WordcloudIn September 2016, the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education (BMB) established a Special Research Area ‚Interreligiosity’ at the Private University College for Teacher Education Vienna/Krems (KPH). The Research Area is supposed to provide an empirical context-sensitive basis for enhancing interreligious competence in teacher education. It is a cooperation between the KPH Vienna/Krems and the Private University College of Education, Linz (PH Linz).
News
17.+18.11. | Meeting of the Standing Working Group ‚Religions and Politics‘ On Invitation by Prof. Dr. Karsten Lehmann the Standing Working Group ‚Religions and Politics‘ of the German Association for the Study of Religions will meet in Vienna. The topic of the Meeting: ‚Religionen und Politik im Bereich der Bildung (Religions and Politics in the Education Sector)‘. |  | ||
13.09.- | Panel at conference of the German Association for the Scientific Study of Religions (DVRW) in Marburg Together with three colleagues from Germany, Prof. Karsten Lehmann will hold a Panel at this year’s biannial conference of the German Association for the Scientific Stucdy of Religions (DVRW). The Panel will be entitled: „Rekonfiguration religionswissenschaftlicher Grundbegriffe – ein neuer ‚turn’ in der Religionswissenschaft? / Reconfiguration of Basic Terms in the Study of Religions – a new ‚turn‘ in Religious Studies?" |  | ||
31.07.2017 | "Religious Discourses in Western Democracies - Initiative Christian-Jewish Study Week in Dialogue with Islam" | | ||
04.07.2017 | Paper at the 2017-ISSR Conference in Lausanne / CH Prof. Dr. Karsten Lehmann has been invited to be part of ‘Session STS 35 : Secularizations and Counter-Scularizations: Theoretical and Comparative Perspective‘ of this year’s Annual Conference of the International Society for the Sociology of Religion / ISSR. He will present a paper entitled 'Sedimentation of 'the Religious' and 'the Secular', - Human Rights Discourses inside Religiously Affiliated Organizations'. This is the link to the conference programme | |||
22.06.2017 | Fourth and final Meeting of the Diskurs ‚interreligiöse Kompetenz‘ The Special Research Area ‚Interreligiosity‘ is happy to invite you – in cooperation with the Center of Competence ‚interkulturelles, interreligiöses und interkonfessionelles Lernen‘ – to a lecture series on modern classics in the field of ‚interreligious competence‘. The fourth and final date is scheduled for June 22nd, 4:15 to 6:15 pm in room 1.17. Prof. Dr. Erhard Mayerhofer will introduce into Mirjam Schambeck’s concept or ‚interreligious competence‘.
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15.05.2017 | Prof. Karsten Lehmann gives Inaugural Lecture On 15 Mai Professor Karsten Lehmann gives his Inauguratinonal Lecture at the KPH – entitled: Dimensionen religiöser Pluralität in Österreich – Ein Beitrag zu den Debatten um interreligiöse Kompetenz (Dimensions of religious plurality in Austria – A contribution to the discussions on interreligious competence)‘. INVITATION |  | ||
11.05.2017 | Third Meeting of the Diskurs ‚interreligiöse Kompetenz‘ The Special Research Area ‚Interreligiosity‘ is happy to invite you – in cooperation with the Center of Competence ‚interkulturelles, interreligiöses und interkonfessionelles Lernen‘ – to a lecture series on modern classics in the field of ‚interreligious competence‘. The third date is scheduled for May 11th, 4:15 to 6:15 pm in room 1.17. Prof. Dr. Erhard Mayerhofer will introduce into Mirjam Schambeck’s concept or ‚interreligious competence‘.
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| 10.05.2017 | "Traces of Jewish and Muslim life in Graz. A city walk" In the context of the series of events "Vita activa: Successfully learning", organised by the University of Graz, on May, 10th 2017 Edith Petschnigg guides an interreligious tour through the center of Graz. | | ||
20.04.2017 | Second Meeting of the Diskurs ‚interreligiöse Kompetenz‘ The Special Research Area ‚Interreligiosity‘ is happy to invite you – in cooperation with the Center of Competence ‚interkulturelles, interreligiöses und interkonfessionelles Lernen‘ – to a lecture series on modern classics in the field of ‚interreligious competence‘. The second date is scheduled for 20. April, 4:15 to 6:15 pm in room 1.17. Prof. Dr. Karsten Lehmann will introduce into Anne Koch’s concept or ‚interreligious competence‘. | | ||
03.04.2017 | Publication of the Conference Volume: The publication documents in 18 contributions of well-known experts of Jewish-Christian dialogue current developments – especially in the German-speaking area and in Hungary – and reflects contemporary challenges looking to the future. |  | ||
27.03.2017 | Prof. Dr. Lehmann on air In the Ö1 Radio Broadcast 'Logos - Theologie und Leben', Prof. Dr. Karsten Lehmann underlines the significance of the context for our understanding of the relationship between religion and violence.
