"Religion and Politics" – Cluster of Excellence at the UNiversity of Münster

The Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics. Dynamics of Tradition and Innovation” has been investigating since 2007 the complex relationship between religion and politics across eras and cultures. In the funding phase from 2019 to 2025, the 140 researchers from 20 disciplines in the humanities and social sciences analyze in transepochal studies ranging from antiquity to the present day the factors that make religion the motor of political and social change. The research network is the largest of its kind in Germany; and, of the Clusters of Excellence, one of the oldest and the only one to deal with the issue of religion. full story

© EXC/Banning Eyre, Afropop Worldwide

Deborah Kapchan is the new Hans Blumenberg Professor

US ethnographer and translator Deborah Kapchan speaks in Münster about religious subcultures in Morocco and her research on the connection between body and imagination. The evening lecture by the Hans Blumenberg Professor will take place on 13 May 2025 under the title “Face to Face with the Spirits: Embodying the Imagination” and is part of the annual theme “Body and Religion” at the Cluster of Excellence. Read more
 

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The human body in art and literature

Organized by the Cluster of Excellence , a new lecture and reading series deals with aesthetic conceptions of the body from the Middle Ages to the present day. Part of the series are readings from works by the imprisoned Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, who gave the Droste reading at the Cluster of Excellence in 2024. A lecture by US art historian Taylor McCall on 6 May marked the start of the series. Read more

© exc/Stefan Matlik

“Debates about diversity need more nuance”

According to researchers, debates about diversity programmes in companies and public institutions, and the question of how to deal with social diversity, are often oversimplified. The new degree programme “Diversity and Social Inequality” at the University of Münster prepares students for diversity issues in organizations. Read more

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