Course description

The Departments of Protestant Theology and Catholic Theology are responsible for the master’s programme “Religion – Culture – Modernity”, and so it is developed from a genuinely Christian and theological perspective. It comprises theological, religious philosophical, Christendom-related historical, religious sociological and (socio-)ethical research into sociocultural phenomena and developments, which are influenced by religious descriptions of existence and religious values with regard to their genesis and function.

It teaches knowledge and skills needed in order to understand the challenges and opportunities in encountering religions and cultures in history and the present day in an interdisciplinary context. The focus lies on discussing the relationships between religion, culture and society in the modern day.

Students are offered an introduction to the fundamental problems, methods and content of reflection on religious plurality and the interrelationships between religion and culture, developed out of Christian or theological perspectives.

In the degree programme, the students learn how to:

• Reflect on the genesis of Christianity from Judaism and its encounters with other religions
• Give an account of the content and claim to validity of religious, sociocultural and ethical traditions of world religions in an argumentative manner
• Conduct research- and application-oriented projects

During the master’s degree, students acquire or deepen important key qualifications:

• General working techniques and expertise, such as how to read scientific texts in a rational and problem-oriented way
• The ability to precisely analyse and independently develop argumentation processes
• An insight into contexts within the history of the problem and an understanding of historical contexts of religious and theological questions and views
• The identification of multidisciplinary contexts and the ability to independently apply religious historical, philosophical, theological and cultural studies-related methods to new topics and subjects
• A sound understanding of currently relevant in interreligious problems, complex phenomena of integration and disintegration in religiously plural societies and places and functions of religions in the modern day