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Dear friends and colleagues,

First, we want to point you to the next film in our Screening Religion series, which will be shown tonight. We are also happy to announce the call for papers for part II of the KFG workshop on "Differentiation Theory and the Sociology of Religion and Secularity". Besides that, we would like to draw your attention to a DFG workshop and another call for papers, give you the latest update regarding COVID-19 health protection measures and recommend a finding to you.

Enjoy and have a good and healthy week!

Tonight at 7 p.m.: Screening Religion with "The Road to Mecca"

We are happy to present the next film in our series Screening Religion as online livestream in cooperation with Cinémathèque Leipzig: Tonight at 7 p.m., we invite you to watch the documentary "The Road to Mecca – The Journey of Muhammad Asad", directed by Georg Misch. The film follows the life path of Leopold Weiss alias Muhammad Asad from the fringes of the former Danube Monarchy to Israel, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and New York. Asad, who became an important cultural mediator and pioneer of a dialogue between Islam and the West, visits places where he has spent time in his life.

The film will be shown in the original languages (Arabic and others) with German and English subtitles, followed by a discussion. Registration is not necessary.

17 February | 7 p.m. (CET)

Online Livestream and Discussion (Free entry, donations welcome)

CfP: KFG Workshop on "Differentiation Theory and the Sociology of Religion and Secularity" Part II: Boundaries of Religion: Demarcations and Negotiations

We are happy to announce Part II of our Workshop on "Differentiation Theory and the Sociology of Religion and Secularity" on 3 and 4 June. Again our directors Christoph Kleine and Monika Wohlrab-Sahr together with Daniel Witte from the University of Bonn invite scholars to focus on the usability of differentiation theory for research on secularity - this time turning to the meso and micro level of social differentiations and conceptual distinctions in relation to 'religion'.

The workshop explores concrete empirical and historical cases that are instructive for the demarcation and negotiation of boundaries between 'religion' and other social spheres and practices. It aims at a comparative perspective by bringing different regional and historical constellations of religion and its respective others together.

In the event of travel restrictions due to coronavirus, the workshop will be held in a hybrid format, allowing for virtual participation.

Deadline for abstract (250-300 words): 26 March

Workshop date: 3-4 June

COVID-19 Latest Update

Once more, the German federal and state governments have decided to prolong the current Corona protection measures until 7 March 2021: Basic principles such as reducing contacts and wearing masks in public spaces (ideally medical masks), wherever people meet, remain valid. This also applies to refraining from travelling and visiting, and to adhering to hygiene and distance rules.

New regulations have been introduced to allow hairdressers and chiropodists to open from 1 March under specific conditions concerning hygienic and protection requirements. There is also the obligation to wear a medical mask in motor vehicles occupied by persons from different households, which is particularly relevant in a professional context and in carpooling. The curfew between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. of the following day as well as the restriction of a movement radius to 15 kilometres may be cancelled in the future but only if there will be a stable 7-day incidence below 100.

If you are a fan of the weekly markets in Leipzig, you will be happy to hear that they are open again in all parts of the city. In any case, we wish you good health and hope that you take good care of yourselves and others!

DFG Workshop „Mediale Verhandlungen religiöser Mehr- und Minderheitenpositionen im öffentlichen Diskurs" ("Media Negotiations of Religious Majority and Minority Positions in Public Discourse")

This workshop of the working group "Contemporary Research in Religious Studies" of the German Association for the Study of Religions (Deutsche Vereinigung für Religionswissenschaft/DVRW) and the DFG-funded Scientific Network "Constellations of the relationship between religious minorities and majorities in plural societies" sheds light on the different ways of reporting and media coverage of religious majority and minority positions in public discourse. Our Senior Research Fellow Sebastian Rimestad will contribute to the workshop with his talk on "Die Statement-Konversion – wenn die Mehrheit zu breit wird" ("The statement conversion - when the majority becomes too broad") this afternoon at 4 p.m.

You can still participate in the workshop by sending an e-mail and you’ll receive the access data.

17 February | 9:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. (CET)

18 February | 9:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. (CET)

Call for Papers: Online Workshop "Rewiring the House of God: Religious Self-World Relations in the Digital Environment"

We would like to draw your attention to a Call for Papers for an online workshop that will take place from 15–17 September 2021 under the direction of Gabriel Malli from the Max Weber Centre for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies at the University of Erfurt and Fouad Gehad Marei from the Department of Religion and Theology at the University of Birmingham. The workshop on "Rewiring the House of God: Religious Self-World Relations in the Digital Environment" will focus on the multiple forms of relationship and influence between digital technologies and religious life-worlds. Thematic areas of interest include the impact of digital media on processual constructions of imagined communities of faith and the political and socio-religious life of the religious community and the relationship between digital technologies and imaginal engagements with the Elsewhere and the other-worldly.

Scholars of all career levels and disciplinary and interdisciplinary backgrounds are encouraged to apply, including from anthropology, sociology, religious studies, political science, media studies, cultural studies, and related disciplines.

Deadline: 1 March (abstract of 350 words)

Date: 15–17 September

Finding: Grassi Museum of Applied Arts Virtual Tour

Due to the current COVID-19 situation, cultural institutions in Germany are still closed until further notice. The same is true for the Grassi Museum of Applied Arts in Leipzig, which now during the closing time offers you the possibility to make a visit by using the 360° views in their media guide.

With its exquisite collection, the Grassi Museum ranks among the world's leading museums of applied arts. The collections are comprised of arts and crafts pieces from antiquity to the present day. From the very beginning, the museum's collection was meant to cover a wide range of materials and epochs of European and Asian applied art. In recent decades, the collection has also expanded to include art objects from other parts of the world. The virtual tour presents some highlights from the Ancient World of Historism, Asian Art and Art Nouveau to Present.

If you have any content that you think suits the purpose of the weekly, please feel free to send it to us at multiple-secularities@uni-leipzig.de.