UCSIA Summer School Workshop 2023

From 30 August to 1 September 2023, UCSIA brought together a multidisciplinary and international group of 16 scholars in the fields of theology, humanities and social sciences for a closed academic workshop. This workshop was organized in preparation of the upcoming cycle of UCSIA Summer Schools for PhD and postdoctoral students, to be held from 2024-2026.

The programme of the workshop was designed to discern contemporary issues in the study of religion and consisted of expert lectures and discussion sessions on theory-building, methodology and the regional and societal relevance of academic research on religion. The participants of the workshop included:

• the members of the UCSIA Summer School steering committee:
  • John Arblaster, Associate Professor at the Ruusbroec Institute, University of Antwerp and Visiting Professor at KU Leuven;
  • Jayeel Cornelio, Professor of Development Studies, Ateneo de Manila University;
  • Bert De Munck, Professor at the History Department of the University of Antwerp;
  • Judith Gruber, Professor of Systematic Theology, KU Leuven;
  • David Henig, Associate Professor of Cultural Anthropology, Utrecht University;
  • Walter Van Herck, Professor at the Philosophy Department of the University of Antwerp;
• alumni of the ‘Mobility’-cycle (2019-2022):
  • Marko Barisic, PhD Candidate in Social Anthropology, University of Kent;
  • Francis Benyah, PhD Candidate in the Study of Religions, Abo Akademi University;
  • Ann Gillian Chu, Assistant Professor at the Department of Religion & Philosophy, Hong Kong Baptist University;
  • Stéphanie Machabée, Postdoctoral Research Associate at Yale Center for British Art, Yale University;
  • Shilpi Pandey, PhD Candidate at the Department of Public Law, VUB;
• renowned experts in the study of religion:
  • Siphiwe Dube, Senior Lecturer Political Studies, University of the Witwatersrand;
  • Jude Lal Fernando, Associate Professor of Contextual Theologies and Interfaith Relations, Trinity College Dublin;
  • Vlad Naumescu,  Associate Professor of Social Anthropology, Central European University;
  • Elayne Oliphant, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Religious Studies, New York University;
  • Cornelia Richter, Professor of Systematic Theology and Hermeneutics, University of Bonn.