Research

Cover development

Development as a paradigm. Reflections on Sustainable International Cooperation, ed. by Patrick Becker and Knut V.M. Wormstädt, Bielefeld (transcript) 2023.

Ethics and Christian Musicking [Congregational Music Studies], ed. by Nathan Myrick and Mark Porter, London/New York (Routledge) 2021.

research foci

  • Religion in the global (post-)modern era
     
  • Cultural Transformation Processes in Modern Societies 
     
  • Research into radicalisation
     
  • Dialogue between the Natural Sciences and Theology 
     
  • Conceptions of the afterlife
     
  • Rituals, Music and Sound 
     
  • Climate change and new ecological relationships

Ongoing externally funded projects

  • Human Free Will in Interdisciplinary Discourse
    Symposium in August 2026, followed by an open-access publication
     
  • Reflexive radicalisation. A sociological analysis of discourses on loss among radicalised groups, using the examples of Islamism and right-wing extremism in Germany (2010–2026+)
    Research project 2026–2029 led by Youssef Dennaoui, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG)

Doctorates

Research Colloquium

Research colloquium from 7 to 9 July 2023 in Erfurt

Ongoing PhD projects

  • Christian Gyamfi: The Phenomenology of African Traditional Religion and Culture – Reconfigurating the African Mind
  • Benedikt Nießen: An Investigation into Late Medieval Conceptions of the Afterlife in the Context of Sociocultural Developments
  • Kulandai Yesu Raja Amaladoss: An Inclusive Anthropological Conscientisation for the Synodal-Centric Church. A Rereading of Gaudium et spes 23–32 (MWI scholarship)
  • Claudia Stenske: The Religious and Meaning-Giving Potential of Technology. A Multi-Perspective Study (Cusanuswerk scholarship)
  • Asad Madni: Transhumanism and the Future of Religion. A Comparative Analysis of Resonance in Transhumanist Groups and Spiritual Traditions
  • Sijo Chirayath: Beyond Mortality. A Comparative Study of Eschatological Perspectives in Eastern and Western Religious Traditions within the Multireligious and Multicultural Tapestry of India

Doctorates completed in 2026

  • Daniel Danbong Bingel: Theological implications of Karol Wojtyla’s notion of participation for community development. An appraisal of the Society of St Vincent de Paul in Nigeria
  • James Victor Innyasi: Gender Roles in the Philosophy of the Family: A Comparative Study of Ancient Tamil Literature and Contemporary Western Literature (MWI scholarship)

Series publications

Cover: Ceneno
  • Global Religion — Religion global (BRILL)
    edited by Patrick Becker and Claudia Jahnel
    Editorial Board: Afe Adogame (Princeton), Sharon A. Bong (Kuala Lumpur), Tomáš Halík (Prague), Carlos Mendoza-Álvarez (Mexico City/Boston), Markus Mühling (Wuppertal), Myriam Renaud (Chicago)

    Volume 1: Kenneth Centeno: Renegotiating the Sacred. A Search Towards a New Way of Understanding the Filipino Consciousness of God, 2022

    Volume 2: Bernhard Grümme et al. (eds.): Global Christendoms. Theological and Religious Studies Perspectives, 2022

    Volume 3: Izak Y. M. Lattu: Rethinking Interreligious Dialogue. Orality, Collective Memory, and Christian-Muslim Engagements in Indonesia, 2023

    Volume 4: Selina R. Stone: The Spirit and the Body. Towards a Womanist Pentecostal Social Justice Ethic, 2023

    Volume 5: Leita Ngoy: Prosperity Gospel Redefined. The Impact of the Charismatisation of the Mainline Churches in Tanzania, 2024

    Volume 6: Alena Höfer: Transcultural Theologies. Network Dynamics and Negotiations of Meaning: The Case of Korean Americans, 2025
Hanns Lilje Foundation Prize
  • Technology and Religion (Nomos)
    edited by Patrick Becker and Axel Siegemund

    Volume 1: Annika Krahn, Ralf Peter Reimann, Frank Seifert and Axel Siegemund (eds.): Doing Theology Digitally, 2026

    Volume 2: Axel Siegemund: Drawing Boundaries in Industrial and Biotechnology. Transcendence and Claims to Meaning in Technological Modernisation in Asia and Europe, 2022

    awarded the Hanns Lilje Foundation Prize for Freedom and Responsibility