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24.03.2017 | 15th Seminar „Interkulturalität und Mehrsprachigkeit in der schulischen Praxis“ - „Interculturality and plurilingualism in educational practice" Dr.in Edda Strutzenberger-Reiter and Dr.in Eva Kepplinger will run a workshop: „Diversity at School – Handling religious Diversity in a pedagogical setting: A Research Projekt of the KPH Wien/Krems, IRPA and University of Vienna” | | ||
21.03.2017 | “Religious Diversity in School Development: Perspectives of Religious Pedagogy”: Dr. Edda Strutzenberger-Reiter will give a lecture on March 21st at 6.00 p.m. in the context of a “Forum lebens.werte.schule”. |  | ||
19.03.2017 | Barbara Weiß’ radio-transmission ‚Religion als Ursache von Konflikten / Religion as a Cause of Conflict‘ inter alia (BAYERN 2, 19.03.2017) features Prof. Dr. Karsten Lehmann as one of the experts in the field. Lehmann will be ‘on air’ between 8:00 and 8:30 a.m. | |||
16.03.2017 | Lecture Series: ,Interreligious Competence` The Special Research Area ‚Interreligiosity‘ is happy to invite you – in cooperation with the Center of Competence ‚interkulturelles, interreligiöses und interkonfessionelles Lernen‘ – to a lecture series on modern classics in the field of ‚interreligious competence‘. The first date is scheduled for 16 March 2017, 4:15 to 6:15 pm in room 1.17. Prof. Dr. Alfred Garcia Sobreira-Majer will introduce into Joachim Willem’s concept or ‚interreligious competence‘. Please find additional information on the first meeting here. And these are the links to the meetings on April 20, May 11 and June 22. | | ||
10.03.2017 | Prof. Dr. Karsten Lehmann presents a paper at this year’s Dürnstein Symposium In his paper – entitled ‚Zum ambivalenten Verhältnis von Religionen und Gewalt / On the ambivalent relationship between religions and violence’ – Karsten Lehmann will provide a short survey on most recent Religious Studies-approaches to the study of religions and violence. Following this paper, there will be a plenary discussion between Wolfgang Palaver, Nikita Dhawan, Philippe Buc und Karsten Lehmann. |  | ||
08.03.2017 | Dr. Edith Petschnigg gives a specialist lecture at the network meeting "Christian-Jewish Dialogue in Lower Saxony" At the network meeting "Christian-Jewish Dialogue in Lower Saxony" on March 8th 2017 in Hannover Edith Petschnigg gives a specialist lecture on the topic "How can Jewish-Christian Dialogue successfully be done? Case examples and attempts to create a set of criteria". Petschnigg presents results of her PhD thesis "'What unites us, is the Bible'. History and Biblical Reception of Jewish-Christian Grassroots Initiatives in Germany and Austria after 1945" and illustrates a set of criteria for the success of Jewish-Christian dialogue. |  | ||
27.02.2017 | In preparation of the 2017 Dürnstein Symposium ‘Gesellschaft, Staat, Gewalt / Society, State and Violence’, Prof. Dr. Karsten Lehmann takes part in a live radio transmission on Radio Orange 94.0 You can follow the transmission on 27.02.2017 from 10:00 a.m. -11:00 a.m., or listen to it from the archive. |  | ||
01.01.2017 | Prof. Dr. Karsten Lehmann got appointed ‚Senior Research Fellow‘ at the Religious Studies Department of Vienna University. In the context of this cooperation Karsten Lehmann wants to contribute to more in-depth research on the present-day religious scene. In cooperation with Prof. Dr. Wolfram Reiss he is -inter alia – planning a conference on religious plurality in Austria. |  | ||
17.12.2016 | Cooperation with University of Kentucky - preparatory meeting In preparation of a research project on ‚Local Religious Plurality in Vienna, Austria‘, Prof. Dr. Karsten Lehmann met his colleague Prof. Dr. Stan Brunn from the University of Kentucky. The Geographer Stan Brunn is highly interested in future cooperation concerning the mapping of religious plurality. |  | ||
25.11.2016 | Book presentation: „Religion in der Schulentwicklung. Eine empirische Studie.“ – “Religion in school development. An empirical study.“ On Friday, Nov 25, 2016, Edda Strutzenberger-Reiter presented her dissertation published by kohlhammer edition. In her research she looks for the impact of religion and religious diversity on processes of school development at schools. After her keynote there was an intense discussion going on, especially on the role and function of Religion teachers within school development. |  | ||
23.11.2016 | Prof. Dr. Karsten Lehmann gives post-doctoral lecture at Bayreuth University Topic of the lecture: ‚Shifting borders between the religious and the secular field‘ |  | ||
