral Grant ‘PhDs in the Humanities Programme’ (NWO) 2020-2024.
Funded by the Dutch Research Council. Project title: ‘Religious Contra-Identities in the Anti-Immigration Discourse of the European Far-Right’.
Winner of the Theology Slam 2018, as part of the Theological Festival Wanderlust (organized by Radboud Reflects and NOSTER) in Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
University Award 2015 Radboud University Nijmegen for the master thesis ‘De ontstaansgeschiedenis van de Koran in het licht van de cultural memory theorie van Jan Assmann’ (‘The history of the Qur’an in the light of the cultural memory theory of Jan Assmann’).