Did you know...

  • that Religious Studies is not a theological discipline, but a non-denominational, cultural studies subject?
  • that Religious Studies can also be studied without basic studies (Bachelor/Master/Doctorate) within the framework of the Bachelor Religious Education (Religious Studies Education)?
  • that condition-free admission to the MA Religious Studies is possible after completing the two extension curricula in any undergraduate program?
  • that almost any undergraduate degree (Bachelor, Master, Doctorate) can be used for admission to the MA Religious Studies?
  • that required courses (usually consisting of the two extension curricula) can be completed not only before the start of the study program but also during the study programme?
  • that you can learn more about the self-image of the subject Religious Studies, the cultural studies discipline on the topic of "religion", here?
  • that EU/EEA/CH citizens do not pay tuition for their B.A./M.A./Ph.D. studies? Non-EU/EEA citizens are required to pay tuition fees of 749.42 Euro/semester.This includes all degree programmes (B.A./M.A./Ph.D.).

News

  • Hüseyin Çiçek will be speaking at the annual international conference by the EU Turkey Civic Commission (EUTCC) at the European Parliament in Brussels. The event takes place from 26 to 27 March and gathers experts, policymakers, and civil society representatives to discuss pressing geopolitical and societal challenges.
  • Congratulations to Johannes Endler on the successful completion of the Ph.D. programme in Religious Studies with a thesis on Kinderbekommen für eine neue Welt. Die menschliche Fortpflanzung im Spiegel alternativkultureller und -spiritueller Ratgeberliteratur des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts [Childbearing for a new world. Human reproduction in the mirror of alternative cultural and spiritual advice literature of the 19th and 20th century] under the supervision of Karl Baier.
  • The informational meeting for first-year-students will take place on Tuesday, 11 March from 14:30–15:00 in Seminar Room 2.
  • Congratulations to Gino Bekos on successfully completing the PhD programme in Religious Studies with a thesis on Der Sufismus als Konzept eines anderen Islam. Europäische Figurationen islamischer Mystik [Sufism as a Concept of a Different Islam. European Figurations of Islamic Mysticism] under the supervision of Professor Karl Baier.
  • In the Austrian daily newspaper Kurier, Hüseyin Çiçek analyses the current geopolitical developments surrounding Abdullah Öcalan's call for the dissolution of the PKK and the strategic consequences for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and for Europe. You can read the article here.
  • We warmly congratulate our habilitation scholar Nicole M. Bauer on receiving the "Science Book of the Year Award" for her book Dämonen. Besessenheit und Exorzismus in der Geschichte Österreichs [Demons: Possession and Exorcism in the History of Austria]. The award ceremony will take place on 17 March, registration for the event is possible here. 
  • The Department welcomes Marleen Thaler as a Reseach Fellow. During her time at the Department she will – among other research areas – investigate the use of machines in alternative religious contexts.
  • Congratulations to Lukas K. Pokorny on the publication of the open access Vienna Journal of East Asian Studies, Volume 16 (BRILL, 2024). The issue contains the special issue "Euro-American Esoteric Perspectives on East Asia" edited by Professor Pokorny and Professor Franz Winter (University of Graz). All contributions of the journal are available here.
  • For students of Religious Studies, we are offering our mentoring program for questions and difficulties during their studies. You can find more information here.
  • On 26 February, Birgit Heller and Dirk Schuster talked about concepts of time in different cultures and religions in the Ö1 programme Im Fokus with the title "Who turned the clock - cyclical and 'timeless' time." Further information on the programme can be found here.
  • During the international colloquium Les objets des voyageurs (XIXe–XXe s.) at the Sorbonne University in Paris, Samuel Thévoz was giving a lecture on 20 February entitled "Parures de l'écrivaine et décors orientalistes: Alexandra David-Neel en Europe et en Asie et les usages des objets du voyage [The Writer's finery and Orientalist decor: Alexandra David-Neel in Europe and Asia and the uses of Travel Objects]". More information on the colloquium and the lecture can be found here.
  • The peer-reviewed student journal “Sacra” from the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Brno has published a call for papers for the next issue. Submissions are open until 15 March 2025, and more information can be found here.
  • The Department warmly welcomes Tao Thykier Makeeff as a research fellow. During his time at the Department, he is working on an edited volume on methodological, ethical and didactic challenges for the study and teaching of contemporary receptions of the Old Nordic heritage.
  • A summary of the event “Quo vadis? Career prospects for Religious Studies scholars” from the winter semester and further information on the series can be found here.
  • We would like to thank the Office for Questions concerning Worlviews at the Archdiocese of Vienna for the generous donation of an extensive collection of materials on religious diversity in Austria and in the German-speaking region for our repository of primary sources.
  • Birgit Heller was participating as an expert in the Long Night of World Religions in Hamburg on 2 February. This year's programme – entitled "A woman is a woman is a woman?" – was dedicated to the different representations of femininity in religions, discussing both their emancipative and subjugating aspects. Further information can be found here. 
  • In the new QS World University Ranking by Subject 2024, the University of Vienna's Theology and Religious Studies Cluster ranks 21st worldwide.