| 02.11.2016 | Contribution to the "Religion and the Public Sphere"-Blog of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) entitled: "Public presence as loss of power: Religious NGOs from Church diplomacy to civil society activism" Author: Prof. Dr. Karsten Lehmann Link |  | ||
| First Research Workshop ‚Interreligiosity‘ on the project „Vielfalt erforschen / Researching Diversity" Presenter: Dr.in Edda Strutzenberger-Reiter Download Flyer |  | |||
| 01.09.2016 | Establishment of the Special Research Focus ‘Interreligiosity’ at the KPH Wien/Krems (in cooperation with the PH Linz) |  | ||
| Publication of the Edited Volume Einheit und Differenz in der Religionswissenschaft / Unity and Diversity in the Academic Study of Religions edited by Karsten Lehmann and Ansgar Jödicke Link |  | |||
| Publication of the PhD-Thesis Religion in der Schulentwicklung / Religion in School Development by Edda Strutzenberger-Reiter Link |  | |||
| Publication of the Edited Volume Der “jüdisch-christliche” Dialog veränderte die Theologie / The impact of ‚Jewish-Christian’ Dialogue on Theology by Edith Petschnigg and Irmtraud Fischer Link |  | |||
| Publication of the Post-Doctoral Thesis Religious NGOs in International Relations by Karsten Lehmann Link |  |
Team
Prof. Dr. Karsten Lehmann
Business Card
Karsten Lehmann is a sociologist as well as a Religious Studies scholar. He holds degrees from Lancaster University (Master in Religious Studies), the University of Tübingen (Doctorate in Sociology), and Bayreuth University (Post-Doctoral in Religious Studies).
Curriculum Vitae
As far as his own research is concerned, Karsten Lehmann is primarily interested in religious plurality on the borders between the religious and other social fields – such as education, politics, or arts. So far, his publications are inter alia dealing with new religious movements, the religious associations of immigrants, as well as the role of religiously affiliated actors in international politics.
Bibliography
Further major areas of research:
• Local religious networks and networks of civil society
• Interreligious relationships / interreligious dialogue
• Religiously legitimated violence
• Religions and (international) politics
• Methods in the empirical study of religions
Prior to his professorship at the KPH Vienna/Krems, Karsten Lehmann worked as Visiting Fellow at the ‚Observatoire des Religions en Suisse’ of the Université de Lausanne / Switzerland as well as at the ‚Berkley Center for Religion Peace and World Affairs’ of Georgetown University / USA. During the academic year 2012/13 he worked as Visiting Professor at the Religious Studies Chair of Prof. Dr. Oliver Krüger at the Université de Fribourg / Switzerland. After this second extensive stay in Switzerland, Karsten Lehmann became the ‘Head of Social Sciences and Statistics’ at the Research Department of the KAICIID – International Center for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (which was closed in February 2016).
Dr.in Edith Petschnigg
Business Card
Edith Petschnigg is a theologian and historian and studied history, the interdisciplinary program Stage, Film, and other Media (M.A.), and Catholic Theology (M.A., Ph.D.) in Graz.
Curriculum vitae
Her primary research interest is interreligious dialogue with a focus on Jewish-Christian dialogue in Austria and Germany after 1945. Her interests extend to biblical reception, in particular in the context of war and persecution in the 20th century. Her publications deal with receptions of the Bible in Jewish exile literature and Jewish-Christian grassroots initiatives. She has also published articles addressing topics in the study of the consequences of war.
Bibliography
Further research and scholarly interests include:
• Feminist theology and exegesis
• Anti-Judaism in the past and present
• Research on consequences of war
• Oral history as a method in qualitative research
Edith Petschnigg began teaching at the KPH Wien/Krems at the Department of Religious Education in the area of biblical studies in winter semester 2015/16. Since September 2016 she has been working in cooperation with the Interreligious Studies special research program. Prior to her teaching and research activities at the KPH she worked as an FWF project member. In addition to being involved in various ecclesial fields of practice, including pastoral practicum, she also served as a student employee at the Department of Old Testament Studies at the University of Graz and project employee at the Ludwig-Boltzmann-Institute for the Research on Consequences of War in Graz.
