The Doctoral Program is one of the three main activities of the ZRWP. The most highly qualified junior researchers are to be educated and enabled in this program to produce internationally recognized achievements. The Swiss National Fund has approved 1,066,383 Swiss Francs for the start of this program within the framework of its Pro*Doc funding program.
The Pro*Doc ‹Interactions of Religion with Politics and Economy with Respect to their Constructed Histories› comprises an educational module as well as three research modules: ‹Political Communities and/as Religious Communities› (head: Professor Jürgen Mohn, Basel), ‹Individual Religious Identity and Social Integration› (head: Professor Georg Pfleiderer, Basel), and a module on the societal integration of religious immigrant groups (led by Professor Martin Baumann, Lucerne). Additional research modules are in the planning stage.
The topic ‹Religion, Economy and Politics› is one of the most current sociopolitical and global challenges facing today’s world. Yet, in conjunction with the new perception of religion as a societal factor, it has become apparent that central questions in dealing with the phenomenon of religion in modern times have remained unaddressed and unanswered. ‹Religion, Economy, and Politics› do not characterize fixed variables, but are rather in each case quite flexible – their interplay is dependent upon the self-concept of the respective representatives and actors. The Pro*Doc program affiliated with the ZRWP begins at this point and addresses the ‹Interactions of Religion with Politics and Economy with Respect to their Constructed Histories›.
Research module 1 focuses on the different characterizations of the intersections between religion and politics in the 19th and 20th centuries in various national cultures. The structural features of the respective understanding of religion and politics are to be historically reconstructed through the transnational comparison of these features and tracked to the current discourse. For example, the discourse on laicism is the subject of a study in which the French situation is contrasted with Socialist countries (GDR) as well as those countries without a distinct tradition of laicism (Switzerland). The public forms of discourse, in particular, will be analyzed from the perspective of the aesthetic theory of religions.
The subject of research module 3 is the question of how religious minorities enter the public sphere. The goal of this research is to identify through international comparison the typical structures of the public emergence of minority religions and to specify the processes in which public participation is granted or denied. The project asks against the backdrop of the analysis of older immigration countries (for example Great Britain) to what extent typical developments are perceptible and expected in younger immigration countries (here: Switzerland). In this respect a comparative study addresses the recent visibility of the Muslim presence in Great Britain and Switzerland (as it has emerged in the form of mosques and minarets). A second study analyzes the societal integration processes of Jewish minorities in the aforementioned countries in historic perspective. The combination of country and religion comparisons over a longer period of time aims to improve the existing integration and participation models and contribute to the understanding of current societal debates.
Additional research models are in the planning stage.
Pro*Doc funding programs are characterized by the fact that they have, in addition to thematic research modules, a central educational module. In this educational module, independent research is continuously complemented and accompanied by a competence-oriented curriculum (30 ECTS), a doctoral student network, and an individual committee of mentors. In breaking with the isolation of the previous practices of doctoral student supervision, the educational program for the Pro*Doc ‘interactions’ therefore combines high-ranking scholarly supervision and intensive professional dialogue with the possibility of networking at an early stage and the acquirement of soft skills that are necessary for a successful career.
The first pillar of instruction is the curriculum in which key subject-specific qualifications and professional competences, such as presentation techniques, academic writing, university didactics, and project management are imparted. The research colloquium ‘Religion’ is the second pillar, in which current issues and problems of this field of research are examined in an interdisciplinary manner. The research week and the master classes – special courses affiliated with the educational program – offer the students the opportunity to further investigate topics in cooperation with the fellows of the ZRWP as well as external experts.
The doctoral students in the Pro*Doc program have the opportunity to present their dissertation projects and to engage in dialogue with other students participating in the Pro*Doc program as well as external students in monthly meetings and biannual conferences. Assistance with publications and in the preparation of papers is offered.
An advisory board will be established for each doctoral student. It is made up of the doctoral thesis supervisor and an advisor and can be supplemented by a mentor from an external institution. This board is to serve as a balance to the necessary specialization and to provide a joint culture of research as well as comprehensive support not only of professional nature, but also of social nature and with respect to the student’s career path.
We offer persons interested in writing a dissertation within the framework’s research topic the opportunity to cooperate in writing joint proposals.
For further information contact
Email an Dr. Dirk Johannsen
Fon: +41 61 267 29 26
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