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Dear friends and colleagues,

This week we would like to give you an update on the Annual Conference of the German Association for the Study of Religion in September. Moreover, we would like to draw your attention to an online symposium and a workshop series.

Besides that, we are curious to hear your suggestions for our film series Screening Religion, and finally, we have a recommendation for two TV documentaries on "Religion and Science".

Enjoy and have a good and healthy week!

Wanted: Your film suggestions for Screening Religion

For our film series Screening Religion we are looking for films for the summer semester programme. We are interested in films that deal with religion – be it as a catalyst for negotiation processes or conflicts, as a marker of identity or as a constitutive element of the social environment. If you know films that are suitable for our public screening, please let us know. The films should be in English or German or at least have appropriate subtitles. It is not necessary to be able to provide a copy of the film, the KFG will take care of that. Please send your suggestions with a short explanation to Judith Zimmermann by 15 March. Many thanks for your support!

The next film in our series Screening Religion will be the documentary "The Light in her Eyes", which will be shown on 24 March as online livestream in cooperation with Cinémathèque Leipzig.

Deadline Extension for Submission of Panels and Papers: Annual Conference of the German Association for the Study of Religion (Jahrestagung der Deutschen Vereinigung für Religionswissenschaft) on "Religion in Relation"

Early February we announced the XXXIV. Annual Conference of the German Association for the Study of Religion (Jahrestagung der Deutschen Vereinigung für Religionswissenschaft) which will take place from 13–16 September, organised by the Institute for the Study of Religion at the University of Leipzig. The organising committee now has extended the deadlines for the submission of papers and panels by ten days. The framework theme of this conference "Religion in Relation" widely intersects with the research questions of KFG including the thematic field of "Religion in Relation to its Social Environment", which is particularly relevant for us.

Our Senior Researcher Magnus Echtler will chair a panel titled "(Post)Secular Africa?". Eva Spies, Professor for the Study of Religion at the University of Bayreuth and our future Senior Research Fellow Katharina Wilkens are offering a panel on the general theme of the conference "Africa in Relation – religious, social and global historical approaches". You are cordially invited to present your research in either of the two areas or submit your own panel and/or paper suggestions. While the primary conference language is German, English-language panels and papers are also welcome.

Submission of panels: 10 March

Submission of papers (abstracts): 25 March

Date: 13–16 September 2021 | online

Start of AKMN Workshop Series "Digital Humanities & Religionswissenschaft" ("Digital Humanities & Study of Religion")

This workshop series is offered by the AKMN (Arbeitskreis Mittelbau und Nachwuchs der Deutschen Vereinigung für Religionswissenschaft/Work Group “Junior Scientific Staff” within the German Association for Religious Studies) in cooperation with the Institute for Digital Humanities at the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen. It comprises a total of eight talks on the topic of "Digital Humanities and the Study of Religion". Digital Humanities use digital methods to research questions in the humanities – thus, each talk will focus on a digital tool/environment/offer. Where possible, the inputs will include practical exercises and space for questions and discussion. In addition, there will also be the opportunity to meet informally. The series’ kick off presentation will be "Mein digitaler Buddha? 3D-Modell-Erstellung mit dem Handy" ("My digital Buddha? 3D model construction with mobile phones") by Lucie Böttger from the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen.

Date: Thursdays 18 March – 22 July | 6.00–7.30 p.m.  

Online via Zoom (Link will be published in advance on AKMN’s website)

TV Documentaries on "Science and Religion"

"Are religion and science well compatible?" – that’s the central question of two TV documentaries we would like to recommend to you: In "Was glaubt Deutschland? Religionen auf dem Prüfstand – Glaube contra Wissen" ("What does Germany believe? Religions put to the test – Faith versus Knowledge"), the Protestant astronomer Heino Falcke, the Jewish political scientist Dalia Grinfeld, the Buddhist Sylvia Kolk and the Muslim Ilhan Ilkilic talk about the universe, the theory of evolution and moral responsibility in the sciences.

The film "Religion und Wissenschaft: Feinde oder Verbündete?" ("Religion and Science: Enemies or Allies?") portrayes among others Jacques Arnould, Theologian and Ethics Expert at the French Centre for Space Research, and Yves Gingras, Professor of History and Sociology of Science at the University of Quebec in Montreal.

Online | ARD media library | arte media library

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.