News about Religion

18th century court records reveal compassion in dealing with mental health issues

A new multidisciplinary anthology, Managing Melancholy, analyses how theology, medicine and law shaped understandings of melancholy and mental states in early modern Nordic Lutheran societies.

Faith-based initiatives increase religiosity and conservatism in the United States

When states introduce legislation in favor of religious organizations, citizens begin to attend church more often, and their attitudes toward issues such as abortion and LGBTQ+ rights become more conservative. This is…

Conference: The Night as a Private Space

Bertel Thorvaldsen, Natten, Thorvaldsens Museum, inventarnummer A901 (https://kataloget.thorvaldsensmuseum.dk/A901) On 11-12 December 2025, PRIVACY will host an interdisciplinary conference on “The Night as a Private…

New visiting PhD fellow at PRIVACY

We are pleased to welcome Jan Temme de Vries as a visiting PhD fellow at the Centre for Privacy Studies from September to November 2025. Jan is a PhD candidate in Musicology at the University of Basel, affiliated with…

New book explores the concept of ‘non-muslim Islam’

NON-MUSLIM ISLAM: A new book, edited by Jesper Petersen and Anders Ackfeldt, challenges the conventional understanding of Islam by examining how the religion is shaped and interpreted not only by Muslims, but also by…

Bastian Felter Vaucanson has been appointed as the new research leader of the PRIVACY theme BELIEF

Bastian is an Assistant Professor in Church History and has been part of the PRIVACY team since 2018, when he began his PhD studies on intimacy in private spiritual letter writing in early modern France. With Bastian…

Ethicists' commentary on balancing religious tolerance and animal welfare

Ethical question of the month, December 2024 As a veterinarian contemplating a position at a federal meat processing plant, I am extremely uncomfortable with the recent federal injunction to forgo the requirement to…

New book about Religious Councils and Courts in Denmark

In legislation, administration, courts, media, public debate, and education, the issue of religious law, generally, and religious councils and courts, specifically, is both pertinent, complex, and understudied.

New Publication: ‘Farming God’s Way’ in Post-Apartheid South Africa

CAS guest researcher Hans Olsson has published a new article in the Journal of Southern African Studies, examining 'Evangelical Cosmologies of Land and ‘Crisis’ in Post-Apartheid South Africa'

New Publication: Sources of wealth and legitimacy in charismatic Christianity in Ghana

'A man’s gift will make room for him': Sources of wealth and legitimacy in charismatic Christianity in Ghana

New book on Religion and Constitution

In celebration of the 175th anniversary of the Danish Constitution, researchers and students are publishing a new book on Religion and Constitution – Religion og grundlov in Danish.

Danish scribes and German Bibles

Biblical paraphrases in the local language were popular in the late Middle Ages. In 1482 a Danish scribe completed a Low German paraphrase of Old Testament books.

Africa Cup of Nations: Politics and Power

Buster Kirchner, a student at the Centre of African Studies, has recently participated in a podcast titled ‘Field of Dreams: the politics and power of the Africa Cup of Nations’ produced by the Nordic Africa Institute.…

Muslim Political Dissent in Coastal East Africa

Visiting researcher and former Marie Curie Fellow at the Centre of African Studies Hans Olsson, has recently published a co-authored article in the Journal of Eastern African Studies titled ‘Muslim political dissent in…

New chart-topping Italian podcast “L'invasione” on the Indo-Europeans – featuring Birgit Rasmussen

Birgit Rasmussen has been interviewed for the chart-toping Italian podcast L'invasione on Proto-Indo-European and the Indoeuropeans.

A Prayer Book for the Entire Year — And Every Occasion

December means another year is coming to a close, at least according to our modern secular calendar. The liturgical year, on the other hand, has just begun with the first Sunday of Advent. A sixteenth-century prayer boo…

Paolo Astorri publishes chapter in Oxford Handbook of Christianity and Law

Paolo Astorri publishes chapter in Oxford Handbook of Christianity and Law titled "Christianity and Contract Law"

Professor Lisbet Christoffersen wins Danish Textbook Award 2023

Lisbet Christoffersen, who is professor of Ecclesiastical and Religion Law at the Department of Social Sciences and Business at University of Roskilde and adjunct professor at the Faculty of Theology at University of…

An Educational Poem by Petrus Riga

A previously unidentified fragment can now be shown to contain the educational poem De venditione Joseph by Petrus Riga.

On 1 September, Anna Vind begins a monograph scholarship from The Carlsberg Foundation

Associate Professor Anna Vind of the Faculty of Theology, University of Copenhagen, received a monograph-scholarship of DKK 746,325 from the Carlsberg Foundation in December 2022, which is now about to begin.

International award for Professor Stig Hjarvard

The International Society for Media, Religion and Culture (ISMRC) has given the ”Stewart M. Hoover Mentorship Award” to Stig Hjarvard for his innovating research on the mediatization of religion.

Cultural threats can lead to violent extremism

People with specific personality traits who perceive their cultural values as threatened are more likely to show hostility and support violent extremist behaviour directed against that threat. This is shown in a new…

New Symposium of Religion and Society edited by Andreas Bandak and Simon Stjernholm

A new symposium entitled Engaging Religion has just been published open access with Religion and Society. The collection invites an open conversation about what is lost and what can be found in the translations and…

Religion blocks freedom and democracy across the globe

A new major study documents that religiously motivated legislation has taken place in all types of societies and religions – to the detriment of democratic rights.