NOSTER Spring Conference 18 & 19 APRIL 2016 · Miriam Hofman (RUG) Erik Willemsen (PThU) Martijn...
Transcript of NOSTER Spring Conference 18 & 19 APRIL 2016 · Miriam Hofman (RUG) Erik Willemsen (PThU) Martijn...
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Conference Hotel Kontakt der Kontinenten
Soesterberg
NOSTER Spring Conference
18 & 19 APRIL 2016
Conference Handbook
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Programme NOSTER Spring Conference
Welcome to the NOSTER Spring Conference, the highlight of the NOSTER academic
year. During the first day of the conference, Monday 18 April 2016, NOSTER junior
members will present their recently started and advanced research projects. Tuesday
19 April we will pay attention to current debates in the fields of theology and
religious studies and have workshops that contribute to more general research skills
that will be helpful during your PhD.
In this conference handbook, you will find the extended program for the conference,
abstracts of the presentations and table sessions and further practical information. If
you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact the NOSTER office at
We are looking forward welcoming you in Conference Hotel Kontakt der Kontinenten
in Soesterberg and we wish you a very informative and inspiring conference.
Prof. Bert Jan Lietaert Peerbolte (president)
Prof. Anne-Marie Korte (director)
Dr. Mariecke van den Berg (executive secretary)
Anja Havinga (secretary)
Jorien Copier MA (curriculum coordinator)
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Conference Programme
Monday 18 April 2016
9:30 – 10:30 Arrival, check-in, coffee and tea
10:00 – 10:15 Welcome and introduction of the programme
by prof. Anne-Marie Korte, director of NOSTER
Steylzaal
10:15 – 11:15 Presentations of advanced research with senior
researcher response I
Parallel sessions
11:30 – 12:30 Presentations of advanced research with senior
researcher response II
Parallel sessions
12:30 – 13:45 Lunch Restaurant
13:45 – 14:45 Presentations of advanced research with senior
researcher response III
Parallel sessions
14:45 – 15:45 Annual NOSTER PhD Consultation organized by
the NOSTER PhD Council (NL)1
Steylzaal
15:45 – 16:15 Coffee and tea break
16:15 – 16:45 Presentations of recently started research I Parallel sessions
17:00 – 17:30 Presentations of recently started research II Parallel sessions
17:30 – 18:15 Drinks Café de Wereld
18:15 – 20:00 Diner Restaurant
20:00 – 22:00 Evening programme Steylzaal
1 The common language of the conference will be English. However, some parts of the
programme will be in Dutch. These are marked as ‘(NL)’ in the programme.
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Presentations of advanced research
Presentations of advanced research address a (concept) chapter or article of the PhD candidate’s dissertation. Please read the text
of the presentations you are planning to visit in advance. The texts will be available at the NOSTER website:
http://noster.org/documents/sc2016/ | User name: SC2016 | Password: n0st€r#16
Time Presentation by Title Respondent Location Abstract
10:15 - 11:15 Bram Colijn (VU)
Protestant weddings in contemporary
Xiamen: Migration, church feminization, and
negotiation over wedding rites
dr. Kim Knibbe (RUG) Steylzaal p. 11
10:15 - 11:15 Brenda Matthijssen
(RU)
Ritualising Transforming Bonds; Relationships
between the living and the dead in the
Netherlands
dr. Yvonne van der Pijl
(UU) Tanzania p. 12
11:30 - 12:30 Jacobine Gelderloos
(PThU)
Village Churches and the Quality of Life in Rural
Groningen and Brabant dr. Kees de Groot (TiU) Steylzaal p. 12
11:30 - 12:30 Marco Derks (UU)
Conscientious Objectors and the Marrying Kind:
Rights and Rites in Dutch Public Discourse on
Marriage Registrars with Conscientious Objections
against Conducting Same-Sex Weddings
prof. dr. Maaike de
Haardt (RU) Tanzania p.13
11:30 - 12:30 Iris Busschers (RUG) Preliminary Conclusions 'Rethinking Missionary
Lives'
prof. dr. Martha
Frederiks (UU) Mozambique p. 13
13:45 - 14:45 Erik Willemsen
(PThU)
Jonathan Edwards: Reformed Spirituality Between
Antiquity and Modernity (NL)
Prof. dr. Andreas Beck
(ETF) Steylzaal p. 14
13:45 - 14:45 Konstantin Stijkel
(PThU)
The ultimate imagination; Description of Ezekiel’s
temple, its plan and arrangement (NL)
dr. Archibald van
Wieringen (TiU) Tanzania p. 14
13:45 - 14:45 Erik Renkema (PThU) Religious Education and Diversity in Merged
Schools (NL)
prof. dr. Siebren
Miedema (VU) Mozambique p. 15
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Presentations of recently started research
Presentations of recently started research don’t require readings in advance.
