Current projects
On the basis of the Special Research Area’s conceptual framework, the members of the Research Area have decided to focus their short- and medium term plans onto three distinct fields:
1. Constructions of the Plurality of Worldviews in the Context of Education
2. Understanding and Explanation of religious Plurality in Austria
3. Implementation of ‘interreligious competence’
1. Constructions of the Plurality of Worldviews in the Context of Education
Austria is a very diverse country. This is also the case with regards to the role of religions in the context of education. Actually, the education sector is characterized by a particularly high degree of plurality. The actors working in this field have a number of very diverse options to assess this situation – e.g. as an enrichment, a threat or a negligible entity -, and these constructions of religious plurality form the basis of all grass-roots activities. Accordingly, our empirical research activities intend to collect and analyze data on the different modes of the construction of religious plurality in the educational sector.
Educational concepts of “strong religions” in Austria
Project lead: Karsten Lehmann
Project partners: Anissa M. Strommer and Halid Akpinar
In Austria, the ‘religious field’ is currently undergoing fundamental changes. Following Gabriel A. Almond, R. Scott Appleby and Emmanuel Sivan (2003), one might inter alia speak of an increase in ‘strong religions’. It is to be expected that such ‘strong religions’ will increasingly shape the field of education. The project aims to take a closer look at the field described above: Specifically, we want to develop an initial, case-based overview of ‘strong approaches’ to education and/or school in Austria. Two goals are to be achieved: On the one hand, we want to develop an initial overview of the educational concepts of strong religions in Austria. On the other hand, the project aims to contribute to a conceptual refinement of the concept of strong religion with regard to education and/or school.
Publication-Projects: Religious Plurality during the Interwar Period (1918–1938)
Project lead: Karsten Lehmann
The publication project focuses on religion and religious plurality during the Interwar Period. In the Interwar period, at a great number of Viennese schools the everyday school life was characterised by the encounter of pupils of divers Christian, Jewish, and secular traditions. Central to this project are the perspectives of former pupils and their individual constructions of religious plurality. Therefore, the main source are oral history interviews with Jewish and Christian contemporary witnesses.
The project comprises two publication projects:
- Monograph on the demise of religious plurality in the Austrian interwar period
- Edited volume with a global perspective on religious plurality in the interwar period
2023: R&E-article 'Bedeutungsarmer Diskurs religiöser Vielfalt' by Karsten Lehmann
2021: BIOS-article 'Individuelle Religiosität' by Karsten Lehmann
2. Understanding and Explanation of religious Plurality in Austria
The research undertaken in the context of the Special Research Area intends to support the adequate understanding (and at best) explanation of religiously diverse situations. The understanding of Austria’s socio-cultural diversity forms the basis of every competent action under the conditions of religious plurality in the education sector. Along those lines, the members of the Research Area want to put particular emphasis on the analysis of religious plurality in Austria.
Publication-Project: Contemporary diagnostics of religious diversity in Austria
Project Lead: Karsten Lehmann
Partners: City of Vienna / RaT, University of Vienna
Austria is characterised by a high degree of religious diversity. The tragic events in the wake of October, 7th 2023 have once again shown how complex and conflict-laden this situation can be and what diverse consequences it has for life. The publication-project is based upon a two-day, interdisciplinary and international workshop that has been aiming to respond to this situation and provide input for professional debates on the topic of religious diversity. Selected papers will be published in a thematic issues of J-RaT.
3. Implementation of ‘interreligious competence’
The debates around the concept of ‘interreligious competence’ have become a central focus of the controversies around religious diversity in the educational sector. Throughout the last decade, they have developed into an integral part of the debates in pedagogy and educational policies. Correspondingly, the members of the Special Research Area are working towards the implementation of ‘interreligious competence’ in the context of research as well as practical activities.
Global Citizenship Education as a cross-cutting concern
Project management: Sabine Zelger
With the formulation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the United Nations (UN) has created a worldwide frame of reference for dealing with central challenges of present-day societies. These impulses have been taken up and discussed in very different areas. The project attempts to make some of these impulses fruitful for research at the KPH. In particular, it refers to the concept of Global Citizenship Education (GCED). The SIR-Research Area places particular emphasis on the role of religion in these contexts.
Here you will find the project-website
GCEd - Programme of the Diskurs Series in the Summer Term 2025
GCEd - Programme of the Diskurs Series in the Summer Term 2023
GCEd - Programme of the Diskurs Series in the Summer Term 2022
GCEd - Programme of the Diskurs Series in the Summer Term 2021