Petra Kuivala
Visiting Scholar at the History Department, Harvard University
Dr. Kuivala conducts postdoctoral research in the fields of history, theology and religious studies, and Cuban studies. She received her doctorate from the University of Helsinki in 2019 and worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Helsinki. She has also held an appointment as a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at the Cuban Research Institute, Florida International University (2016–2017). Besides her focus on religion and the Cuban revolution, Dr. Kuivala's broader research interests include Christianity in the Americas, contemporary Catholicism, and the questions of Catholicism and political power.
Dr. Kuivala’s research on the Cuban revolution draws on fieldwork on the island, combining archival and oral sources with ethnographic research. Particularly essential to her work are the previously unstudied archives of the Catholic Church in Cuba, in which Dr. Kuivala has conducted research since 2015. Her recent work includes articles on Cuban religious material culture and the histories of lived religion in revolutionary Cuba. Her current project focuses on the intersections of religious and revolutionary lifestyles in Cuban society.
Dr. Kuivala’s research on the Cuban revolution draws on fieldwork on the island, combining archival and oral sources with ethnographic research. Particularly essential to her work are the previously unstudied archives of the Catholic Church in Cuba, in which Dr. Kuivala has conducted research since 2015. Her recent work includes articles on Cuban religious material culture and the histories of lived religion in revolutionary Cuba. Her current project focuses on the intersections of religious and revolutionary lifestyles in Cuban society.