Time Presentation by Title Location Abstract
on page
16:15 - 16:45 Frederique Demeijer (VU) Zes sociale generaties van Het Apostolisch Genootschap (NL) Steylzaal 16
16:15 - 16:45 Sandra van Groningen (RU)
& Jorien Copier (RU)
Spirituality and Leadership in Changing Religiously Affiliated School
Communities Tanzania
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16:15 - 16:45 Marinus de Jong (TUK) A Neo-Calvinist Ecclesial Turn? Klaas Schilder on the place of the
church in the world Mozambique
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16:15 - 16:45 Daan Oostveen (VU) Religious diversity in China: multiple religious belonging? Kenia 17
17:00 - 17:30 Jelle Wiering (RUG) Spotting the chameleon: a material approach to the secular Steylzaal 17
17:00 - 17:30 Jasper Bosman (TUK) Celebrating the Lord’s Supper Within Reformed Churches in The
Netherlands Tanzania
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17:00 - 17:30 Miriam Adan Jones (VU) 'Catholics of the English Race': ethnicity and ecclesiology in Anglo-
Saxon England (c. 650-1050) Mozambique
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17:00 - 17:30 Nanouschka Wamelink
(UvA)
Fasting in the public eye: medieval ideas about saintly self-starvation
and spectatorship Kenia
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Tuesday 19 April 2016
08:00 – 09:00 Breakfast Restaurant
09:00 – 10:30 Table discussions: The future of the field
(see page 7 for explanation of this meeting)
Steylzaal
10:30 – 11:00 Coffee and tea break
11:00 – 13:00 Workshop I
Verdedigen van je proefschrift (NL) Steylzaal
Workshop II
Writing a Convincing Conference Abstract Tanzania
Workshop III
Opiniestukken schrijven over je promotieonderzoek
(NL)
Mozambique
Workshop IV
Hoe overleef ik religieus analfabetisme? (NL) Kenia
13:00 – 13:15 Plenary closing and farewell Steylzaal
13:15 – 14:15 Lunch Restaurant
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09:00 – 10:30 Table discussions: The future of the field
In the plenary morning session we want to take time to discuss the current debates
of our academic disciplines. These concern the specific position and mutual
relationship of theology and religious studies, recent developments in these fields
and their societal impact. You are kindly invited to choose from one of five different
discussion tables where you are briefly introduced in one of these debates by an
expert. You may then share your own thoughts in a brainstorm session. At the end
you, as a junior researcher, will be able to articulate a clear stance in at least one of
these issues. Moreover, you are encouraged to actively participate in these debates
and contribute your own thoughts and ideas.
1. The future of interdisciplinarity in the study of religion
To what extent should there be more collaboration between theologians, religious
studies scholars and scholars from other academic disciplines? What are the pros and
cons of shared faculties, shared research programmes and a shared research school
(NOSTER)?
Table chair: prof. dr. Anne-Marie Korte (UU/NOSTER)
2. The future research agenda of the study of religion
The Dutch National Research Agenda (Nationale Wetenschapsagenda) includes
several questions in which religion is at stake. This table will discuss a future research
programme/agenda in which these questions are elaborated.
Table chair: prof. dr. Marianne Moyaert (VU)
3. The future of junior researchers’ contributions to the discipline
To what extent are junior scholars in theology and religious studies involved in the
current debates and developments in the field? At this discussion table we will talk
about the role of junior scholars and how they can participate in future initiatives
such as the 2017 conference on ‘Religion and Modernity’.
Table chair: prof. dr. Henk van den Belt (RUG)
4. The future of education in religion
What should a new generation know about religion? And to what extent (and how)
can this be part of school curricula? At this table we discuss the future of education
in religion.
