The concept of "Performing Religion in the City – Urban Spaces, Interactions and Media" refers to the manner in which religious practices and expressions occur and are experienced in urban environments. Erfurt will serve as a starting point for this exploration. This approach examines the interaction between religion and urbanity and the role that urban spaces play in shaping religious identities and communities through the material and digital spaces. We argue for the importance of a performance-oriented approach by suggesting that a performative, rather than normative, conception of religion is more appropriate, given that it is shaped through interactions in the public sphere.
In this international interdisciplinary summer school, you will work with leading specialists dealing with textual, material, and embodied sources of performed urban religion. You will be equipped to develop your own approach to the study of performative religiosity in the public sphere. The instructors will give master classes from their own fields of research (e.g. history, religious studies, art, liturgy, digital religion, media studies, and others), in an integrated program that takes seriously the challenge of how to study “performed urban spaces” of peoples past and present. Excursions in religious and historical spaces in the city of Erfurt and its surroundings complete a full-immersion experience.
The summer school will be offered on site. MA students who are interested in the recognition of the credits are requested to take part in three preliminary online meetings.
This summer school is designed for advanced MA students and Ph.D. researchers in the fields of Religious Studies, History, Media Studies, Art History, Cultural History, Architectural History, Archaeology, Dance and Music Studies, as well as neighbouring disciplines.
A BA in the humanities is required, preferably with a background in history and religious studies.
It is expected that the participants have a sufficient command of the English language to actively participate in the discussions and to present their own work in English.
After this course you will be able to:
- identify challenges and approaches to performative aspects of religion and urbanity on the basis of examples from more than one discipline;
- discuss and refine your own projects with specialists and peers;
- situate your research, especially your own, in current scholarly, societal, and cultural debates;
- critically reflect on the uses of contemporary approaches to religion and urbanity as well as to the study of history and religions and apply these creatively in your research;
- enrich your own research fields through active engagement with multi- and interdisciplinary research on urban religion;
- propose new avenues of research and critically assess (material and written) sources and scholarship in connection with their own research projects.
What we offer:
- Lectures by specialists
- Intensive discussions
- Small groups
- Individual coaching
Application details
The documents to be submitted are a cv, a letter of motivation and, if available, a description of the project to be presented.
Please submit you applications to both Isabella.schwaderer@uni-erfurt.de and martin.christ@uni-erfurt.de until March 15, 2025.
Credits info
- 6 ECTS
- Preparation: 60 hours
- Lectures: 50 hours
- Presentation: 1-2 hours
- Paper: 60 hours
Upon successful completion of the program, the summer school offers a Certificate of Attendance that mentions the workload of 180 hours. Students can apply for recognition of these credits to the relevant authorities in their home institutions, therefore the final decision on awarding credits is at the discretion of their home institutions. We will be happy to provide any necessary information that might be requested in addition to the certificate of attendance.
Fee info
EUR 150: For in-person participation, including lunches, coffee, a dinner, and excursions. For transfer inside the city and the surroundings you might use your Deutschland Ticket.