FOB is glad to announce that three new scholars are joining its Scientific Committee: Brandon Taylorian, Mark Nemes and Karolina Maria Kotkowska. With their experience in law and religion, contemporary forms of belief and practice, and the study of esotericism and new religious movements, they will help FOB to follow more closely the situation of belief communities and the challenges they face in today’s rapidly changing environment.
From the United Kingdom, Brandon Taylorian, a Research Fellow at the University of Lancashire, brings to FOB a strong focus on freedom of religion or belief and the governance of religious diversity. His doctoral work on the recognition and registration of religious communities, completed in 2025, produced analytical tools designed to measure how administrative regimes affect the actual enjoyment of religious freedom in both democratic and authoritarian systems. He has already published in law and religion journals and combines legal analysis with qualitative research involving minority religious communities and human rights practitioners.
From Hungary, Mark Nemes joins the Committee with his experience in the academic study of contemporary religiosity and new religious movements. A researcher at the Hungarian Academy of Arts and deputy director of CESNUR, he has worked on a range of religious minorities — from Jehovah’s Witnesses and the church of Scientology to Tai Ji Men, Ahmadi believers, Soka Gakkai, Damanhur and other neopagan currents. His work is grounded in fieldwork and a functional, morphology‑oriented approach, which is particularly important where religious communities are vulnerable to stigmatisation, misinformation or restrictive policies.
FOB also welcomes from Poland, Karolina Maria Kotkowska, Assistant Professor at the Institute of Comparative Studies of Civilisations at Jagiellonian University. With an interdisciplinary background and research that covers esotericism, new religious movements, alternative spirituality and the “margins” of culture, she brings a perspective that is essential to understanding groups that are often "controversial" or poorly understood in public debate. Her experience in leading research projects and editing the “Studies in Esotericism” series adds further academic depth to the Committee’s work.
FOB’s decision to invite Brandon Taylorian, Mark Nemes and Karolina Maria Kotkowska to its Scientific Committee is also a signal of our method. Their complementary expertise will help FOB to continue grounding its work in solid documentation, constructive dialogue with institutions, and a clear legal and cultural reading of the situations faced by belief communities, especially those most exposed to marginalisation.