Table chair: dr. Markus Davidsen (UL)
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5. The future of the societal representation of theology and religious studies
Religion is increasingly a topic in public debate. Scholars of religion however are,
despite their expertise, only sporadically asked for their opinion. At this table we will
discuss how we, as experts of religion, can become more visible in the media in order
to bridge the gap between academic knowledge of and public debate on religion.
Table chair: prof. dr. Bert Jan Lietaert Peerbolte (VU/NOSTER)
Table arrangement
1. The future of
interdisciplinarity
in the study of
religion
2. The future
research
agenda of the
study of
religion
3. The future of
junior
researchers’
contributions
to the
discipline
4. The future of
education in
religion
5. The future of
the societal
representation
of theology and
religious
studies
Prof. dr. Anne-
Marie Korte
(UU/NOSTER)
Prof. dr.
Marianne
Moyaert (VU)
Prof. dr. Henk
van den Belt
(RUG)
Dr. Markus
Davidsen (UL)
Prof. dr. Bert
Jan Lietaert
Peerbolte
(VU/NOSTER)
Jasper Bosman
(TUK)
Marco Derks
(UU)
Iris Busschers
(RUG)
Peter Gorter
(VU)
Jeroen Jans
(RU)
Bram Colijn (VU) Nienke
Fortuin (RU)
Ernst Boogert
(PThU)
Sandra van
Groningen (RU)
Theo van
Leeuwen
(PThU)
Frederique
Demeijer (VU)
J.B. ten Hove
(VU)
Chandra
Gunawan (TUK)
Marinus de
Jong (TUK)
Matthias
Mangold (ETF)
Gerard van Es (UU) Martijn
Stoutjesdijk
(TiU)
Kees van der
Knijff (PThU)
Erik Renkema
(PThU)
Joyce Rondaij
(PThU)
Susanne van
Esdonk (UvA)
Suzanne
Roggeveen
(UvA)
Inge Schipper
(VU)
Jacobine
Gelderloos (PThU)
Stephie The
(TiU)
Miriam Jones (VU) Erik Willemsen
(PThU)
Brenda Mathijssen
(RU)
Fokke Wouda
(TiU)
Konstantin Stijkel
(PThU)
Theo Zijderveld
(VU)
Nanouschka
Wamelink (UvA)
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Workshops
Tuesday 19 April | 11:00 – 13:00 Location
Verdedigen van je proefschrift (NL)
dr. Mariecke van den Berg (VU/NOSTER) and prof. dr. Marcel
Sarot (TiU)
Homework: send in a chapter or article that will be part of your
thesis before April 6 so critical questions can be prepared. When
you already have submitted a text for a presentation of
advanced research during the conference, this text will be used.
Steylzaal
Writing a Convincing Conference Abstract
dr. Lieve Teugels (UU)
Homework: bring in five hard-copy prints of a conference
abstract you’ve sent in or one that you are planning to send in
together with the call for papers to which it responds.
Tanzania
Opiniestukken schrijven over je promotieonderzoek (NL)
Monic Slingerland (Trouw) Mozambique
Hoe overleef ik religieus analfabetisme? (NL)
dr. Frank Bosman (TiU) Kenia
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Participants per workshop
Verdedigen van je
proefschrift
Writing a
Convincing
Conference
Abstract
Opiniestukken
schrijven over je
promotieonderzoek
Hoe overleef ik
religieus
analfabetisme?
