GRK 1728:  Theology as an Academic Discipline. A Historical and Systematical Analysis of the Formation of Reflexivity in Religious Traditions

• Subject Area: Theology ; Philosophy ; Social and Cultural Anthropology, Non-European Cultures, Jewish Studies and Religious Studies
• Term: from 2012 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 179901502

Recent academic theology is the result of a long historical process, which established forms and institutions of reflexivity within different religious traditions. This process is fundamental for any dialogue among religions themselves and between religion as such and the secular world. Although the multifarious presence of religion(s) is very much in the focus of today’s (post) secular society, the analytical potential of theology and its "scientific" character as an academic discipline is regarded as precarious. Against this background, the Research Training Group reconstructs the historical formation and constitution of theological reflexivity in exemplary fields and, at the same time, offers a systematic account of a rational basis for religious normativity today. The Research Training Group not only engages the different normative religious traditions, represented by the respective theologies, but by including relevant non-theological disciplines also fosters a transdisciplinary, interconfessional and interreligious discourse, which aims at a mutual illumination about the emergence and purpose of theology. On the level of specific topics of research, the Research Training Group focusses on exemplary fields of conflict between the religious traditions themselves and with their "secular" surroundings. In contrast to more empirical approaches in religious studies, sociology and psychology, the Research Training Group puts a lesser emphasis on a neutral description of the diverse religious phenomena, but provides an analysis of the reflexive self-description of religions and their normative claims and argumentations. On the level of academic organisation, the Research Training Group builds on and strengthens existing interdisciplinary cooperation between the faculties of protestant and catholic theology, philosophy and history and the Institute of Islamic Studies at the Goethe University (main research area: "Religion in Dialogue"). This applies also to the cooperation with the Philosophisch-Theologische Hochschule Sankt Georgen and the Hochschule für Jüdische Studien, Heidelberg. The Research Training Group will help to establish Islamic theology as an academic discipline in Germany. It aims at bringing forth alumni with an interreligious competence for academic, political, social and religious careers, and at creating equal opportunities for women in the theologies.

• DFG Programme: Research Training Groups
• Applicant Institution: Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main
• Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Markus Wriedt
• Participating Researchers: Professor Dr. Dirk Ansorge; Professor Dr. Claus Arnold; Professorin Dr. Mechthild Dreyer; Professor Dr. Hartmut Leppin; Professorin Dr. Hanna Liss; Professor Dr. Thomas M. Schmidt; Professor Dr. Knut Wenzel; Professor Dr. Christian Wiese; Professor Dr. Ömer Özsoy