In their research, the members of the department are dealing with European and non-European religious history (with a keen eye on South and East Asia and the Euro-Asian entanglement processes) as well as theoretical aspects of Religious Studies (with a focus on sociology of religion, gender issues, and the relationship between religions and media) and
FWF project "Gender and the Bible"
Nicole Bauer is principal investigator in the FWF funded research project "Gender and the Bible", an empirical study of Roman Catholic and Evangelical groups in Austria. For more information see the project homepage.
International Graduate School "Resonant Self-World Relations in Ancient and Modern Socio-Religious Practices"
Franz Winter is "member of faculty" of the International Graduate School "Resonant Self-World Relations in Ancient and Modern Socio-Religious Practices", which is administered both at the Max Weber Kolleg/University of Erfurt and the University of Graz. He is currently supervising seven dissertations on the basis of a cotutelle agreement with the University of Erfurt.
Individual research
Contemporary religiosity, Catholicism in contemporary society, exorcism and possession in contemporary society, Judaism and Kabbalah in the past and present, religion and medicine, religion and psychotherapy, new religious movements, economics of religion, religion and gender, social science methods in religious research.
Her research focuses on European religious history (late antiquity/the Middle Ages), representations of religion in film and TV, and the relationships between the body, gender and religion.
History of contact between Europe and Asia from antiquity to the present, history of religion in South, East and West Asia, new religious movements in East and West, esoteric research, religion and media.
Further current publications
Euro-American Esoteric Readings of East Asia, edited by Lukas Pokorny and Franz Winter
Together with Lukas Pokorny, Franz Winter has published a special issue of the renowned journal NUMEN. Journal for the History of Religions entitled "Euro-American Esoteric Readings of East Asia", which deals with aspects of the reception of China in modern Europe.
The issue is already available online. The article by Franz Winter deals with the reception of China by an important French occultist of the late 19th century.
Here be Dragons. (East) Asian Film and Religion. Christian Wessely, Franz Winter, Yukihiko Yoshida (eds.)
Media industry is a vibrant element of East Asian popular culture that has become increasingly important on a global level in the last decades. Japanese, and recently South Korean and Chinese films or TV series have a growing and worldwide audience not least because of easier access through streaming services. The many film productions provide a multifaceted arena of highly diverse content that spans nearly all aspects of the cultural developments in the countries. Religion has always played a major role in these contexts in various ways and in accordance with the highly diversified religious landscape of East Asia. Consequently, this issue brings together contributions on Japanese, Chinese and Korean films, including one additional glimpse to South Asia, presenting portrayals of independent filmmakers, highly renowned classics, but also examples of manga and anime, the cyberpunk genre, or on most recent highly successful streaming series. The admittedly small sample we can provide is intended to pique curiosity and encourage readers to delve more deeply into the multifaceted and intriguing relationship between religion and media in Asia. If the presented contributions inspire academic discussions and further research, then this issue will have served its purpose.
Information about the work can be found here.
Wacker/Bechmann/Langer (eds.): Prophecy in Tenach, Bible and Qur'an.
The topic of "prophecy" is significant for the Jewish and Christian Bible and the Qur'an in different ways. This volume brings together contributions from a historical and reception-historical perspective, on the one hand tracing the times and spaces from the ancient Near East to late antiquity, and on the other hand concentrating on prophetic figures. Both passages reveal how the phenomenon of prophecy can be grasped historically and textually, how existing traditions were used and how they were transformed in reception. The book concludes with an updated look at the practice of communicating prophetic texts.
Author's portrait
Prof. Dr. Marie-Theres Wacker teaches Old Testament and Women's Theology at the University of Münster.
Prof. Dr. Ulrike Bechmann taught religious studies at the University of Graz.
Prof. Dr. Gerhard Langer teaches Jewish Studies at the University of Vienna.
Published by: Kohlhammer Verlag 2023. 301 pages, paperback, 232mm x 155mm x 15mm
Series: Beiträge zur Wissenschaft vom Alten und Neuen Testament (BWANT), Volume 237
ISBN 978-3-17-042456-2