Completed Projects
2019-2022: Conference- and Publication Project: ‚Religious Diversity in Austria‘
Project Lead: Karsten Lehmann / Wolfram Reiss, Vienna University
So far there is no easily accessible introduction to the religious diversity in Austria that is targeting the general public. The publication project wants to close this gap. In the form of an edited volume it intends to bring together scholars of religion that are experts in the analysis of religious communities in Austria – past and present. We have convened an authors' workshop on setpember 18 th and 19th 2020. The volume will be published with NOMOS-publishers.
2018-2022: Research Project: ‚Interreligious Encounter-Learning at School – an Evaluation'
Project lead: Alfred Garcia Sobreira-Majer / Karsten Lehmann
The notion of ‘Interreligiöses Begegnungslernen / Interreligious Encounter-Learning’ (IrBL) stands for a particular model of religious education at schools as well as within the context of higher education. In the course of this project, a model of IrBL that is primarily based upon the writing of Prof. Katja Boehme, from the Heidelberg University of Education, has been introduced to two Viennese Grammar Schools. On the basis of the respective activities, the project raises the question to what an extent it is helpful to use the notion of ‘encounter’ within this particular form of religious education. To follow up upon this question, the project uses the method of participant observation – thus putting the social behavior of learners into the center of the research. The project wants to learn more about the concrete, down-to-earth forms of interaction between learners as well as learners and teachers that act in the context of IrBL: What types of constructions of religion are used within this particular setting? To what an extent is it possible to observe ‘authentic’ forms of interaction, and how do the actors interpret their respective activities?
2021: Workshop: 'Construktions of Religious Plurality in Austria'
Project Lead: Anne Koch, PHDL / Karsten Lehmann
This workshops want to bring together researchers that are working on religious plurality in Austria. The workshop had initially been scheduled for May 8th 2020. Due to the CORONA 19-Pandemic the initial date had to be canceled and the meeting took placeon February 23rd 2021. The workshop is part of the Research-Cooperation 'Religion_Plurality' undertaken by the KPH, Wien / Krems and the PHD Linz.
2021: Online publication in 'Pädagogische Horizonte'
2021: Conference- and Publication Project: 'Interreligious Dialogue in Context'
Project Lead: Karsten Lehmann
Throughout the last two decades, interreligious dialogue (IRD) has developed into a central aspect of the religious field. So far, however, IRD has primarily been discussed on a conceptual level – putting particular emphasis onto processes of individual learning. To counteract this implicit bias, the workshop ‘IRD in Context’ intends to put particular emphasis onto practices of interreligious dialogue in their respective socio-cultural contexts. Accordingly, the KPH and the Research Center ‘Religion and Transformation in Contemporary Society’ will invite experts from a variety of different European countries to reconstruct the history of IRD in their respective socio-cultural contexts.
2021: Online Publication of the Project in JRaT
2019: Workshop 'History of Religions under the conditions of the nation state in German-speaking countries'
Project lead: Karsten Lehmann / Wolfram Reiss, Vienna University
It is interesting to see that present-day research on the history of religions is influenced by two opposing trends: On the one hand, church history tends to be more and more interested in processes of globalization (Daughrity 2012; Schjørring/Hjelm/Ward 2017/18). On the other hand, scholars of religion are increasingly working on religious plurality under the conditions of the nation state (Baumann/Stolz 2007; Hödl/Pokorny 2012ff; Junginger 2017). The workshop ‘History of Religions under the conditions of the nation state in German-speaking countries’ will open up an opportunity to systematically approach the question how to write a history of religions under the conditions of the nation state. First, this provides an opportunity to re-discuss central debates in the Study of Religions – e.g. the debate on the underlying concepts of religion as well as the relationship between religions and their socio-cultural context. Second, the workshop wants to draw attention to topics such as the relationship between religions and the idea of the nation; the systematization of religious plurality as well as the transnational dimension of a national history of religions.
2022: Article in Zeitschrift für Religionswissenschaft
2019: Workshop 'Dealing with Dying and Death in Elementary School'
Project Lead: Adem Aygün, KPH Viena / Krems
The Special Research Area “Interreligiosity" (SIR) has organized a workshop on "How to deal with Dying and Death in Elementary School". In addition to the perspectives of three monotheistic religions, the focus of the workshop will be on the practice-oriented imparting of competences to deal with dying and death in class. The target group of this workshop are teachers of religion and students in teacher training for religious education.
2016-2017: The Concept of ‚interreligious competence‘ in the curricula of University Colleges in Austria
Project Lead: Karsten Lehmann / Thomas Schlager-Weidinger, PHDL
The concept of ‚interreligious competence’ has emerged as one of the central categories of present-day discussions on the role of religion in educational contexts in Austria. This project is a cooperation between the Private University College Linz (Prof. Dr. Thomas Schlager-Weidinger), the University College of the Church Graz (Prof. Mag. Johann Krammer) as well as the University College of the Churches Vienna / Krems. The research team is analyzing the usage of the concept of ‘interreligious competence’ in the curricula of all University Colleges in Austria. To do so, it combines two empirical approaches: (a) content analysis of the curricula as well as (b) interviews with experts working in this field. Initial results will be presented in the context of the conference to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the establishment of the University College of the Churches Vienna / Krems.
Publication in ÖRF - Österreichisches Religionspädagogisches Forum