Theology & Religious Studies

track

track Spiritual Care

track Religion, Conflict and Globalization

How are religion, conflict and peace related? How does globalization affect local religious traditions? How do religious and secular actors interact in debates on migration and gender?

Within the modern world, it is clear that religion has a major role in many conflicts occurring at multiple levels and locations. Yet religion is also one of the main ways in which people connect with each other across the globe. Despite this social and political significance, NGOs, governments and journalists alike often have misguided understandings of religion’s role in the modern world and the meaning that it holds for various peoples, relying on simplistic and outdated assumptions. This can contribute to disagreements, tensions and misunderstandings, with potentially serious consequences.The Religion, Conflict and Globalization Master’s track aims to address the pivotal place of religion within the dynamics of a globalized world, and how this relates to conflicts that shape modern societies. The course is interdisciplinary, wide-ranging, and broad; including political, social, psychological, cultural and legal dimensions.

track Religion and Pluralism, Ancient & Modern

What were the limits of tolerance and acceptance? Which roles did inclusion and exclusion play in the ancient world? How were notions of self and other shaped, and what were their mutual influences?

This MA track studies the existence and coexistence of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Exploring the impact of religious diversity on social identity formation in the Graeco-Roman and late antique periods until the rise of Islam, it analyses the role of tolerance and acceptance, of rejection and exclusion in their mutual relationships during the last two millennia. You will focus on a historical and philological analysis of the textual sources documenting the contacts among these religious traditions, approaching them from different angles and with diverse methods. Archaeology, codicology, paleography, epigraphy, textual analysis and interpretation illuminate each other in the scrutiny of the evidence concerning religious diversity in the ancient world. This MA track is unique due to both the interdisciplinary study of ancient Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions in one track, and the possibility of combining with a modern specialization. In it, students will encounter, firsthand, people from the ancient world and know how they grappled with religious diversity; they will envisage the varied religious roots of the modern world.

track Heritage and Religion

How and why do we creatively make use of the past to forge new identities in the present? What is at stake in the "musealization" of religion?

Heritage and Religion is a unique interdisciplinary MA-track focusing on a major trend at the interface of religion, identity, politics, and heritage studies. It also addresses a gap in critical heritage studies, studying the shifting place of religion in heritage debates.In the coming years, 30-80% of religious buildings will lose their original function in the Netherlands. National and European budgets are dedicating millions of euros to the development of plans to address vacant religious heritage buildings. Tourism and pilgrimage to religious objects, sites, and festivals are booming, which raises questions about sustainability and impact.

At the same time, heritage has become a significant subject in contemporary cultural debate. Large-scale migration and secularization are changing the religious identities of communities and the way they perceive the past. The demands of preservation of at risk material and intangible heritage in the face of war, displacement, population shifts, and climate change are great. How are preservation concerns balanced with local resources? This track challenges you to analyse and contribute your own voice to these debates.