"Religion and Transformation in Contemporary Society"
brings together research on religion at the University of Vienna and makes it internationally visible. The centre currently involves around 60 researchers from 7 faculties and 14 disciplines (Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox and Islamic theology, Jewish Studies, Islamic Studies and Religious Studies, Social Sciences, Law and Cultural Studies, Philosophy and Education).
Since our foundation in 2010, we explore the reciprocal relationship between religion, religiosity and transformation processes in contemporary global contexts.
News
Success for JRAT: Journal edited by the research centre RaT reaches Q1 in the SCImago ranking
Success for JRAT: Journal edited by the research centre RaT reaches Q1 in the SCImago ranking
We are pleased to announce that the "Journal for Religion and Transformation in Contemporary Society", published by RaT in open access, has risen to the top quarter of the best cited journals in the new SCImago ranking in the field of Religious Studies.
This means that our journal has significantly improved on its previous, already very respectable, position in Q2.
This is a great success for our center and makes an important contribution to increasing the international visibility of theology and religious studies at the University of Vienna. The high level of performance in these subjects at our university was recently confirmed by the new QS ranking, in which the University of Vienna was ranked 21st in the field of "Theology, Divinity & Religious Studies". This represents an improvement of 7 compared to the previous year, which means that Theology and Religious Studies once again occupies the second-best position among all subjects represented at the University of Vienna!
Events
In this column you can find an overview of current events:
Lecture:
Religion und Moral. Lecture by Andrea Aguti
Guest lecture as part of the seminar for dissertants by Kurt Appel and Jakob Deibl
When: May 3, 2024, 02 p.m.-04:30 p.m.
Where: Seminar Room 5, 1st floor, Schenkenstraße 8-10, 1010 Vienna
Lecture:
Missionary Ethnography: Indigenous Knowledge and/or African Christian Modernity?
A lecture by Prof. Lize Kriel, University of Pretoria
When: May 7, 2024, 05 p.m.-07 p.m.
Where: Department of African Studies, Campus of the University of Vienna, Spitalgasse 2, courtyard 5, seminar room 1
Lecture:
After Deconstruction: Jean-Luc Nancy on the Essence of Christianity
By Martin Koci as part of Forum Religionsphilosophie
When: May 13, 2024, 03 p.m.- 04:30 p.m.
Where: NIG, Lecture Hall 3D, Department of Philosophy, Universitätsstraße 7, 1010 Vienna
Workshop:
Komparative Theologie aus islamisch-theologischer Perspektive
When: May 22, 2024, 09 a.m.-01:30 p.m.
Where: Deans office, Faculty of Catholic Theology, Universitätsring 1 (stairway 8, 2nd floor), 1010 Vienna
In cooperation with the Paderborner Institut für Islamische Theologie
Lecture:
Kurt Gödels ontologischer Beweis: Hintergründe, Einflüsse, Varianten
By Tim Lethen as part of "Gottesbeweise. Forum Religionsphilosophie in Kooperation mit dem Logik-Café"
When: May 27, 2024, 04:45 p.m. - 06:15 p.m.
Where: NIG, Lecture Hall 2H, Department of Philosophy, Universitätsstraße 7, 1010 Vienna
Lecture:
The Narrativization of the Babylonian Talmud. What can Distant Reading Teach Us? A lecture by Dr. Itay Marienberg-Milikowsky
When: May 28, 2024, 04:30 p.m.
Where: Lecture Hall 1, Department of Jewish Studies, Campus of the University of Vienna, Spitalgasse 2-4, courtyard 7.3
Those interested are asked to register at judaistik@univie.ac.at until May 27.
Lecture:
Political Theology and Islam. Lecture by Paul Heck
Guest lecture as part of the seminar for dissertants by Kurt Appel and Jakob Deibl
When: May 28, 2024, 06:30 p.m.-08 p.m.
Where: Seminar Room 5, 1st floor, Schenkenstraße 8-10, 1010 Vienna
Lecture:
Phänomenologie und Religion. Lecture by Patrizia Manganaro
Guest lecture as part of the seminar for dissertants by Kurt Appel and Jakob Deibl
When: June 4, 2024, 06:30 p.m.-08 p.m.
Where: Seminar Room 5, 1st floor, Schenkenstraße 8-10, 1010 Vienna
Conference:
Muslim Futures – Muslimische Zukünfte
organized by the Interdisziplinären Forschungsstelle Islam und Muslim*innen in Europa (IFIME)
When: June 8, 2024, 09 a.m. - 06 p.m.
Where: Room E603, Sigmund Freud Privatuniversität, Freudplatz 3, 1020 Vienna
Lecture:
Rachel Bespaloff: Die Ewigkeit im Augenblick. Lecture by Cristina Guarnieri
Guest lecture as part of the seminar for dissertants by Kurt Appel and Jakob Deibl
When: June 18, 2024, 03:30 p.m.-06:30 p.m.
