God’s Own Gender? Religions and their Concepts of Masculinity

God’s Own Gender? Religions and their Concepts of Masculinity

Veranstalter
Centrum für Religion und Moderne; Exzellenzcluster 'Religion und Politik'; Zentrum für Islamische Theologie
Veranstaltungsort
Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Hörsaalgebäude Johannisstr. 4
Ort
Münster
Land
Deutschland
Vom - Bis
10.11.2016 - 11.11.2016
Von
Dr. Daniel Gerster, Centrum für Religion und Moderne, Münster

Throughout history religions have shaped how people thought about and practised gender, a core concept of any social order. Linking it to concepts of ‘God(s)’, to the Cosmos and creation, religions often preached a fundamental divide between man and woman – and emphasised the dominant role of ‘the man’, in religion as well as in society: he was seen as the actual image of God, had the sole right to serve as priest, and was considered head of the family.

Today religion is still an important source for images of men. But as both, gender and religion, undergo manifold transformations, they are no longer reliable social categories: shifts in men’s gendered identities as well as in the contended boundaries of sexuality challenge traditional concepts of masculinity, as we can see in discussions on homosexuality in different religions. At the same time, secularization and growing religious plurality question traditional religious gender ideas and practices.

This international and transdisciplinary conference will ask how exactly these changes affect different religions and
their traditional masculinities. It will explore the ways in which religions and their sacred texts have been sources for images of men and ask what changes can be seen throughout history. The conference will explore contemporary controversies on masculinity within different religions and ask how far different religious actors are willing to take into account the challenges of religious and gendered diversity.

Questions and discussions, tensions and controversies affect all religions around the globe. The conference therefore includes research on different religious traditions, among them the major ‘world religions’, and examines the relations between religion and concepts of masculinity in a global perspective.

Programm

Thursday, 10.11.2016

14:00–14:15
Welcome and Introduction
Detlef Pollack, Münster

14:15–15:45
Concepts of Masculinity in Christianity
Chair: Christel Gärtner, Münster

Concepts and Ideas of Masculinity in Catholicism and Protestantism in the 19th and 20th Centuries − some Reflections on Recent Research
Yvonne Maria Werner, Lund

Feminization or Re-masculinization of Religion? Results from Empirical Research
Friederike Benthaus-Apel, Bochum

Respondent: Felix Krämer, Erfurt
Discussion

16:15–17:45
Concepts of Masculinity in Islam
Chair: Thomas Bauer, Münster

Which is Worse: Zina or Liwat? Why, and For Whom? Concepts and Practices of Masculinities in ‘Pre-Modern’ Islam
Andreas Ismail Mohr, Berlin

The Crisis of Islamic Masculinities
Amanullah De Sondy, Cork

Respondent: Scott Kugle, Atlanta
Discussion

18:15–19:45
Keynote
Critical Men’s Studies in Religion: How it started and Where it needs to go
Björn Krondorfer, Flagstaff/Arizona

Discussion
Chair: Michael Krüggeler, Münster

Friday, 11.11.2016

09:15–10:45
Concepts of Masculinity in Judaism
Chair: Katrin Kogman-Appel, Münster

Concepts and Debates on Masculinities in Talmudic Culture
Matthias Morgenstern, Tübingen

Sexuality and Masculinity in a Comparative Medieval Perspective
Ruth Mazo Karras, Minnesota/Jerusalem

Respondent: Rüdiger Schmitt, Münster
Discussion

11:15–12:45

Concepts of Masculinity in Asia
Chair: Thomas K. Gugler, Münster

Manly Monks and Lustful Ladies: Images of Masculinity, Sex, and the Body in Indian Buddhism
John Powers, Canberra/Melbourne

The First Gender: The Construction of Masculinity in Ancient India
Renate Syed, Munich

Respondent: Perry Schmidt-Leukel, Münster
Discussion

14:15–15:45
Critical Men’s Studies in Religion – Challenges and Perspectives
Chair: Daniel Gerster, Münster

Olaf Blaschke, Münster
Heidemarie Winkel, Bielefeld
Stephen Hunt, Bristol

Discussion

Kontakt

Daniel Gerster

Centrum für Religion und Moderne
Roggenmarkt 14, 48143 Münster
+49 251 83-23501

daniel.gerster@uni-muenster.de

http://www.uni-muenster.de/Religion-und-Moderne/organisation/geschaeftsfuehrung/daniel-gerster.shtml
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Sprach(en) der Veranstaltung
Englisch
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