Curriculum

On the last Friday of September, the Kick-Off opens the new academic year, introducing new members into the academic community and fostering existing contacts. During a morning programme, participants explore the rich variety of topics and methods in theology and religious studies, or a general topic relevant to all emerging scholars. In the afternoon, most research seminars will have their first session, which allows new members to check one out.

Next Kick-Off: "Religion and Emotion," Friday 27 September 2024, Radboud University, Nijmegen.
> More info (Moodle)

Halfway through the year, the Midyear Meeting focuses on career perspectives within and/or outside academia. As an academic community of emerging and senior scholars, NOSTER offers a valuable platform to plan and promote your (academic) career.

Next Midyear Meeting: 7 February 2025, Tilburg University
> More info (Moodle)

The Spring Conference is the highlight of the academic year. It offers an ideal opportunity to discover the ‘academic conference’ formula and to exchange knowledge and experiences. The conference doesn't have a fixed theme: all ReMA students and PhD candidates are warmly invited to present their current or future research. In addition to these paper sessions, there is a plenary lecture, three parallel workshops and lots of time to socialise. In short, the Spring Conference provides you with fresh energy, new ideas and skills, and relevant feedback from peers and seniors.

Next Spring Conference: 24 and 25 April 2025, Abdij Mariënkroon near Den Bosch. This year's plenary speaker is Prof. Dr. Birgit Meyer (UU).
> More info (Moodle)

Taught by Dr. Eric Ottenheijm (UU).

The course focus on Jewish Studies is chosen as a methodical and topical lens for studying Religion in Late Antiquity. It discusses issues of definition (e.g. how does religion in Late Antiquity relate to culture and political regimes, how to discuss identity or issues related to ethnicity or culture), entanglements of religion and (material) culture as well as inter-religious exchanges (e.g., adaptation, amalgamation, polemics or apologetics), emotional regimes and gender. The course covers the way Jewish Studies but also New Testament Studies, Religious Studies, and Theology apply methods such as narratology, post-colonial critique, the study of emotions, gender, and ethnicity, as well as the use of archaeological research in textual research.

2024-2025: > More info (Moodle)

Taught by Professor dr. Gijsbert van den Brink (VU) and Prof. dr. Steven C. van den Heuvel (ETF) with Prof. dr. habil. Mirella Klomp (PThU).

This seminar focuses on the interplay between religion and climate change. This interplay has, first of all, a historical dimension: there is an alleged link between (Western) Christianity, as laying the foundation for the contemporary ecological crisis (including the climate crisis); this link needs investigation. Second, there is a Biblical and a systematic-theological task: what Biblical and dogmatic concepts and thought forms can be brought to bear on the current climate crisis, and what hermeneutical steps need to be taken in this regard? Third, there is the empirical perspective: how do religious practices and religiously inspired attitudes contribute to the climate crisis, and how might they – vice versa – help us to address it?

2024-2025: > More info (Moodle)

Taught by Professor dr. Anne-Marie Korte (UU) and dr. Anne-Claire Mulder (PThU)

Monthly sessions offer a forum to present and discuss the research projects of the participants. The sessions alternately focus on the exploration of current debates in the multidisciplinary field of Religion, Theology and Gender and on the mastering of dissertation skills, both in relation to the research projects of the participants.

2024-2025: > More info (Moodle)

Taught by Professor dr. Ab de Jong (LU) and dr. Jacqueline Borsje (UvA).

Monthly sessions offer a forum to present and discuss parts of the research projects of the participants. In addition, we will be discussing current debates and issues in the study of religion, with a special focus on the interconnection between dedicated work (historical as well as contemporary) on concrete religions, religious materials, and religious phenomena, and general theorising about ‘religion’.

2024-2025: > More info (Moodle)

Taught by dr. Anke Liefbroer (TiU) and dr. Ronelle Sonnenberg (PThU).

The monthly sessions offer a forum for the presentation and discussion of ongoing research by the participants. In addition, the course discusses literature related to general topics relevant for empirical research in religion, such as quantitative and qualitative research methods, ethical aspects, and scientific integrity.

