NTT Journal for Theology and the Study of Religion - Volume 71, Issue 1, 2017

Abstract

This essay outlines the major issues and tensions in the field of theology and religious studies in the Netherlands. The institutional variety of the field is huge and one of the reasons why it is hard to come to fruitful cooperation. Moreover, as one research assessment formulates it, ‘the research landscape of theology and religious studies in the Netherlands has in a very short time gone through an amazing, and for a sound scholarly research climate barely acceptable number of changes, fusions, mergers, transfers’. This time-consuming process has put a lot of pressure on scholars. Now it is time to join forces and contribute to the future of the academic study of religion as it serves the general public interest in the Netherlands and abroad.

Abstract

The recent Report of the KNAW-research committee describes the extreme fragmentation of the field of Theology and Religious Studies in the Netherlands. This has negative consequences for the visibility and viability of research. This article focuses on Church History and the various ways it has been conceptualised in various environments. It argues that Church History has been slow to follow the expansion in approaches and subjects of study that has taken place in the historical profession. Although the political climate is not very promising, the only way to go would be a serious effort in catching up, closer cooperation with general historians and between the various branches of Theology and Religious Studies and with the ‘heritage industry’.

Abstract

The relationship between scholars working in the field of Islamic Studies and those affiliating themselves with Religious Studies (in the Netherlands, but also beyond) is plagued by a number of mutual misperceptions. These misperceptions should, and in fact can, be overcome. To argue this point, I (1) sketch the institutional framework of Islamic and Religious Studies in the Netherlands; (2) discuss a current area of fruitful interaction, viz., the study of Islamic ritual; and (3) end by some methodological reflections on future possibilities for collaboration between the two disciplines.

Abstract

How has the study of religion in the UK been shaped by its institutional contexts? Consideration is given to the Christian and secular foundations of universities and higher education colleges, the relationship of theology and religious studies, and the impact of institutional structures and drivers associated with teaching and research. The formation of ‘TRS’ as an instrumental and contested subject area is discussed, as is the changing curriculum. Research on religion is examined in relation to new institutional pressures and opportunities: the assessment of university research and the public funding of research. The importance of the impact agenda and capacity building are illustrated.

Abstract

In Germany the distinction between theology and Religionswissenschaft remains firmly in place. This article compares the institutional context of both disciplines. A related development is the recent creation of chairs and programs of Islamic theology. While Christian theology is shielded by constitutional and legal privileges and is far bigger than Religionswissenschaft, the latter has benefited from new initiatives in educational policy; successful new centres and projects were established, the most prominent of which focus on topics at the intersection with sociology. This growth, however, risks not being sustainable, given some peculiarities of the German academic system, in particular its hierarchical, professor-focused structure. The article also discusses the international dimension of German Religionswissenschaft.

Abstract

Looking beyond religious studies, not in a temporal but in a spatial sense, this brief essay identifies openings for multidisciplinary research and reflection in the study of material religion. The discussion focuses on categories, formations, and circulations—the historical contingency of basic categories of religion, the colonial and imperial forces in formations of religion, and the mobility of materiality in circulations of religion. By attending to these dynamics and highlighting recent publications in the field, this essay indicates some of the ways in which the ‘beyond’ is already present in the study of religion.

Abstract

In her book Material Christianity, published in 1995, the American scholar of religion Colleen McDannell calls attention to the importance of material culture in the everyday religious practice of American Christians in the 19th and 20th century. Her book demonstrates a breakthrough in the study of the history of Christianity: the one-sided emphasis on institutions and convictions gave way to an approach that also includes objects, places, practices, rituals, embodiment, and the senses. In this article McDannell’s book is introduced and situated within her own scholarly work, within the shift from Church history to the history of (Christian) religiosity and within the growing awareness of the importance of the material, physical, and sensory dimensions of religion.

Afterword

Reflecting on the contributions to this special issue, in this afterword I argue that the current fragmented state of religious studies in the Netherlands may well be taken as a laboratory to develop a study of religion for the future. Religious studies ‘new style’ can break with all sorts of path-dependent constraints, including the religious studies/theology binary, and should conduct research and teaching about religion against a global, postcolonial horizon in the broader context of the humanities.

This article reviews Psalm 18 in Words and Pictures: A Reading Through Metaphor, (Biblical Interpretation Series, 127), , , ; xvi+ pp., € 109.