I study esotericism and new religious movements — and I put that expertise to work. I prepare expert analyses for institutions and media, conduct commissioned research in archives across Europe and beyond, and advise publishers, creators and fellow researchers.
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I am a researcher of esotericism and new religious movements, focusing on Central and Eastern Europe in both historical and contemporary perspective. My work is inter- and transdisciplinary: I hold degrees in philosophy, sociology, ethnology and pedagogy, and I defended my PhD in philosophy with honours at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, where I now serve as Assistant Professor at the Institute of Comparative Studies of Civilisations.
My recent research reconstructs the history and ideas of the Polish Theosophical Society and examines the blurred boundaries between scientific and occult discourses at the turn of the 20th century. I have carried out archival and field research in Cambridge, London, Amsterdam, the United States and South Africa, and I edit the Studies in Esotericism series at the Jagiellonian University Press.
Alongside academia, I work with institutions, NGOs, media, publishers and creators who need reliable, source-based knowledge about religious and esoteric movements — past and present.
Principal Investigator of National Science Centre (Poland) projects — Preludium, Etiuda, Opus, Sonata
Budget coordinator & researcher in an EU-funded CERV project (CEMORY, 2025–2027)
Author of Polskie Towarzystwo Teozoficzne, Jagiellonian University Press
Editor of Studies in Esotericism at the Jagiellonian University Press
Continents of archival & field research — Europe, North America, Africa
Scientific Committee member, European Federation for Freedom of Belief
Monograph — Jagiellonian University Press, Kraków. First of a series of monographs scheduled 2025–2027.
with Massimo Introvigne — The Journal of CESNUR, Vol. 8, Issue 3.
Aries. Journal for the Study of Western Esotericism (Brill), Vol. 23, Issue 1.
co-edited with N. Radulović — University of Szeged, JATEPress.
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kontakt@karolinamariakotkowska.comExpert opinions are independent and based on the current state of scholarly research.