About the Event
The International Meeting on Comparative Theology is an annual conference aimed at connecting PhD students and young researchers working in the field of Comparative Theology all around the world. Since 2016, it provides an interdisciplinary space for the exchange of ideas between researchers in theologies and other disciplines. It is convened by the Center for Comparative Theology and Cultural Studies (ZeKK) at the University of Paderborn and the International Center for Comparative Theology and Social Issues (CTSI) at the University of Bonn in a joint venture with the Faculty of Theology in Paderborn (ThF), which will be hosting the conference this year.
Annual Theme
Theologies of reconciliation appear more necessary today than ever before. Considering ongoing global conflicts, interreligious tensions, and increasing social fluidity, the work of confronting the past and restoring relationships on an individual, societal, political, and global level has gained renewed urgency. Reconciliation has thus become both a key theological and sociological category for envisioning human flourishing in the future.
Each religious tradition offers its own distinctive perspective on sin, conversion, repentance, and reconciliation with God as well as with one’s fellow Other. Reconciliation is also deeply embedded in the ritual practices of everyday life, shaping both individual and communal expressions of faith, healing, peace, and moral transformation. Through interdisciplinary dialogue and critical reflection, this conference seeks to deepen the understanding of reconciliation, to explore the conditions under which reconciliation can take place, and to highlight the specific contributions that different religious traditions can make to reconciliation processes without ignoring the historical complexity of interreligious relations.
We invite researchers to submit proposals that engage with questions such as:
- What approaches do various religious traditions offer to the theme of reconciliation?
- How is reconciliation ritually embedded in everyday life?
- How do religious traditions address the phenomenon of human sin?In what ways do religions contribute, on a socio-political level, to processes of reckoning and reconciliation following experiences of injustice?
- How can reconciliation be understood from an eschatological perspective?
- In what way does engaging with reconciliation in another religious tradition offer learning potential for your own?
Who should apply?
We welcome submissions from Pre-Docs and Post-Docs in the following fields:
- Theology and Religious Studies (Islamic, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Comparative Theology, nationally and internationally)
- Social Sciences and Humanities (sociology, social work, history, and related disciplines)
- Contributions from various fields of disciplines such as psychology, education, ethics,
ethnology and law
Submission Guidelines
Abstracts should be 300–500 words, outlining the research question, methodology, and relevance to the conference theme. Please add a short biography (max. 150 words) that includes the author’s name, institutional affiliation, and contact information. Please submit your abstracts for review by March 19 to l.hennecke@thf-paderborn.de.
Practical information
Invitations to attend will be sent out by the end of March. Accommodation for the speakers will be provided. Limited funding for travel expenses can be granted for participants without institutional financial support. The best papers presented at the conference will be published in a peer-reviewed journal.