This course focuses on how religion shapes and is shaped by urban environments, particularly in New York City. Often perceived as a rather secular place, New York City is in fact a vibrant hub of religious innovations and encounter, home to large Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Christian, and other religious communities. We will discuss various theoretical and methodological approaches to framing religion in the urban environment, including the history of religion(s) in New York City, performative practice and public religion, and religion, globalization and transnational migration. The aim is to better understand how religion is affected by urbanity and vice versa.
As part of the R4/SC module, the course will be followed by a field trip to New York City in October 2025 (subject to a pending application with PROMOS). The field trip is organized in collaboration with the Department of Religion and the Institute for Religion, Culture, and Public Life at Columbia University (NYC) and the UA Ruhr Office in New York City. Please note that as the number of participants in the field trip is limited, there is no guarantee that everyone in the seminar will be able to join the field trip. It will be partially funded but participants need to cover expenses of at least 600 € each themselves.
Students who have been accepted for the field trip will develop individual fieldwork projects throughout the summer semester to implement in New York City. The field trip will take place October 14–20, 2025 and include not only fieldwork but also meetings with students and staff at Columbia University to present our projects and discuss New York City as a hub for entangled histories of religions in past and present. A number of preparatory meetings will take place during the summer semester, as well as a methods workshop on September 10.
- Kursleiter/in: Maren Freudenberg
- Kursleiter/in: Martin Radermacher