Teaching

 
I teach courses at both undergraduate (B.A.) and postgraduate (M.A. and Ph.D.) level on a variety of subjects. I also carry out teaching at universities abroad. From 2002 to 2016, I regularly taught for the International M.A. Programme “Palliative Care and Organisational Ethics” at the Alpen-Adria-University of Klagenfurt. In the past, I taught at the Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg/Breisgau, Leibniz University Hannover, LMU Munich, Evangelische Hochschule Freiburg, Pädagogische Hochschule Linz, Katholisch-Pädagogische Hochschule Wien/Krems, Freie Universität Berlin, Philipps-University of Marburg, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Université de Fribourg, Karl-Franzens-University of Graz, Danube University Krems, and the Catholic-Theological Private University Linz. In addition to my academic teaching, I am engaged in staff training related to Palliative Care. Moreover, in the last twenty years, I was invited to give lectures in different contexts of extension studies (such as education centres, academies, diverse professional congresses, continuing education events of hospitals).

My approach to teaching and learning is based on the conviction that self-motivation and independent, critical thinking are necessary requirements for a successful University study. I try to support my students, but I also want them to act on their own initiatives. Encouraging team-work is also very important to me. It is my belief that academic learning has to be different from secondary education—although the ability to be open to criticism and promoting self-responsibility should be central values in high schools as well. In all my courses I aim to convey the importance of multiperspectivity, diversity (namely gender, ethnicity, age, class and so on), and critical empathy as essential categories for research and scholarship.


In the academic year 2016/17 my teaching responsibilities include:

010058 VO Einführung in die Vergleichend-Systematische Religionswissenschaft (Introduction to Comparative Religion)
010112 SE Religionen und Trans-Sex/Gender (Religions and Trans-Sex/Gender)
VO Einführung in die Hindu-Religionen (Introduction to Hindu Religions)
SE Spiritualität und Körper (Spirituality and Body)

My teaching at the University of Vienna started in 1985, when I had just taken up a job as university assistant. Because of the sudden illness of the head of the Department, I had to take over the main course and chose the title “Central Ideas of Hinduism.” Since then, my teaching comprises a wide range of different subjects, among them:

Introduction to the Basic Literature of World Religions
The Goddess in the Ancient Near East and Her Development
Gods and Goddesses in Hinduism
Methodological Approaches to the Study of Religions
Women in World Religions
World Religions and Euthanasia
Ideas of Reincarnation
Dying, Death, and Mourning in World Religions
Goddesses: Mythical Images of Women in East and West
Mysticism in Hindu Religions
Introduction to Hindu Religions
Otherworld Journeys
Afterlife: Religious Traditions and Modernity
Religions, Sex, and Gender
Religions – Body – Sex/Gender
Sex/Gender Variations in Religiousness?
Value and Dignity of Human Life in World Religions
Religions and Medical Ethics
Spiritual Care: Care for the Dead
Introduction to Comparative Religion
Sexual Violence in Comparative Religion
Religious Concepts and Ideas of (Wo)Man