2024-2025: > More info (Moodle) 

Taught by Professor dr. Herman Westerink (RU) and Prof. dr. Petruschka Schaafsma (PThU).

Multiple sessions throughout the year focused on exploring current debates in dogmatics, ethics and philosophy of religion and on presenting and discussing the work of participants. The course includes a discussion of a text or a book that is key to the field, either in terms of content or method, and training in academic skills. Academic skills that are trained include citation styles and preparing a bibliography; balancing personal commitment and academic distance; choosing and applying the proper method; starting (and applying for) a PhD project, remaining in charge of it, and bringing it to a good (and timely) end; presenting and defending one’s research; publishing strategies; commenting on texts of colleagues; preparing for professional life after successfully defending one’s thesis.

2024-2025: > More info (Moodle)

Taught by Professor dr. Mariecke van den Berg (VU/RU) and Dr. Kim Knibbe (RUG)

This intensive text reading seminar aims to explore formative texts for the interdisciplinary study of religion within the humanities and the qualitative and conceptual studies in the social sciences, in particular from gender-critical, postcolonial, and post-secular perspectives. It focuses on the multiple and changing manifestations of religion in diverse social and cultural contexts, and it investigates religion from the intersection of feminist, sexuality, queer, masculinity and diversity studies. For 2024-2025, the theme is "Who’s Afraid of Gender?". This course explores philosopher's Judith Butler new book Who’s Afraid of Gender, in relation to global anxieties over ‘gender ideology’, for instance in discourses emerging from the Vatican and political disputes of trans rights. 

2024-2025: > More info (Moodle)

2023-2024 > More information on last edition (Moodle)

Reading a classic cover-to-cover: students and emerging as well as established scholars rarely find the time to do so. This course offers you the opportunity to study and discuss a classic or contemporary standard work from the fields of theology or religious studies. In four or five sessions within the scope of two months, an expert on the particular publication guides participants through its history, context, and content. In every academic year, NOSTER aims to offer two editions on different must-have-read classics, which might be offered again after two years.

2024-2025 Autumn: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison with Professor dr. Edward van 't Slot (PThU). > More info (Moodle)

2024-2025 Spring: Catherine Bell, Ritual: Perspectives & Dimensions with Dr. William Arfman (TiU) > More info (Moodle).

Next year's editions (2025-2026) will include Charles Long's Significations: Signs, Symbols, and Images in the Interpretation of Religion and Spinoza's Theological-Political Treatise.

The Grand Course is a two/three-day in-depth module that often combines a conference with a masterclass (incl. preparatory readings). In 2025 two Grand Courses will be offered.

Grand Course “Embodying Spiritualities: The Council of Nicaea and the Christian Life”, the biennial conference of the Dutch Association for Theology (VVTh) with a NOSTER masterclass with Professor dr. John Behr (University of Aberdeen and RU). Leuven, 8-10 January 2025. More info (Moodle).

This academic year NOSTER will offer a number of masterclasses facilitated by the University of Humanities Studies on specific research skills. Together with the UvH Transformative Research, Narrative Research, Mixed Survey and Mixed Methods Research, Interviewing, Focus Groups and Vignettes, Participant Observation and Shadowing. We have also created a course on Qualitative Analysis with Atlas.ti with Dr. Jorien Copier (RU). > More info (Moodle)

Offered by Dr. Ernst van den Hemel (Meertens Institute KNAW) in spring 2025. Social media offer important resources for religious studies scholars. Yet studying it can be complicated. How do you get social media data? In this course, you will learn how to use tools to scrape and visualize data from social media like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Telegram. > More info (Moodle)

While we are still working on the curriculum for the next academic year, below you can find those courses that are already planned:

Must-Have-Reads: Next year's editions (2025-2026) will include Charles Long's Significations: Signs, Symbols, and Images in the Interpretation of Religion and Spinoza's Theological-Political Treatise.

Language Courses: Introduction to Coptic and Introduction to Syriac will return for 2025-2026. For more information, see previous editions of these courses on Moodle.