My name is Nikita Obraztsov. I am a religious studies scholar, a researcher in computational social science, and a science communicator based in St. Petersburg.
Social sciences have been an obsession since I was fourteen — in 2013 I placed third at the national finals of the All-Russian Olympiad in Social Studies, which got me into the Kutafin Moscow State Law University without entrance exams. Graduated with distinction in 2018. But somewhere along the way it became clear that law was not really my thing, and religious studies very much was. I started reading Frazer, Eliade, Boyer, working through academic courses, and eventually entered the MA programme in religious studies at St. Petersburg State University — again without exams, as a winner of the HSE Olympiad in philosophy of religion.
My supervisor was Marianna Shakhnovich (1957–2025): Doctor of Philosophy, long-serving head of the Department of Philosophy of Religion and Religious Studies at SPbSU, author of over 300 scholarly works, and one of the founding figures of the contemporary St. Petersburg school of religious studies. My thesis examined the Brights movement as a phenomenon of contemporary culture. Graduated with distinction in 2020.
After the MA, I launched the ON Religion project: over 250 popular science videos on the scientific study of religion on YouTube, including a full lecture series on the history of atheism and freethought. In 2023, a video lecture on apophenia and the golden ratio hoax was shortlisted for the Crystal Penguinopithecus Award, an annual competition for the best Russian-language popular science videos. From December 2022: staff lecturer and curator of the Culturologist course at Pravoe Polusharie Introverta, with public lectures at the Medio Modo series. In 2024, the book Religions of the World: How to Decode the Sacred Side of Humanity came out with Bombora.
In 2025 I decided I wanted to continue in academia and enrolled in the Computational Sociology programme at the European University at St. Petersburg. The goal is to bring computational methods, such as machine learning, network analysis, agent-based modelling, into the study of religion. I am convinced this potential is still largely untapped. My current project is an agent-based model of religious communities on stochastic block model graphs. After the MA: a PhD in Computational Social Science.
Other things: chess (ELO 1950), running. Two marathons, six half-marathons, one Backyard Ultra. Finished the Road of Life Marathon in under four hours at −16°C — particularly proud of that one. Favourite band: King Crimson. Favourite author: Thomas Mann.
Research Interests
- Sociology of religion and secularization theory
- Agent-based modelling of social processes
- Social network analysis and network topology
- History of atheism and freethought
- Religion and popular culture
- Orthodox Christianity: theology, liturgics, folk tradition
Education
- MA student, Computational Social Sciences — European University at St. Petersburg (exp. 2027)
- MA in Religious Studies (with distinction, 2020) — St. Petersburg State University. MA thesis →
My MA diploma is Here →
- BA in Law (with distinction, 2018) — Kutafin Moscow State Law University
BA diploma can be found Here →
Selected Achievements
- Triple prize-winner, IV All-Russian Student Olympiad “Sociologist of the 21st Century” (2026): 3rd place individual ranking; Best Video Essay; Best VCIOM Analytics Report (source). Diploma is Here →
- Shortlisted for the Crystal Penguinopithecus Award (2023) for best popular science video of the year.
- First-degree diploma, HSE Olympiad for Students and Graduates in Philosophy (track: Philosophy and History of Religion), 84/100 (2018). Certificate →
- Winner, All-Russian Olympiad in Social Studies, national level (2013). Diploma is here →