Dr.in Edda Strutzenberger-Reiter
Business Card
Edda Strutzenberger-Reiter is working as a Pedagogue of Religion, Coach and Trainer. She achieved her master and doctorial degree in Catholic Theology and Pedagogics of Religion via the Universities of Vienna and Lund (Sweden).
Curriculum Vitae
Her scientific expertise is Religious Diversity, School Development, School Pedagogics and School Research such as Gender and Diversity in the context of religious plurality. Her main focus is the pedagogically funded handling of diversity and the influence of diversity on pedagogically motivated action.
Further research interests are:
• Intersectionality
• Violence and Violence Prevention
• Interreligious Learning
• Ethical Learning
• Pedagogics and the Professionality of teachers
Prior to her current research and teaching position at the KPH Wien/Krems (since fall 2013) Edda Strutzenberger-Reiter was research assistant at the Institute of Practical Theology/Pedagogics of Religion at the University of Vienna as well as research assistant in various projects at the University of Vienna and the KPH Wien/Krems.
She further is a member of the trainer and coaching team (Teambuilding, Organizational Development, Conflict Management, Communication and Leadership) of the Trainerei.
Partners
Prof. Mag. Johann Krammer
Business Card
Johann Krammer (born in Graz, Austria) received his MA-Degree in Roman Catholic Theology and Religious Education (Magister 1989). Her worked as an assistant to the rector at the Austrian Hospice in Jerusalem (1990-1993) and conducted independent studies in Jerusalem (1993-1994). Since 1994 Krammer works as a teacher at a number of different high schools as well as a professor at the Catholic University College of Education Graz (since 2001).
His fields of major interest are:
Religion and society
Interreligious learning
Ethical learning
Media pedagogy
In addition, Krammer is working as a partner of the EU-project ETHIKA. He is particularly interested in the fields of history, visual arts, music.
Dr.in Doris Lindner
Business Card
Doris Lindner is a sociologist as well as a pedagogue. She received her Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Vienna. She is reading courses in educational sociology and qualitative empirical educational research.
Her primary interests in research in the field of school pedagogy are concerned with children’s social development and implications for primary education. She specifically focus on diversity and inclusion/exclusion issues, and she is particularly interested in the intersection of various social and cultural categories such as race/ethnic, gender and religion within the theoretical context of discussions of social justice. Besides, her research projects explore the ways in which (mainly migration- and religious-driven) diversification is related to increase educational inequality.
Further major areas of research:
• Intersectionality
• Child poverty and social justice
• Human rights education
• School as a social institution and sub system and school reform theories
• Ethnographic observation in the different school settings
• Evaluation research in different social fields and school settings
Prior to her current research and teaching position at the KPH Wien/Krems (since 2012) Doris Lindner was an Assistant Professor at the Department of Palliative Care and organizational ethics at the University of Klagenfurt (iff). She has many years’ previous work experience as a sociologist in different research fields on multiple research projects and evaluations.
Dr.in Astrid Mattes
Astrid Mattes is a political scientist as well as a scholar of religions. She has studied in Vienna, Austria as well as Limerick, Ireland. In 2017 she received her Ph.D. in Political Sciences from the University of Vienna.
In her research, Dr. Mattes is focusing on the multifold dimensions of religious diversity as well as the living conditions of immigrants – with a particular emphasis on the situation in Austria.
In addition, she is working on:
• Political approaches to the freedom of religion and speech
• Political implementation of integration policies
• Mapping of religious diversity in Vienna.
At the moment Dr. Mattes works as Assistant Professor at the Research Plattform ‘Religion and Transformation in Europe’ (University of Vienna) and is partnering with the Special Research Focus ‘Interreligiosity’ on the research project ‘Religious Networks of Migrants in Viennese Civil Society’. Furthermore she has been active as Research Assistant “for the Mapping Religion in Vienna”-project as well as a Journalist for „religion.orf.at“,
Concept
The members of the Special Research Area follow a two-fold agenda: First, they want to improve understanding of the impact of processes of religious pluralisation on present-day society. Second, they want to explore to which extent concepts such as ‚interreligiosity’ or ‚interreligious competence’ help to adequately approach these processes analytically.
