Study of Religions

Study of Religions examines how religions and their adherents are embedded in and relate to broader social and cultural contexts, both historically and in the present day, within specific regions and across different cultures.

About the unit

The study of religion generates knowledge about religion and religious practices, as well as related values, norms, beliefs, and spirituality. Religious studies in Copenhagen help to deepen our understanding of and the relationship between religion, society, politics, and culture both within and outside Denmark. The research helps increase knowledge of religion as a cultural, historical, and contemporary phenomenon.

Contact

The department’s religious studies researchers work in fields such as history, sociology, history of ideas, and anthropology. The research focuses, for example, on gender, migration, minority-majority relations, cultural change, esotericism, aesthetics, technology, politics, law, and popular culture. We operate at the intersection of basic and applied research, where findings are disseminated in journals, at international and national conferences, in public lectures, through public policy engagement, and in the news media.

Each year, the academic community organizes a public seminar featuring both researchers and societal stakeholders on a current topic. The contributions are published in a subsequent issue of our open-access digital journal RELevans. There is a strong and active academic community that regularly organizes seminars for participants at all levels of research and guest lectures open to the public.

Muslims and Islamic learning

Listen to Muslims and Islamic learning: A podcast series 
Three episodes in Danish and one in English entitled “Young German Muslims in Turkish Islamic Theology”. 

Complexity and Beyond in Studies of Religiosity in the Nordic Countries (CBSR)

Funding: NordForsk
Project period: 1 January 2021 - 31 December 2022
Contact: Peter Birkelund Andersen

Covid-19 – Religion and existential wellbeing

Funding: Velux Foundation
Project period: 18 March 2020 - 18 March 2023
Contact: Peter Birkelund Andersen

Danish Mosques – Significance, Use and Influence

Funding: Independent Research Fund Denmark
Project period: 2017 - 2020
Contact: Brian Arly Jacobsen

Rearticulating Islam: A New Generation of Muslim Religious Leaders

Funding: Velux Foundations
Project period: 2019-2022
Contact: Simon Stjernholm

Religious councils and courts in a Danish context

Funding: Queen Mary Centre's ‘Seed Money’ Fund 2022
Project period: March 2023 – March 2024
Contact: Brian Arly Jacobsen