Bram Colijn (VU) Ernst Boogert
(PThU)
Jasper Bosman
(TUK)
Iris Busschers
(RUG)
Nienke Fortuin
(RU)
Frederique
Demeijer (VU) J.B. ten Hove (VU) Jorien Copier (RU)
Miriam Jones (VU) Gerard van Es (UU) Jeroen Jans (RU) Marco Derks (UU)
Kees van der Knijff
(PThU) Peter Gorter (VU) Inge Schipper (VU)
Susanne van
Esdonk (UvA)
Brenda Mathijssen
(RU)
Sandra van
Groningen (RU) Stephie The (TiU)
Jacobine
Gelderloos (PThU)
Erik Renkema
(PThU)
Chandra Gunawan
(TUK)
Nanouschka
Wamelink (UvA)
Marinus de Jong
(TUK)
Konstantin Stijkel
(PThU)
Miriam Hofman
(RUG)
Erik Willemsen
(PThU)
Martijn
Stoutjesdijk (TiU)
Theo van Leeuwen
(PThU)
Theo Zijderveld
(VU)
Matthias Mangold
(ETF)
Suzanne
Roggeveen (UvA)
Joyce Rondaij
(PThU)
Pieter Veerman
(PThU)
Jelle Wiering
(RUG)
Fokke Wouda
(TiU)
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Book of Abstracts
Presentations of advanced research address a (concept) chapter or article of the PhD
candidate’s dissertation. Please read the text of the presentations you are planning
to visit in advance. The texts will be available at the NOSTER website:
http://noster.org/documents/sc2016/
User name: SC2016
Password: n0st€r#16
10:15 - 11:15 Bram Colijn (VU) Respondent:
dr. Kim Knibbe (RUG) Steylzaal
Protestant weddings in contemporary Xiamen: Migration, church feminization,
and negotiation over wedding rites
This chapter will discuss Protestant Christians in contemporary Xiamen through
the lens of weddings. It asks: How do young Protestants in Xiamen challenge
established wedding practices in their church and home communities, and what
does this reveal about the ways they position themselves in dominant discourses
in Chinese society? Data is derived from interviews and participant observation
among recently and soon-to-be married Protestants, their spouses, and close kin.
In Xiamen's churches, as elsewhere in China, women far outnumber men. At the
same time, most church leaders condemn intermarriage between Christians and
non-Christians. This leaves many Protestant women negotiating with their church
leaders and fiancé over a host of thorny issues, often challenging the established
practices of their church community through discourses of romantic love and
religious freedom. Moreover, most young Protestants in Xiamen today are highly
educated migrants from elsewhere in Fujian province and China. Their weddings
are typically divided in up to three ceremonies; one in the groom's hometown,
one in the bride's, and one in Xiamen. In the context of a far-reaching revival of
'traditional Chinese culture,' including ancestor veneration and popular deity cults,
young urban Protestants living 'modern' lives have to negotiate with their
'traditional' rural home communities over the rites to be performed before,
during, and after their weddings. The chapter seeks to depict young Protestants in
Xiamen as they negotiate their place between church and home communities in a
rapidly changing society.
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10:15 - 11:15 Brenda Matthijssen
(RU)
Respondent:
dr. Yvonne van der Pijl (UU) Tanzania
Ritualising Transforming Bonds; Relationships between the living and the dead
in the Netherlands
People continue bonds with their dead in various sensible ways, and in past and
present tenses. They continue to celebrate anniversaries through which the dead
grow old and marriages last. In public and private spaces, the dead are made
present and become the topic or partner of conversation. Such on-going
relationships are by no means new, but have long been overshadowed by a
modernist, psychological framework. Since the 1990s this has begun to shift.
Today the continuing bonds paradigm has become the dominant way of
understanding grief, mourning and bereavement. Although many have argued for
exploring the dynamics of continuing bonds, such dynamics remain easily
overlooked. At this time they are not overshadowed by a modernist approach, but
by a focus on continuity. That what we have come to call “expressions of
continuing bonds”, however, might not always point to such continuity. This paper
aims to draw attention to transformations that occur in relationships between the
living and the dead; transformations that are ritually marked by the bereaved and
through which they negotiate the absence-presence of the deceased. Although a
sense of continuity is apparent in mourning practices, it suggests that we should
take separation, transition and integration into account to understand the social
and material lives of continuing bonds.
11:30-12:30 Jacobine
Gelderloos (PThU)
Respondent:
dr. Kees de Groot (TiU) Steylzaal
Village Churches and the Quality of Life in Rural Groningen and Brabant
Village Churches and the Quality of Life in Rural Groningen and Brabant is an
ethnographic research about rural Protestant churches in the Netherlands. From a
practical theological point of view the main question is addressed: how do
churches affect the quality of life in rural areas? The research focuses on two
protestant faith communities in the Netherlands. Both church communities
encompass several villages. One is in Brabant, the catholic southern part of the
country, where the protestant church forms a small minority. In the past 10-15
years the ecumenical contacts have gradually increased. The other congregation is
in Groningen, which used to be a protestant region, but is now the most
secularized province in the Netherlands. The faith community is a multi-parish
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ministry, consisting of four villages who share one part time clergyman and work
together in one church council.In these case studies various aspects of church life
in a rural context are explored. First I am investigating the social involvement of
the church community with village life: does the community cooperate with other
churches and organizations and what charitable initiatives does the community
develop? Secondly the use and meaning of the church building is addressed.
