Subject area Religious Studies

Subject area

Building on its beginnings in the sociology of religion, Ergon has established itself in particular in the field of interreligious research and today offers series of publications of international scope and interdisciplinary significance. The editorial board is made up of representatives from leading university institutes and research centres. In addition to the interaction between Judaism, Christianity and Islam, a variety of current issues relating to the role of religion in history and contemporary events, politics and society are examined. Of particular importance are Islamic and interreligious religious pedagogy and Islamic theology.

Bibliotheca Academica – Religious Studies

Published by Ergon Verlag

The Bibliotheca Academica, the renowned house series of Ergon Verlag, has now been expanded to include the subseries Religious Studies. Here, top-class works from various subfields of the subject are brought together, which on the one hand reflect the breadth of research approaches and on the other hand reveal which topics are particularly relevant in current discourses in the study of religions.

To the series

Discourse Religion Contributions to the History of Religion and Contemporary Religious History

Edited by Ulrike Brunotte and Jürgen Mohn

This series, initiated by scholars from the Universities of Basel and Maastricht, brings together publications on the history of religion and contemporary religious history.

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Erlangen Yearbook for Interreligious Discourses

Published by the Bavarian Research Center for Interreligious Discourses

The newly established yearbook of the Bavarian Research Center for Interreligious Discourses (BaFID) at the Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg offers current contributions to the study of exchange among religions from an interdisciplinary perspective. The format is aimed both at a German-speaking specialist audience of thematically related disciplines such as theology, Jewish studies, Islamic studies, sociology of religion, and religious studies, as well as at an interested readership outside the universities. The quality of the contributions is assured by a peer-review process (double-blind). In addition to scholarly articles, the journal also presents literature reports, reviews, conference reports, and presentations of current research projects (dissertations, habilitation theses, etc.).

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Islamic and interreligious religious education and didactics

Edited by Tuba Işık and Imran Schröter.

Islamic religious education is a young subject in the German university landscape. It is closely related to the establishment of Islamic Theological Studies in Germany. Furthermore, it is directly connected to the different implementations of Islamic religious education in individual German states. It therefore develops theories on the practice of religious education and learning processes, which are to be enabled and optimized in the context of a pluralistic society. Interreligious learning plays a major role in this context and needs to be deepened.

The series wants to deal with all sub-disciplines and tasks around the requirements and challenges of Islamic religious education and upbringing in a theoretical and practical perspective.

Innovative dissertations and habilitation theses are published in the series. Also published are anthologies, conference proceedings, and relevant monographs, primarily in German, but also in other languages. Empirical work (qualitative and quantitative) is also welcome.

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Judaism – Christianity – Islam. Interreligious Studies

Edited by Klaus Bieberstein, Johann Ev. Hafner, Patrick Franke, Heinz-Günther Schöttler, Susanne Talabardon, Reinhard Zintl and the Center for Interreligious Studies at the University of Bamberg.

The series Judaism – Christianity – Islam is dedicated to interreligious studies and publishes research results of the Universities of Bamberg and Potsdam.

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מִרְוָח (Mirwach): Jewish and Christian Traditions in Contemporary Contexts

Edited by Asher Biemann, Alexander Deeg, Marianne Grohmann, Yemima Hadad, Klaus Unterburger

This interdisciplinary series, rooted in Jewish-Christian and ecumenical dialogue, explores the lasting significance and contemporary relevance of Jewish and Christian traditions in both religious and cultural contexts. Each volume engages with these traditions through diverse methodologies, fostering rich conversation across disciplines. The Hebrew word mirwach – meaning space, distance, or gap (often used in the phrase mirwach neshima, “breathing space”) – is reimagined here as mirwach machshava, a “thinking space.” It symbolizes the creative and reflective space that opens up between tradition and the present, between Jewish and Christian thought, and between the religious and the secular. This in-between space is where new possibilities can emerge. The series contributes to the ongoing relevance of theology, Jewish studies, religious studies, and cultural studies by offering fresh perspectives on how Jewish and Christian traditions can address contemporary questions. Alongside monographs and edited volumes, the series also features outstanding doctoral and postdoctoral research in German and
English.

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Religion in Society

Edited by Matthias Koenig, Volkhard Krech, Ines Michalowski, Kristina Stoeckl, Monika Wohlrab-Sahr

The series Religion in Society publishes monographs and edited volumes in German and English that deal with religion as a social fact. Religion is thus examined in its social constitution and in its interrelations with societal, economic and political environments. Religious practices, communities and traditions are analysed at the local and global level, covering various world regions. While the series focuses on the sociology of religion, it is also open to political science and anthropological approaches to religion. In addition to historical-sociological and contemporary empirical studies it also publishes systematic-theoretical and programmatic books.

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Studies of the Bonn Center for Religion and Society

Edited by Albert Gerhards, Manfred Hutter, Wolfram Kinzig, Markus Saur and Mathias Schmoeckel.

The Enlightenment has not led to a disappearance of religion – on the contrary. Although many religious institutions (such as the churches) are increasingly weakened in the West, they are growing in other parts of the world – sometimes in new organizational forms. It has also become increasingly clear in recent decades that religions are not congruent with their sponsoring institutions but reach far beyond them. They are in a complex interrelationship with the societies in which they are embedded. This interrelationship can be harmonious and tense at the same time, often in strange simultaneity. To explore it in the broadest sense and thus contribute to a new definition of religion and religiosity in the 21st century is the task of this interdisciplinary series.

Published are outstanding dissertations and habilitation theses at the intersections between religion and society, as well as collections of essays and contributions to lecture series and conferences.

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Forum Islamic-Theological Studies (Journal)

Editor: Prof. Dr. Zekirija Sejdini

The journal Forum Islamic-Theological Studies is an international journal whose aims are the promotion of academic discourse and the conceptualization of Islamic theology and religious education. Interdenominational, interdisciplinary, multiperspectival, and dialogical, it aims to stimulate scholarly debates in the various subdisciplines of Islamic theology as well as on sociological and pedagogical issues concerning ‘Islam’ and Muslims – as a platform for exchange between traditional Islamic scholarship and contemporary positions and approaches.

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