Word from the LUCSoR Chair: September 2024
Welcome to the 2024-2025 academic year! I hope this finds you feeling refreshed following an enjoyable and restful summer holiday season. As we start the autumn semester, I want to look back briefly by highlighting 10 significant milestones at LUCSoR from this past year (some of which I referenced in my remarks at the Opening Lecture).
- Student Success
Why not start with our students? And I can’t only pick one, so why not three examples of student success? Our very own Max Farasat was a co-winner of the “Best Thesis in Jewish Studies” for his BA thesis, “Constructing Judaism: Reading Jewish Belonging in Religious Architecture”. Another one of our students, Carlijn Land, was awarded with a LUF International Study Fund grant for her fieldwork on Pentecostalism in Indonesia. Check out the LUF website for more information on the criteria and application procedure. To highlight yet another way that our students contribute, Nasreen Javanjoo continued work on the Diversifying Ancient History Project, which received a grant from the university’s JEDI Fund (Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion).
- Alumni Success
Our former student, Bas van Rijn, now Dr. Bas van Rijn, has in recent years been co-supervised by Dr. Markus Davidsen for his PhD at the University of Bern in Switzerland. Not only did his dissertation receive the summa cum Laude designation, but Dr. van Rijn was also awarded the Fritz Stolz Prize for the best doctoral dissertation in the study of religion at a Swiss University. As well, our former student, Lara Offermans, has been offered a PhD place for her work on the Mennonites of Haarlem at the Huygens Institute where she will be co-supervised by our very own, Prof. Eric Jorink.
- New Association
Our colleagues, Prof. dr. Sarah Cramsey and Prof. dr. Jürgen Zangenberg, founded the Leiden Jewish Studies Association (LJSA). At the inaugural LJSA conference in December 2023, more than 100 students and colleagues attended!
- New Colleague
We welcomed a new colleague, Dr. Verena Meyer, University Lecturer in Islam in South and Southeast Asia. To get to know her work better, check out the interview with Dr. Meyer conducted by Religious Studies student, Merel Vlak.
- Publications, Publications, Publications
As I mentioned at the opening, LUCSoR staff were incredibly productive in terms of academic publications this past year. Here are just a few that highlight the type of work we do. These include publications in important and high impact journals, such as the Journal of Hindu Studies (Dr. Joel Bordeaux: “From Bauddha Deśa to Śākta Pīṭha: Re/Locating the Hindu Goddess Tārā”), the Journal of the American Academy of Religion (Dr. Verena Meyer: “Grave Matters: Ambiguity, Modernism, and the Quest for Moderate Islam in Indonesia”), Correspondences (Dr. Mriganka Mukhopadhyay: “Translating Esotercism: Scepticism, Optimism, Agency”), and Revue d’histoire du protestantisme (Dr. Tom-Eric Krijger: “The Reformation that Failed to Occur: Liberal Protestantism as an Organised Movement in the Netherlands (c. 1860 – c. 1920)”.
There have also been new books such as this one from Prof. dr. Maurits Berger about the future of Islam in the Netherlands. New book chapters from Dr. John-Harmen Valk (“Desire and Political Theology of the International”) and Prof. dr. Bastiaan Rijpkema (“Militant Democracy, Hate Speech and 'Inciting Intolerance': Political Geert Wilders before the Supreme Court in The Netherlands”). As well as books by colleagues, which have received a substantial review, such Dr. Yves Menheere’s 2020 book, The Way and Its Powers.
- Timely Engagement with Issues of Concern
While research is critical to our mission, our colleagues also continued to engage directly with the pressing issues of our times. Prof. dr. Sarah Cramsey held multiple “teach-ins” on the Israel/Palestine situation. And Prof. dr. Maurits Berger created a special Peace Academy for students to contribute to a creative thinking process for discovering the basic conditions for peace in the Middle East.
- Fighting National Budget Cuts
Our colleagues have also been involved of speaking out against the planned cuts to higher education in the Netherlands. A few have even recorded videos that speak specifically of the danger and negative impact that cuts to Humanities programmes like Religious Studies would bring. The video campaign can be found on the webpage of the campaign.
- Media Engagement
Another area to highlight is media engagement. My favorite from this past year comes from Prof. dr. Jürgen Zangenberg, who featured in the EO documentary series, Jezus van Nazareth naar alle windstreken.
- Local Engagement
And closer to home, we have colleagues who facilitate learning outside the class and in the streets of Leiden. A good example of this is our BA course, Practising Religious Studies, taught by Dr. Elpine de Boer. This past year the course collaborated with Leren Met de Stad and Incluzio Leiden by having students research to what extent cultural and/or religious factors influenced whether people use facilities of local community centres or ask for financial support. Research that is not only academically interesting, but that has high social relevance.
- Comparative Religion Network
As a final milestone to highlight, the Comparative Religion Network was officially founded this past year. This network provides a platform for all staff and graduate students working on religion at Leiden (and even beyond) who are interested in contributing to the comparative and systematic study of religion.
What a year it’s been! And as we begin this academic year, I want to extend a special invitation to all of our colleagues, former colleagues, students, and alumni to celebrate with us the 10th anniversary of LUCSoR on 1 November 2024: LUCSoR at 10: Practising Comparison in the Study of Religion. Join the conversation and raise a toast with us for the next 10 years!
Best,
Dr. Corey L. Williams
Chair of Religious Studies Programmes
Leiden University Centre for the Study of Religion (LUCSoR)