Dissertation Projects

Contents

Modern South Indian history of religions

Esotericism and New Religious Movements

Pentecostal/Charismatic Christianity, with a special focus on Asia, Africa and Latin America

Theology and History of South Asian Christianity

Further subjects

For further information contact: Michael.Bergunder@wts.uni-heidelberg.de

Modern South Indian history of religions

Go to research focus

• Neo-Saivite reform movements in South Africa
• Saiva Siddhanta in contemporary Tamilnadu
• Indian nation and Western esotericism in the late 19th century
• The concept of Christianity in the missionary movement of the 19th century
  

Completed:

• Ulrike Schröder: Religion, Kaste und Ritual. Christliche Mission und tamilischer Hinduismus in Südindien im 19. Jahrhundert, am Beispiel des Missionars Robert Caldwell (2009) (Diss.)
  Published as: Ulrike Schröder: Religion, Kaste und Ritual. Christliche Mission und tamilischer Hinduismus in Südindien im 19. Jahrhundert. (Neue Hallesche Berichte 8) Halle: Verlag der Franckeschen Stiftungen, 2009.
• Gregory T. Basker Chellappa:  Bibelauslegung im tamilischen Kontext am Beispiel des Johannesevangeliums (2014) (Diss.)

Esotericism and New Religious Movements

Go to research focus

• Uli Harlass, "Indian Nation and Western Esotericism in the late 19th Century".
• Sara Heinrich: "Anna Kingsford (1846–1888) in Her 19th Century Context".
  
• Julian Strube, "Socialism and Occultism in 19th-Century France. The Quest for a Unity of Science, Religion, and Philosophy".
• Esotericism and Bali
  

Completed:

• Friedemann Stengel: Aufklärung bis zum Himmel. Emanuel Swedenborg im Kontext der Theologie und Philosophie des 18. Jahrhunderts (2009). (Habilitation in Church History) Published as: Aufklärung bis zum Himmel Emanuel Swedenborg im Kontext der Theologie und Philosophie des 18. Jahrhunderts. (Beiträge zur historischen Theologie; 161) Tübingen: Mohr, 2011.
  

Pentecostal/Charismatic Christianity, with a special focus on Asia, Africa and Latin America

Go to research focus

• German Pentecostal churches during the Nazi era
• Charismatic spirituality within Orthodox churches in Kerala
• Politics and Society in Filipino Pentecostalism on Negros (Oriental) 
• The role of women in Pentecostal Churches of Sri Lanka
• Concepts of witchcraft among Christians and Muslims at Ibadan, Nigeria
  

Completed:

• Claudia Währisch-Oblau. Migrants with a Mission. Pastoral self-understanding, biographical narratives, and the conceptualization and practice among Pentecostal/charismatic pastors in Western Germany. 2008
  Published as: Claudia Währisch-Oblau: The Missionary Self-Perception of Pentecostal/Charismatic Church Leaders from the Global South in Europe: Bringing Back the Gospel. (Global Pentecostal and Charismatic Studies; 2). Leiden: Brill, 2009
• Jörg Haustein: Writing Religious History. The Historiography of Ethiopian Pentecostalism. (2009)
  Published as: Haustein, Jörg: Writing Religious History: The Historiography of Ethiopian Pentecostalism. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2011. (Studien zur außereuropäischen Christentumsgeschichte (Asien, Afrika, Lateinamerika); 17)
• Anna Quaas: Transnationale Pfingstkirchen. Christ Apostolic Church and Redeemed Christian Church of God in Nigeria und Deutschland als Teil internationaler Netzwerke. (2010) (Diss.)
  Published as: Anna D. Quaas: Transnationale Pfingstkirchen. Christ Apostolic Church and Redeemed Christian Church of God. Frankfurt: Lembeck, 2011.
• Katharina Davis: "Die Pfingstbewegung in Arusha, Tansania. Vernetzung - Theologie - Praxis". (The Pentecostal Movement in Arusha: Networking, Theology, Praxix) (2013) (Diss.)
• Elungkiebe Zeliang: "The Charismatic Movement in the Zeliangrong Baptist Churches" (North East India). (2013) (Diss.)

Further subjects

Islam

• Islam and Protestantism
• Islam in German East-Africa during the Colonial Period

Buddhism and Christianity

• Completed: Fleming, Kenneth: Buddhist-Christian Encounter in Contemporary Thailand. Frankfurt am Main, 2014. (DFG-Project: "The contemporary encounter betweeen Buddhists and Christians in Thailand").

Confucianism and Christianity

• Completed: Taeyeon Kim: "Konfuzianismus und Christentum im China des 19. Jahrhunderts. Eine Untersuchung zum frühen Ku Hung-ming (1883–1896)." ("Confucianism and Christinity in 19th Century China: An Exploration of the Early Ku Hung-ming (1883–1896)." (2012). (Diss.)