Theologian Seewald new speaker at Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics”

University of Münster Cluster elects Catholic theologian Michael Seewald as its speaker – “Continue interdisciplinary, international, and publicly visible research on religion” – Research on religion at University of Münster to be further strengthened by new “Campus of Religions”

Press release 29 July 2022

Michael Seewald (34), Professor of Dogmatics and History of Dogma at the University of Münster, was elected as the new speaker of the Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics” on Tuesday evening. As of 1 July 2022, he will succeed legal historian Nils Jansen, who has held the post since the beginning of 2019. After the election, Seewald stated: “Our goal is to continue the interdisciplinary, international, and publicly visible research on religion at the Cluster of Excellence. I look forward to working with the newly elected board to set the course for a successful extension of our Cluster from 2026”. As speaker, Seewald will represent the Cluster of Excellence both within and outside the University, and will chair the Cluster’s committees. The election took place at the Cluster of Excellence’s General Assembly, and saw the election of Ines Michalowski (46), professor of the sociology of religion at the University of Münster, as deputy speaker.

“Our longstanding research on the relationship between religion and politics draws on the close cooperation between experienced and well-known scholars from a good 20 disciplines, early-career researchers, and recently appointed professors”, says Seewald. The Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics” has had since its establishment in 2007 a significant impact on the building of structures at the University of Münster, and has given rise to new research centres, third-party funding networks, and professorships linked to religious studies, for example in the sociology of religion, Jewish studies, and political science. Under construction is a “Campus of Religions”, which is designed to bring together theologies and non-denominational research on religion in Münster.

Michael Seewald has held the Chair of Dogmatics and History of Dogma at the Faculty of Catholic Theology at the University of Münster since 2017. He was a fellow at the Berlin Institute for Advanced Study (Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin) in the 2021/22 academic year. His publications, such as Dogma im Wandel. Wie Glaubenslehren sich entwickeln (Herder 2018) and Reform. Dieselbe Kirche anders denken (Herder 2019), have had great resonance both in academia and in society as a whole, and have been translated into several languages. His book Theories of Doctrinal Development in the Catholic Church will be published by Cambridge University Press in the autumn. Seewald is conducting research on “Dogmatic traditions of faith and religious identities” at the Cluster of Excellence. He is organizing the Cluster’s current annual theme, “Tradition(s)”, together with Regina Grundmann, professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Münster. (sca/apo)

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