Christianity, Philosophy and Culture

Our Western culture has been defined by Christianity together with the philosophical legacy of ancient Greece and Rome. Jointly, they have shaped our outlook in more ways than many of us realize. Just think of the conceptual framework in which we conduct our political debates, the mentalities and practices that inform our lives, and of course the material culture around us.

The members of this department share a research interest in the longue durée of the concepts, ideas, practices and mentalities that are fundamental to an analysis of the public role of religion in our Western society. The department has particular strengths in the history of ancient and modern philosophy, in the cultural history of Christianity from the medieval period right through to our age, and in gender studies.

Scholarly and Societal Relevance

In contemporary societal and political debates, the role of religion is highly contested. While some applaud a recent resurgence of religion, others see a great danger in the presence of religion (Christianity and Islam) in the public sphere. The backdrop of such debates is formed by frequently ill-understood notions of the public domain, the secular, the legacies of Western philosophy, of Christianity and of the Enlightenment. In this situation it is crucial, for the sake of both scholarship and society, to combine philosophical and historical perspectives and bring cutting-edge research into the defining ingredients of Western culture to bear on our contemporary circumstance.

Research

The staff members conduct their research within the framework of Western philosophy and cultural history.
The department's joint research focuses on two themes:

Religion and the Public Domain
The place of religion in the public domain is a matter of heated debate. Is there a resurgence of religion in the secular West, or have theorists of the secular got it all wrong and we live now in a new post-secular age? What role ought religion to play in our time? Many debates have centred on rather simplistic notions of what it means to be secular, enlightened, European, Christian or modern. What is needed in this situation is a renewed analysis of the key ideas and concepts that are central to such debates.

Cultures of Consolation
Like hardly any other area, the theories and practices of consolation, from Antiquity, through Christian history till the present day showcase the intersection of ideas, concepts, mentalities, material culture and practices. Theorizing consolation today is an analysis of what it means to have a Western cultural heritage in which Christianity and philosophy intertwine.

The department fosters the following institutes, series, and projects:

• Institute for Christian Cultural Heritage
• Centre for Religion, Conflict and the Public Domain
• Ongoing research collaboration on theories of the postsecular with the Faculty of Spatial Sciences, University of Groningen
• Ongoing research collaboration on Biography, Identity, and Memory with the Department of the Historical and Comparative Study of Religion
• Book series Theorizing the Postsecular
• Book series Topics in Ancient Philosophy
• Book series Netherlands Studies in Ritual and Liturgy

See Staff and PhD students for more information on individual research.

Teaching

Our teaching is driven by our research interests and inspires them in return. The courses we offer are based on the specialisms within the department, such as the cultural legacy of Christianity, the intersection of religion and politics, and the intertwining of religion and philosophy in Western Culture.

The department contributes to the faculty's bachelor programmes and offers the master programme 'Religion and the Public Domain'. In addition to this programme, members of the department are involved in the following joint master programmes: 'Religion and Culture' (Research Master), 'Concealed Knowledge', and 'Spiritual Care'. For more information about our master programmes, click here.