New Publications

  • Lukas K. Pokorny:
    1. and Leona Mörth-Nicola, and Kerstin Tretina, eds. 2025. Blicklichter und Grenzgänge: Interdisziplinäre Perspektiven auf Religion, Gender und das Lebensende [Illuminations and Border Walks/Crossings: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Religion, Gender, and the End of Life]. Paderborn: Brill Schöningh.
    2. and Rossella Ferrari, Rudiger Frank, and Ina Hein, eds. 2025. Vienna Journal of East Asian Studies, Volume 16. Paderborn: Brill Schöningh.
    3. and Franz Winter, eds. 2025. Euro-American Esoteric Perspectives on East Asia. Vienna Journal of East Asian Studies, Volume 16 (Special Issue).
    4. "'The Way, the Truth, and the Light': Franz Hartmann's Daodejing." Vienna Journal of East Asian Studies, Volume 16: 25–49.
    5. and Franz Winter. 2025. "Preface to the Special Issue 'Euro-American Esoteric Perspectives on East Asia'." Vienna Journal of East Asian Studies, Volume 16: 1–3.
    6. and Leona Mörth-Nicola, and Kerstin Tretina. 2025. "Einleitung: Blicklichter und Grenzgänge [Introduction: Illuminations and Border Walks/Crossings]." In Lukas K. Pokorny, Leona Mörth-Nicola and Kerstin Tretina, eds. Blicklichter und Grenzgänge: Interdisziplinäre Perspektiven auf Religion, Gender und das Lebensende [Illuminations and Border Walks/Crossings: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Religion, Gender, and the End of Life]. Paderborn: Brill Schöningh, IX–XXIX.
    7. "Kōfuku no Kagaku and the Boiling Cauldron." In Lukas K. Pokorny, Leona Mörth-Nicola and Kerstin Tretina, eds. 2025. Blicklichter und Grenzgänge. Interdisziplinäre Perspektiven auf Religion, Gender und das Lebensende [Illuminations and Border Walks/Crossings: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Religion, Gender, and the End of Life]. Paderborn: Brill Schöningh, 287–301.
  • Karl Baier:
    1. "Katholische Seherinnen der frühen Moderne [Catholic female seers of the early modern
    era]." In Lukas K. Pokorny, Leona Mörth-Nicola and Kerstin Tretina, eds. Blicklichter und Grenzgänge. Interdisziplinäre Perspektiven auf Religion, Gender und das Lebensende [Illuminations and Border Walks/Crossings: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Religion, Gender, and the End of Life]. Paderborn: Brill Schöningh, 111–137.
    2. "Ariosophie – Walther Paapes Buch über Adolf Josef Lanz und das Neutempler-Priorat Staufen in Dietfurt im Spiegel der Forschungsgeschichte [Ariosophy – Walther Paape's book about Adolf Josef Lanz and the Priory of the New Templars at Staufen in Dietfurt as reflected in the history of research]." In Zeitschrift für Hohenzollerische Geschichte 2025, 189–208.
  • Johann Figl:
    1.     "Säkulares Todesverständnis als Alternative zur religiösen Jenseitsorientierung. Motive der Kritik Nietzsches und Irvin D. Yaloms Rezeption [A Secular Understanding of Death as an Alternative to a Religious Orientation Towards the Afterlife. Motives of Criticism of Nietzsche and Irvin D. Yalom's Reception]." In Lukas K. Pokorny, Leona Mörth-Nicola and Kerstin Tretina, eds. Blicklichter und Grenzgänge. Interdisziplinäre Perspektiven auf Religion, Gender und das Lebensende [Illuminations and Border Walks/Crossings: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Religion, Gender, and the End of Life]. Paderborn: Brill Schöningh, 349–367.
  • Hans Gerald Hödl:
    1. "Queens and Mothers. Knappe Bemerkungen zur Rolle von Frauen in New Orleans Voodoo und Spiritual Churches [Queens and Mothers: Some brief remarks on the role of women in New Orleans Voodoo and Spiritual Churches]." In Lukas K. Pokorny, Leona Mörth-Nicola und Kerstin Tretina, Hg. Blicklichter und Grenzgänge. Interdisziplinäre Perspektiven auf Religion, Gender und das Lebensende [Illuminations and Border Walks/Crossings: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Religion, Gender, and the End of Life]. Paderborn: Brill Schöningh, 157–176.
  • Tao Thykier Makeeff:
    1. "Dantians and Dragons: Paracorporeality and the Euro-American Reception of Chinese Martial Arts Spiritualities." In Vienna Journal of East Asian Studies, Volume 16: 223–254.
  • Davide Marino:
    1. "The Path to Gnosis: a Microhistory." In Vienna Journal of East Asian Studies, Volume 16: 83–110.
    2. "The Tao of Julius Evola." In Vienna Journal of East Asian Studies, Volume 16: 111–141.
  • Human-Friedrich Unterrainer:
    1. and Sabine Sammer-Schreckenthaler, Gloria Lagetto, Omar C. G. Gelo. 2025. Specific and common therapeutic factors in psychodynamic psychotherapy for children and adolescents: an overview. In Frontiers in Psychology, Volume 16: 1525849.
    2. and Elisa Renner, Raphael Wimmer, Zoe Zipper, Hannah Brössler, Jasmin Brouschek, Jürgen Fuchshuber, Wolfgang Beiglböck. 2025. Affects, dissociative symptoms and addictive behaviours: Insights from clinical and non-clinical samples. In Journal of Affective Disorders, Volume 370: 481–488.
    3. and Michaela Hiebler, Hannah Brössler, Raphael Wimmer, Zoe Zipper, Elisa Renner, Jasmin Brouschek, Jürgen Fuchshuber, Aljoscha Neubauer. 2025. The German version of the Bergen Yale Sex Addiction Scale (BYSAS): psychometric properties and initial steps of validation. In BMC Psychology Volume 13, 109.
    4. and Jürgen Fuchshuber, Karl Koschutnig, Andreas Fink, Johanna Alexopoulos, Henriette Löffler-Stastka. 2025. Effects of insecure attachment on fMRI resting state functional connectivity in poly drug use disorder. In PLoS ONE 20(2): e0318505.