Thirdly, a more liturgical perspective is used for mapping practices of ritual and
reflection in village life. Finally I would like to know what church and faith mean in
the personal life of people: how does the church affect their personal quality of
life?
11:30-12:30 Marco Derks (UU) Respondent:
prof. dr. Maaike de Haardt (RU) Tanzania
Conscientious Objectors and the Marrying Kind: Rights and Rites in Dutch Public
Discourse on Marriage Registrars with Conscientious Objections against
Conducting Same-Sex Weddings
Through a critical discourse analysis of selected examples from printed, online and
televised media, this article shows that the weigerambtenaar was constructed as a
particular ‘fictive’ character that created a ‘social problem’; and that, although the
issue was framed in terms of certain rights, the subtext of some contributions also
points to the importance of certain rites—with a pivotal role for the civil marriage
registrar.
11:30-12:30 Iris Busschers (RUG)
Respondent:
prof. dr. Martha
Frederiks (UU)
Mozambique
Preliminary Conclusions 'Rethinking Missionary Lives'
During my presentation of advanced research I will present the preliminary
conclusions of my PhD Project “Rethinking Missionary Lives: Collective Biography,
Missionary Memory, and Historiography in the context of Dutch Calvinist Missions
to Papua and East Java, circa 1900—1949”. The Project itself can be summarised
as follows: In this PhD project I analyze lives of missionary workers who were
active in North-West Papua and East Java for the Dutch Calvinist Samenwerkende
Zendingscorporaties between c. 1900 and 1949. Particular attention is paid to the
interplay between the lived experience of workers at their mission site and the
memorialisation, narration and monitoring of missionary lives in the Netherlands.
The project sheds light on the circularity of missionary identity narratives, by
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portraying how individual biography, missionary memory, and mission
historiography are intrinsically related to each other. Furthermore, by highlighting
the influences of intersectionality, or in other words race, class, gender,
generation, family, profession, and religion, the project traces practices of
inclusion and exclusion in the missionary community then and now. Moreover, by
offering a deep contextualisation of mission in the circumstances in Dutch colonial
Indonesia, the Netherlands, and the transnational missionary community, the
project argues that Dutch Calvinist mission and the individual workers it
comprised were often not the isolated actors historiography so often suggests.
13:45 - 14:45 Erik Willemsen
(PThU)
Respondent:
prof. dr. Andreas Beck (ETF) Steylzaal
Jonathan Edwards: Reformed Spirituality Between Antiquity and Modernity
Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) – Amerikaans theoloog, filosoof en opwekkingsprediker – had in zijn directe omgeving te maken met een tweetal ‘kwesties van onzekerheid’. In de eerste plaats de in zijn tijd niet ongewone en uit het puritanisme voortspruitende vraag naar persoonlijke heilszekerheid. Daar kwam echter, in de tweede plaats en gevoed door de ‘taste of the age of Enlightenment’, de twijfel inzake klassieke doctrines (zoals het bestaan van God) bij. Beide kwesties hebben een epistemologische oriëntatie, zo betoog ik in mijn dissertatie. In deze presentatie stel ik de hoofdlijnen van mijn onderzoek aan de orde aan de hand van een paper dat ik kort geleden presenteerde tijdens een internationale conferentie in Tokyo, georganiseerd door het Jonathan Edwards Centre Japan.
13:45 - 14:45 Konstantin Stijkel
(PThU)
Respondent:
dr. Archibald van Wieringen
(TiU)
Tanzania
The ultimate imagination; description of Ezekiel’s temple, its plan and
arrangement
In the description of Ezekiel’s temple an impression has been given of the plan and
arrangement of the temple precinct. Furthermore the architecture, furnishing and
decoration of the courts, buildings and other structures have been investigated. In
a number of drawings a reconstruction of the temple building and its surrounding
courts must provide a better understanding of the vision-report. Much of the
temple imagery has been adopted from reminiscences of earlier sanctuaries, gate-
houses and courts in the Ancient Near-East. However, at the same time Ezekiel’s
temple differs in many respects from current temple building plans of that time.