The concrete Research activities are shaped by three focal points:
Religious Plurality in Context
School and religion are part of culture and society. For this reason, we always analyse consequences of processes of religious pluralisation in their socio-cultural context.
Focus on Empirical Research
Most present-day debates on Interreligiosity and interreligious competence lack empirical data. Consequently, our research is based on empirical research methods – e.g. from quantitative and qualitative social research.
Research and Practice
Concepts such as ‚interreligiosity’ and ‘interreligious competence’ are markers of profound socio-cultural change. This fact is reflected in two features of our research - on the one hand, with regards to the formulation of our research questions and on the other hand, with regards to the public dissemination of our research results.
Projects
Current projects:
• Investigating Diversity. Handling of (religious) Diversity in the pedagogical setting. (Project Leader: Edda Strutzenberger-Reiter)
This cooperation-project of KPH Wien/Krems, IRPA and University of Vienna investigates the denotation of religious plurality of people at a specified school in Vienna. Furthermore, the influence of these denotations on pedagogical acting and the daily living at this school are in focus. In a case study the school was analysed using qualitative empirical methods: Perspectives of teachers and other staff members were collected via guided interviews and the perspectives of pupils via explorative narratives.
In preparation:
• Research Project with Students: Interreligious initiatives in Austria (Project Lead: Karsten Lehmann)
The last decade has seen the establishment of quite a number of interreligious initiatives in Austria. This project aims at mapping and presenting those initiatives in the context of the methods training at the KPH Vienna/Krems and the PH Linz. In medium term, the project wants to establish a public database of interreligious initiatives in Austria that helps practitioners to draw upon existing experiences in the field and to integrate them into their work.
• The phenomenon of Shame in interreligious Learning (Project Lead: Edda Strutzenberger-Reiter)
The Discourse on recognition and respect is of vital significance for the discussions on religious plurality and diversity within the Pedagogy of Religions. This discourse is, however, necessarily flawed as long as references to recognition and respect underestimate the significance of power relations and inequalities that are part of every diverse situation. The same is true with regards to the opposite theme of ‘shame’. A slowly increasing number of more recent publications is referring to the question of shame in diverse situations (see e.g.: Marks 42013; Haas 2013). The majority of those publications is, however frequently neglecting power relations and inequalities. This is where the present project comes in. On an empicial basis, it intends to analyse the significance of ‘shame’ with regards to the power relations and inequalities within interreligious learning.
Finished projects:
• The Hebrew Bible in “Jewish-Christian” Dialogue in Austria and Germany after 1945 (FWF-Project 2012–2015, University of Graz, project management: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Irmtraud Fischer, project cooperation: Edith Petschnigg)
The research project that gave rise to E. Petschnigg’s dissertation was devoted to the documentation of major lines of development of the Jewish-Christian dialogue at the grassroots level after World War II. It focussed on four pioneering dialogue initiatives: the International Jewish-Christian Bible Week (1969–2003 in Bendorf, since 2004 in Georgsmarienhütte), the Austrian Christian-Jewish Bible Week (1982–2007 in Graz), the Christian-Jewish Vacation College (1983–2012 in the diocese of Aachen), and the Christian-Jewish Summer University (since 1987 in Berlin). The four initiatives had a common basis: the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament). The project researched both the history and biblical receptions of these initiatives.
Downloads
Karsten Lehmann: Religiöse Sedimente im Menschenrechtsdiskurs / Religious Sediments in Human Rights-Discourse. Zur Dynamik der Konstruktionen ‚des Religiösen‘ und ‚des Säkularen‘, in: Journal of Religion and Transformation in Contemporary Society 2 (2016), S. 144-160.
Link: http://www.vr-elibrary.de/doi/pdf/10.14220/jrat.2016.2.1.144
Edith Petschnigg: „... als brenne in meinem Herzen ein Feuer ...“ (Jer 20,9) / „… in my heart like a fire …“ (Jeremiah 20,9). Prophetische Schriften in „jüdisch-christlichen“ Basisinitiativen nach 1945 – eine exemplarische Sichtung, in: Protokolle zur Bibel 24/2 (2015) 134–155.
Link: https://www.protokollezurbibel.at/index.php/pzb/article/view/1112/961
Karsten Lehmann / Anne Koch, Perspectives from Sociology: Modelling Religious Pluralism from Inward and Outward, in: Journal of Inter-Religious Studies 16 (2015), S. 30-40.
Link: http://irdialogue.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/lehmann-and-koch-JIRS-Issue-16-03-31-15-FINAL-svh.pdf