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, Health, and Care", Friday 25 September 2026, 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 2027 TBA
> 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: 22-23 April, 2027, Abdij Mariënkroon, Nieuwkuijk.
> More info (Moodle)

Taught by Dr. Eric Ottenheijm (UU).

Religious traditions are often studied in isolation in academic contexts. Early Christian texts are studied in Theology departments, Greek and Roman forms of religion are studied by classicists, Rabbinic literature is part of Jewish studies, etc. The assumption underlying this research seminar is that there is much to be gained by studying religions in juxtaposition and conversation with related phenomena in the ancient world. Religious texts reflect social historical quarters in an entangled world, necessitating both regional and comparative approaches. It offers a context for students working on all aspects of religion in the Greco-Roman world to enter into conversation with each other and to interact with leading scholars in this broad field of scholarship.

2026-2027: > More info (Moodle)

Taught by  Professor dr. Steven C. van den Heuvel (ETF Leuven) and Professor dr. 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 address it?

2026-2027: > More info (Moodle)

Taught by Professor dr. C.A.M. (Mariecke) van den Berg (VU/RU) and Professor dr. Anne-Marie Korte (UU)

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.

2026-2027: > 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’. This year we will read A Century of James Frazer's the Golden Bough: Shaking the Tree, Breaking the Bough edited by Stephanie Lynn Budin and Caroline J. Tully together.

2026-2027: > More info (Moodle)

Taught by dr. Ronelle Sonnenberg (PThU) and dr. Anja Visser (RUG).

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.

2026-2027: > More info (Moodle) 

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

Multiple sessions throughout the year, focusing on the exploration of  contemporary and interacting philosophical and theological debates on religion, transcendence and the good in relation to the research projects of the participants 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 in terms of method, and training of academic skills.

2026-2027: > More info (Moodle)

Taught by dr. K.E. (Kim) Knibbe (RUG) and dr. Amisah Bakuri (VU).

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.

2026-2027: > More info (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.

Autumn 2026: Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Letters and Papers from Prison with Professor dr. Edward van 't Slot (PThU) > More info (Moodle)

Spring 2027: Ronald Grimes' The Craft of Ritual Studies with Dr. William Arfman (TiU) > More info (Moodle).

The Grand Course is a two/three-day in-depth module that often combines a conference with a masterclass (incl. preparatory readings). In 2027 one Grand Course will be offered.

Grand Course "Religious Publics / Public Religion", combining the biennial conference of the Dutch Association for the Study of Religion (NGG) with a masterclass with one of the keynote speakers. Amsterdam, Fall 2027. More info (Moodle).

Fall 2026: Qualitative Analysis with Atlas.ti with Dr. Jorien Copier (RU). Designing, conducting and reporting qualitative empirical research is a craft that requires knowledge on the one hand, but also a lot of practice and experience on the other. During this course you will learn about different approaches in qualitative data analysis and associated coding strategies. Starting from a/your research question, we will design an analysis plan and perform the analysis using the Atlas.ti software program. > More info (Moodle)

2026-2027: Two Masterclass Research Skills Courses will be offered again, topics TBA. See Moodle for previous editions of these courses.

In 2027 the course on Coptic will be taught again. This is an introduction to Coptic, the youngest phase of the Egyptian language, which enjoyed active use in Egypt from roughly the fourth to the fourteenth centuries CE. It continues to be employed in the liturgies of the Egyptian Orthodox (Monophysite) Church. Coptic is of fundamental importance to the history of late ancient and medieval Egypt. Its literary tradition is characterized by a diverse and vibrant religious literature: biblical, monastic, gnostic, hermetic, Manichaean, liturgical, and magical texts are all preserved in Coptic—and often only in Coptic. Coptic documents are instrumental to our knowledge of everyday life in Egypt under the Romans, and then the Umayyad, Abbasid, and Mamluk dynasties. 

Spring 2027- Coptic with Dr. D.M. (Dylan) Burns (UvA) --> More Info (Moodle)

While we are still working on the curriculum for the next academic year, below you will be able to find planned courses for the upcoming years.