Some features of Ezekiel’s (never built) visionary temple are quite new. The
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overall plan with its walls, gate courts and the tripartite arrangement of the
sanctuary are comparable with its Israelite predecessors and the current style
temple building in the Ancient Near-East. That’s the reason why Ezekiel’s temple
on account of the preceding chapters has been compared with Egyptian,
Mesopotamian Canaanite and Israelite temple building cults.
13:45 - 14:45 Erik Renkema
(PThU)
Respondent:
prof. dr. Siebren Miedema
(VU)
Mozambique
Religious Education and Diversity in Merged Schools
A significant feature of many primary schools in the Netherlands is the religious
diversity of the student population. Different religious backgrounds meet in Dutch
classrooms. This feature of diversity is very explicit at schools that are the result of
a merger of a public and a non-government school, the so-called cooperation
school. At these schools there is no affiliation with one specific religious tradition
and on the other hand these schools don’t present themselves as public schools.
This PhD-research concentrates on the moment of contemplation in religious
education at one specific cooperation school. Focusing on this moment we ask
two questions: how is dealt with religious diversity in this practice and what we
can say about this practice and the way teachers give meaning to it in relation to
the formal school identity? Based on these question we draw conclusion
concerning religious diversity in education.
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Presentations of recently started research
Presentations of recently started research don’t require readings in advance.
16:15 - 16:45 Frederique Demeijer (VU) Steylzaal
Zes sociale generaties van Het Apostolisch Genootschap
Hoe ervaren leden van een geloofsgemeenschap hun religie? Is er verschil in hoe
verschillende sociale generaties, zoals geschetst door de socioloog Karl
Mannheim, hun religie beleven? En wat zegt dit ons over de veranderingen die
een geloofsgemeenschap doormaakt? Op basis van een pilot study waarin zes
leden behorende tot zes verschillende generaties van het Apostolisch
Genootschap geïnterviewd zijn d.m.v. ongestructureerde life history interviews
presenteer ik mijn bevindingen en ga ik in op deze vragen.
16:15 - 16:45 Sandra van Groningen (RU)
Jorien Copier (RU) Tanzania
Spirituality and Leadership in Changing Religiously Affiliated School
Communities
Religiously affiliated school communities in the Netherlands have to deal with
processes of de-traditionalization, secularization and individualization. What kind
of leadership is needed in these schools? And how can theory from religious
studies and theology contribute to this issue? In this duo-presentation we
introduce our two practice oriented research projects that aim to develop
knowledge on intervention designs that address school leaders’ ultimate concerns
and help them lead their school communities in the re-establishment of purpose
and meaning.
16:15 - 16:45 Marinus de Jong (TUK) Mozambique
A Neo-Calvinist Ecclesial Turn? Klaas Schilder on the place of the church in the
world
In recent decades some important theological developments witness a trend
which has been called an ecclesial turn. In the work of the influential theologians
Stanley Hauerwas and John Milbank, albeit very differently, the church is the pivot
of their respective theological enterprises. In spite of the considerable acclaim for
this ‘ecclesial turn’, many have criticized this emphasis and warned against the
’sectarian temptation’. The present research seeks to contribute to this debate
with a systematic-historical study into the theological work of the Dutch Neo-
Calvinist theologian Klaas Schilder (1890-1952). The study of the Neo-Calvinist
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tradition has of recent given evidence of a modest revival to which the present
research seeks to contribute. This growing interest is mainly due to the broad
cultural scope of the founders of this tradition, Abraham Kuyper and Herman
Bavinck, the ecclesiocentric, more ‘Hauerwasian’ emphasis of Schilder’s theology
bears the promise of being a valuable contribution and, maybe, a correction.
Schilder’s theology has the potential to connect the sometimes overtly optimistic
Kuyperian cultural engagement with a Hauerwasian ecclesiocentrism, while at the
same time criticizing both. The heart of the actual research will thus be a
systematic-historical survey of the intellectual heritage of Klaas Schilder, focusing
particularly on role of the church in the world.
16:15 - 16:45 Daan Oostveen (VU) Kenia
Religious diversity in China: multiple religious belonging?
In the many Western countries, we have witnessed an increase in hybrid forms of
religiosity and people with a so-called multiple religious belonging in the past
decades. Some scholars have suggested that in Asia – for example in China -
multiple religious belonging is in fact the rule, while exclusive religious belonging
to one single religious tradition is the exception. I this presentation, I will show
how religious diversity has been conceptualized historically in China, by means of
an analysis of the discourse of “sanjiao” and “panjiao”, and whether multiple
religious belonging can indeed me considered as the general form of appearance
of religion in China, or that multiple religious belonging should be considered as a
misnomer in the context of Chinese religiosity.
