Preskoči na vsebino
Inštitut za novejšo zgodovino
Visiting Fellowship 2026/27

María Pinal Villanueva

PhD Candidate; Teaching Assistant. Department of Ethnography and Anthropology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade. Serbia.

María Pinal Villanueva is an anthropologist of religion and a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade, where she also serves as a Teaching Assistant for “Anthropology of the New World.” Her doctoral research examines the work of Živorad Mihajlović Slavinski, analyzing his foundational contributions to local and international esotericism and to the field of belief across former Yugoslavia and contemporary Serbia.  Her broader academic interests encompass New Religious Movements (NRMs), Western Esotericism, media studies, popular culture, and netnographic methodologies. Beyond her research, she serves as Technical Editor for RASCEE (Journal of Research on Religion, Society, and Culture in Central and Eastern Europe) and edits the monthly newsletter for CEENASWE (Central and Eastern European Network for the Academic Study of Western Esotericism).

Statement of interest:

My research in the INZ will focus on the historical and contemporary expressions of occulture within the Yugoslav and Post-Yugoslav space. This fellowship offers an opportunity to explore the Slovenian dimension of regional occultural media, using periodicals such as Misteriji (founded in 1993) to analyze cultural transformations during the post-socialist transition. I am particularly interested in establishing dialogue with INZ researchers working on intellectual history, post-socialist structural transformations, and digital humanities. I hope this stay can serve both to stimulate academic exchange as well as to strengthen institutional collaboration between the University of Belgrade and INZ.

Selected Publications:

PINAL