Completed Projects
2020-2025: Transmission - Multiple Forms of the Transfer of Religion to young People
Project Lead: Karsten Lehmann / Anne Koch (Freiburg University)
The initial idea to work on multiple forms of the transfer of religion to young people emerged out of the intense debates among the research professorships 'interreligiosity' within the context of the 'Religion_Plurality' cooperation. The project idea is based upon the observation that the increasing empirical work on religion and youth has most recently been approached along the lines of two main criticisms: First, scholars of religion have been questioning the urban bias of present-day research on religion and youth. Second, they have been pinpointing towards a lack of research on marginalized youth and religion. The project 'Transmission' intends to close this gap by undertaking qualitative empirical research in Austria.
International Workshop at the Krupp Kolleg (University Greifswald)
Interesting theoretical reference
2022-2024: Biography and interreligious Dialogue (IRD)
Project lead: Karsten Lehmann
This project has a look at individual IRD-activities from the point of view of most recent trends in biographical research. It wants to analyse how IRD-activities are embedded into biographical narratives. This can be used for educational material.
2020: Thematic Issue 'Dialogue in Context' of JRaT
2015: IRD - Perspectives from Sociology
2017-2024: Oral History-Project ‘Religious Plurality at Viennese Schools during the First Republic (1918–1938)’
Project lead: Karsten Lehmann
The research and research communication project under the responsibility of Edith Petschnigg focused on the handling of religion and religious plurality at Viennese schools during the First Republic of Austria. At a great number of Viennese schools the everyday school life was characterized 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.
2023: R&E-article 'Bedeutungsarmer Diskurs religiöser Vielfalt' by Karsten Lehmann
2023: ÖRF-article 'Prägende Rolle von Religionslehrpersonen' by Alexandra Katzian and Karsten Lehmann
2021: BIOS-article 'Individuelle Religiosität' by Karsten Lehmann
2021: Invitation to travelling exibition in: 'Im Dialoge', page 22
2020: Article in the Religionswissenschaftsblog of THE STANDARD
2020: Establishment of Advisory Council
2019: Conversation with Contemporary Witnesses (chair: Dr. Edith Petschnig)
2023-2024: Workshop ‘Contemporary diagnostics of religious diversity in Austria’
Project Lead: Karsten Lehmann
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 two-day, interdisciplinary and international workshop presented here aims to respond to this situation and provide input for professional debates on the topic of religious diversity. During the workshop, the participants will work collegially on a contemporary diagnosis of religious diversity.
2024: Contribution to RaT-Blog (29.8.2024)
2022-2023: Educational Material for the Exhibition ‘Religiöse Vielfalt an Wiener Schulen der Zwischenkriegszeit’
Project Lead: Alexandra Katzian
The travelling exhibition "Religiöse Vielfalt an Wiener Schulen der Zwischenkriegszeit" was available until Mid 2023. In is still accessible online. Under the direction of Alexandra Katzian, the team in charge of the exhibition has also produced educational material. This material is based upon the concept of 'flipped classroom' and is meant to support teachers as well as learners.
Materials for learners - Level 1
Materials for learners - Level 2
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 to target the general public. The publication project at hand wanted to close this gap. In the form of an edited volume it brings 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 was published in 2022 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?
Alfred Garcia Sobreira-Majer / Karsten Lehmann: Potenziale und Grenzen des interreligiösen Begegnungslernens im Kontext von Schule, Pädagogische Reflexionen am Beispiel eines interreligiösen Begegnungstages (IRBT) an einem Wiener Gymnasium, in: Theo-Web - Zeitschrift für Religionspädagogik 23 (2024), p. 273-291 
Link Download.
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