17:00 - 17:30 Jelle Wiering (RUG) Steylzaal
Spotting the chameleon: a material approach to the secular
Secularism has recently become subject to intensified academic scrutiny,
criticizing its alleged ‘value freedom’ and ‘objectivity’. Rather than taking the
notion of secularism as the neutral opposition of religion for granted, scholars
have set out to deconstruct and denaturalize secularism’s normativity. However,
this academic interest has mainly focused on political secularism, ignoring
secularism as a cultural phenomenon. This particular bias has resulted in some
theories tending to rather be the product of normative trains of thoughts than the
result of empirical investigations. Therefore, in this paper, I call for more ‘bottom-
up inquiry’ into the secular, in which secularism is approached as a cultural,
materialized ideology rather than a political model. I do so through discussing the
normativity of two material forms that are often perceived as neutral: (1) the
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Dutch ‘liberal’ body, and (2) the condom. I argue that revealing such historically-
constructed manifestations of the secular is crucial for obtaining a more
comprehensive understanding of the secular and in which ways is related to the
category of religion.
17:00 - 17:30 Jasper Bosman (TUK) Tanzania
Celebrating the Lord’s Supper Within Reformed Churches in The Netherlands
By means of qualitative empirical research, this research aims at evaluating the
experience of the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper within two Calvinistic
denominations in the Netherlands. Within this research, the theological
perspectives of several local churches (their confessional and mission statements),
church leaders (ministers), members who participate in the celebration of the
sacrament, and non-participating members are described, compared, and
evaluated, using the Theology in Four Voices model (Helen Cameron a.o.).
17:00 - 17:30 Miriam Adan Jones (VU) Mozambique
'Catholics of the English Race': ethnicity and ecclesiology in Anglo-Saxon England (c. 650-
1050)
In the mid-eighth century, the Anglo-Saxon missionary Boniface addressed a letter
to “all catholics of the English race” asking them to pray for his mission. How did
he and his contemporaries envision the relationship between these two identities:
the religious and the ethnic? This is the central question of my research project,
which aims at describing the changing relationship between ethnic and ecclesial
categories in Anglo-Saxon England over the course of the early middle ages. In my
presentation, I discuss the rationale, aims, and methods of my project, as well as
its potential implications.
17:00 - 17:30 Nanouschka Wamelink (UvA) Kenia
Fasting in the public eye: medieval ideas about saintly self-starvation and
spectatorship
In the Middle Ages, dozens of female saints were believed to have stopped eating
and drinking except for the Holy Eucharist. This radical kind of fasting is in
scholarly literature referred to as inedia and formed an important marker of
female holiness. In medieval sources, this inedia is described as a public act, in
which women performed their starvation in front of spectators. Also, these
sources themselves were used to disseminate ideas about female holiness to a
public. I analyze medieval accounts of this kind of self-starvation from a
performative perspective.
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Practical information
Directions to Conference Hotel Kontakt der Kontinenten
Public transport
From railway station Amersfoort busses leave 4 times an hour. Bus 52 leaves in the
direction Utrecht. Bus 56 leaves in the direction Wijk bij Duurstede. Travel time: 9 to
11 minutes. Get off at the bus stop "Kontakt der Kontinenten".
By car
Coming from Amersfoort
A28 direction Utrecht, afrit/exit 4 (Soest-Soesterberg), at the end of the exit turn
right.
Coming from Utrecht
A28 direction Amersfoort, afrit/exit 4 (Soest-Soesterberg), at the end of the exit turn
left.
You are now on the Richelleweg. At two traffic lights you go straight ahead. After 100
meters you will find the entrance at your left hand.
If you use a navigation system we advise you to enter the following
address: Richelleweg 1, 3769 AZ Soesterberg. This destination is opposite of our
entrance.
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Floor map of Conference Hotel Kontakt der Kontinenten
Contact information:
If you have any questions preceding the conference, please don’t hesitate to contact
the NOSTER office at [email protected].
Telephone numbers for (urgent) matters during the conference:
Anja Havinga: 06- 11799438
Jorien Copier: 06-1587 4167