Where: Seminar Room 5, 1st floor, Schenkenstraße 8-10, 1010 Vienna
Lecture:
Das Wunder vollzieht sich in der Dunkelheit. Lazarus und die Autorität des Todes. Lecture by Marica Modrožic
Lecture and Talk with Cornelius Hell as part of the "Poecits Lectureship Literature and Religion"
When: June 18, 2024, 07 p.m.
Where: Lecture Hall 6, Main Building, University of Vienna, Universitätsring 1, 1010 Vienna
Lecture:
Warte, bis Du stirbst. Postmortale Hausaufgaben von Moritz Schlick
By Olaf Müller as part of Forum Religionsphilosophie
When: June 19, 2024, 04:45 p.m. - 06:15 p.m.
Where: NIG; Lecture Hall 3C, Department of Philosophy, Universitätsstraße 7, 1010 Vienna
Lecture:
Religion and Nihilism: The Philosophy of Keiji Nishitani.Lecture by Bret W. Davis
Guest lecture as part of the seminar for dissertants by Kurt Appel and Jakob Deibl
When: June 25, 2024, 10:00 a.m.- 04 p.m.
Where: RaT office, 2nd floor, Schenkenstraße 8-10, 1010 Vienna
Publications
Here you can find an overview of the latest scientific publications of the research centre. This includes our journal JRAT, the Supplementa belonging to the journal and the RaT book series:
New Issue: RaT Series Volume 30, The Heir. A Christology
by Leonardo Paris
New Issue: RaT Series Volume 28, Agents of Violence. Non-Governmental Armed Forces in Southwest Asia, North Africa and beyond
edited by Rüdiger Lohlker and Katharina Ivanyi
New Issue: JRAT Supplementa Volume 3, Religious Experience, Secular Reason and Politics around 1945. Sources for Rethinking Religion and Spirituality in Contemporary Societies
edited by Hans Schelkshorn and Herman Westerink
New Issue: JRAT 9 (2/2023), From Syncretism to Hybridity: Transformations in African-derived American Religions
New Issue: RaT Series volume 26, Zeiten wenden?! Konstellationen von Gottesreden nach der Postmoderne
edited by Anne-Kathrin Fischbach and Stephan Tautz
Article published "in advance":
Strube, Julian: Global Religious History and Religious Comparison: a Programmatic Outline
Article published "in advance":
Spalová, Barbora and Gajdoš Adam: Church Life LIVE! Ritual Innovations and Repertoires of Belonging in Czech and Slovak Christian Communities during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Article published "in advance":
Bergunder, Michael: Encounters of the Brahmanical Sanskrit Tradition with Persian Scholarship in the Mughal Empire. Genealogical Critique and the Relevance of the Pre-colonial Past in a Global Religious History
Article published "in advance":
Zemmin, Florian: The Potentials and Limits of Going Global. Islam’s Social Contingency and Absolute Truth in Arabic Sociologies of Religion
Article published "in advance":
Kleine, Christoph: When Christianity Became a Shūshi 宗旨. Cultural Encounters and Comparisons between Europe and Japan and the Origins of a Global History of Religion
Article published "in advance":
Strube, Julian: Religious Comparativism, Esotericism, and the Global Occult: A Methodological Outline
This article will be integrated in our upcoming issue JRAT 10 (1/2024) "Global Religious History: Perspectives for Religious Comparativism"
Article published "in advance":
Maltese, Giovanni: Phallogocentrism, Global Entanglements and Comparison in the Study of Religion. Mysticism and Gender as Category of Knowledge among Muslim Intellectuals (1938–41)
This article will be integrated in our upcoming issue JRAT 10 (1/2024) "Global Religious History: Perspectives for Religious Comparativism"
Article published "in advance":
Schmidt, Bettina E. and Stockly, Kate: The Fruits of Spiritual Experiences during the Pandemic: COVID-19 and the Effects of Non-Ordinary Experiences
RaT Features
In this category, we present a selection of recent books and projects by our members. Currently:
Appel, Kurt (2024): The Eighth Day. Biblical Time as Openness of Chronological Times. In: Ines Testoni, Fabio Scardigli et al.(eds.), Eternity Between Space and Time. From Consciousness to the Cosmos, De Gruyter: Berlin/Boston, pp. 163-172.
Eleven, Martin (2023): Politischer Nihilismus. Alain Badiou und das Denken der Gegenwart. Turia + Kant Verlag
Kuran, Daniel (2023): Religion and the Expressionless—A Religious Perspective on Art in Benjamin. In: Religions 2023, 14(6), 703.