Loïc Bawidamann studied Religious Studies and Modern History at the University of Zurich. As part of his Master’s programme, he spent a semester at the EHESS in Paris. Since 2023, he has worked as an assistant at the Chair of Religious Studies with a systematic-theoretical focus and has been pursuing an independent PhD project. From October 2024 to July 2025, he was a visiting student at the Faculty of Divinity at the University of Cambridge.

"Alternative Knowledge and Belief in Society. Conspiracy Theories, Heterodox Knowledge, and the Importance of Religious Beliefs in Society"

Loïc Bawidamann’s PhD project analyses alternative knowledge structures and their impact on society, focusing on the significance of religious beliefs. This project relies on original empirical research to examine the emergence of different competing knowledge structures, explore the interplay of religion within these dynamics, and discuss society’s response to alternative epistemologies.

• Main Seminar «QAnon, Flat Earth and Reptilians: Perspectives on Conspiracy Theories» at the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Lucerne, HS 2025.
• Bachelor's Seminar «The End of the World: Apocalypse, Armageddon and the Millennium» at the Department of Religious Studies, University of Zurich, HS 2025.
• Contribution to the course «C21: The End of the World» with Prof. Dr Joseph Webster at the Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge, HS 2024.
• Supervision for the course «A6: Understanding Contemporary Religion» with Prof. Dr Joseph Webster at the Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge, HS 2024.
• Bachelor Seminar «Religion in the USA (Seminar with Study Trip)» with Prof. Dr Rafael Walthert at the Department of Religious Studies, University of Zurich, FS 2024.
• Bachelor Seminar «Religion and Conspiracy Theories» at the Department of Religious Studies, University of Zurich,  HS 2023.
• Tutor at the Department of History, University of Zurich. «Introduction to Historical Theory» with Dr Sarah-Maria Schober, FS 2020.
• Tutor at the Department of Religious Studies, University of Zurich. «Introduction to the Systematic-Theoretical Study of Religion» with Prof. Dr Rafael Walthert, FS 2020.
• Tutor at the Department of Religious Studies, University of Zurich. «Introduction to Visible Religion» with Prof. Dr Christoph Uehlinger and Dr Farida Stickel, HS 2017-HS 2020.

• Bawidamann, Loïc (2024): «Genesis and Structure of the Alternative Field. Conspiracy Theories, Alternative Medicine, and the Fight against the Mainstream», in: AЯGOS Vol. 3, No. 1, 1-25, URL: https://doi.org/10.26034/fr.argos.2024.5535
• Bawidamann, Loïc (2024): «From the Religious Field to the Alternative Field. How Conspiracy Theories Challenge Differentiation», in: Journal of Religion in Europe, Vol. 17, No. 1, 1-31, URL: https://doi.org/10.1163/18748929-bja10099.
• Bawidamann, Loïc/Walthert, Rafael (2024): «Between Market and Domestication: The Quest for the Recognition of Yoga as Religion», in: Annual Review of the Sociology of Religion Vol. 14 (2023), 159-179, URL: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004686250_009.
• Bawidamann, Loïc (2021): «Legitimation und Konkurrenz: Divergierende Deutungsmuster der archäologischen Fundstätte in Avebury», in: Zeitschrift für junge Religionswissenschaft Vol. 16, URL: http://journals.openedition.org/zjr/1995.
• Bawidamann, Loïc/Peter, Laura/Walthert, Rafael (2021): «Restricted Religion. Compliance, Vicariousness, and Authority during the Corona Pandemic in Switzerland», in: European Societies Vol. 23, No. 1, 637-657, URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/14616696.2020.1833068.

• «Back to Community: Connecting Conspiracy Theorists Beyond the Screen», International Sociological Association (ISA) Forum of Sociology 2025: Knowing Justice in the Anthropocene, 06.07.-11.07.2025 in Rabat, Morocco.
• «Conspiritual Millenarianism: The Organic Christ Generation and Their Contemporary Reflections on the Book of Revelation», Centre for the Critical Study of Apocalyptic and Millenarian Movements (CenSAMM), University of Cambridge, 06.05.2025 in Cambridge, United Kingdom.
• «When the Enemy Shows Up: The Academic and the Anti-Science Movement», Association of Social Anthropologists (ASA) Conference 2025: Critical Junctions: Anthropology on the Moves, 08.04.-11.04.2025 in Birmingham, United Kingdom.
• «Genesis and Structure of the Alternative Field» Institute of Social Anthropology, University of Basel, 01.04.2025 in Basel, Switzerland

• «Conspiritueller Millenarismus [Conspiritual Millenarianism]», Institute for the Science of Religion, University of Bern, 16.05.2024 in Bern, Switzerland.

• «Der Kampf gegen den Mainstream. Eine religionswissenschaftliche Perspektive auf Verschwörungstheorien [Fighting the Mainstream. A Religious Studies Perspective on Conspiracy Theories]», Institute of Cultural Studies, University of the Bundeswehr, 05.12.2023 in Munich, Germany.
• «Von Reptiloiden, Conspirituality und dem Kampf gegen den Mainstream. Eine religionswissenschaftliche Perspektive auf Verschwörungstheorien [Reptiloids, Conspirituality and the Fight Against the Mainstream. A Religious Studies Perspective on Conspiracy Theories]», Social Psychology Colloquium, University of Koblenz, 07.11.2023 in Koblenz, Germany.
• «Only the Internet Remains: Online Presence as a Last Resort for Controversial Religious Communities», Annual Conference of the European Association for the Study of Religions (EASR) 2023: Religions and Technologies, 04.09.-08.09.2023 in Vilnius, Lithuania.
• «The Pastor as Conspiracy Theorist: How Going Online Changed an Evangelical Community», Conference of the International Society for Media, Religion, and Culture (ISMRC) 2023: Metaphor & Misinformation: Religion in Media-Driven Worlds, 01.08.-05.08.2023 in Bochum, Germany.
• «Pierre Bourdieu», Conference of the Swiss Society for the Study of Religion (SGR- SSSR) 2020: Neue Klassiker*innen der Religionswissenschaft? / Vers de nouveaux (nouvelles) classiques en histoire et sciences des religions? [Towards New Classics in the History and Study of Religion?], 12.03.-13.03.2021 in Zürich, Switzerland.

• Co-Editor of the Zeitschrift für junge Religionswissenschaft (ZjR)
• Recipient of a UZH DocMobility Fellowship for a research stay at the University of Cambridge from October 2024 to July 2025.
• Organisation of the International Workshop «Conspiracy Theories and Religion Examining the Intersection from a Religious Studies Perspective» at the University of Zurich, 12.09.-13.09.2024 in Zurich, Switzerland
• Winner of the Fritz-Stolz-Price awarded by the Swiss Society for the Study of Religion (SGR-SSSR) for the Master’s Thesis «Von Reptiloiden, Verschwörungen und dem Kampf gegen den Mainstream. Eine religionswissenschaftliche Untersuchung alternativer Medien. [Reptiloids, Conspiracies and the Fight Against the Mainstream. A Religious Study Approach to Alternative Media]».
• Winner of the Alumni-Price awarded by the Alumni-Organisation of the Faculty of Theology at the University of Zürich for the Master’s Thesis «Von Reptiloiden, Verschwörungen und dem Kampf gegen den Mainstream. Eine religionswissenschaftliche Untersuchung alternativer Medien. [Reptiloids, Conspiracies and the Fight Against the Mainstream. A Religious Study Approach to Alternative Media]».