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Global History of Christianity and Orthodox Christian Studies

General Discription

The Global History of Christianity with a focus on the history and present of worldwide Orthodoxy is an area of research that has a formative influence on the Faculty of Theology in Halle, with content overlaps with Church History, Eastern Church Studies, and Christian Oriental Studies.

Staff

Jun.-Prof.  Dr. Stanislau Paulau

Research assistent: Paulien Wagener

Student assistents: Conrad Theilemann, Julius Balski

Guest researchers: Prof. Dr. Cristian Sonea and Prof. Dr. Paul Siladi (Babes-Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca, Romania)

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News

The Chair of Global History of Christianity and Orthodox Christian Studies, together with the Chair of Religious Studies and Intercultural Theology, conducts the lecture series "Global Histories".

May 8th 2025

Lecture by Prof. Dr. Cristian Sonea and Prof. Dr. Paul Siladi

"A Secular Orthodoxy? Exploring the Religious Landscape of Romania"

6.15 p.m.

Faculty of Theology, Hörsaal II
Franckeplatz 1, Haus 30

The lecture critically examines the complex phenomenon of secularisation   within Orthodox communities in Romania, reassessing prevailing   narratives of religious decline or revival. Drawing on interdisciplinary   perspectives from theology, sociology, and history, the lecture   investigates both external expressions—such as public religious   symbolism, state funding, and church construction—and internal dynamics,   including ritualism and spiritual disengagement. It reveals the   paradoxical coexistence of overt religiosity and underlying secular   tendencies, addressing phenomena like nationalist religiosity,   compensatory practices, and the Church’s secular legitimization. The   lecture argues that Romanian secularisation is not a mere import of   Western paradigms and proposes a renewed eschatological and liturgical   orientation as a way for Orthodox communities to engage with modernity   while preserving their spiritual integrity.

Course offerings

Summer Semester 2025

Jun.-Prof. Dr. Stanislau Paulau:

• Blockveranstaltung: Religion in Transitions: A Romanian Perspective (together with Prof. Cristian Sonea and Prof. Paul Siladi
• Ü Summer Academy in Armenia "Historical Narratives and Current Challenges: Culture, Religion and Society of Armenia"
• Exkursion: Von der Seidenstraße nach Unter den Linden. Auf den Spuren des frühen asiatischen Christentums in Berlin

Paulien Wagener:

• Ü Mütter, Huren, Gottesdienerinnen? Biblische Frauenfiguren in der Literatur des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts
• Exkursion: Von der Seidenstraße nach Unter den Linden. Auf den Spuren des frühen asiatischen Christentums in Berlin

Winter Semester 2024/2025

Jun.-Prof. Dr. Stanislau Paulau:

• HS Kirchen in den sozialistischen Diktaturen Mittel- und Osteuropas

• Exkursion   in die Tschechische und in die Slowakische Republik zum Hauptseminar   „Kirchen in den sozialistischen Diktaturen Mittel- und Osteuropas“

Guest Professor Dr. Li Tang:

• VL Von Mesopotamien nach China: Mittelalterliche Christentumsgeschichte entlang der Seidenstraße
• Ü Late Antique and Medieval History of Christianity in China and Central Asia: Selected Sources (in English)

Paulien Wagener:

• PS Geschichte(n) des Christentums

Summer Semester 2024

Jun.-Prof. Dr. Stanislau Paulau:

• HS "Was ist Globale Christentumsgeschichte?"
• Excursion: Study trip to Armenia
• Research colloquium

Paulien Wagener:

• Ü "Maria: Magd und Himmelskönigin. Bilder einer Frau"

Winter Semester 2023/2024

Jun.-Prof. Dr. Stanislau Paulau:

• OS "Neuere  Forschungen zur Globalen Christentumsgeschichte (in the context of the annual conference of the Ecumenical Research Forum 17.–19.11.23 in Hamburg)"
• International Workshop "Global Christianity: Interdisciplinary Perspectives and Prospects" in Cluj-Napoca, Romania
• HS "When Christians First Met Muslims: Early Encounters between Eastern Christianity and Islam"
• Ü "Orthodoxe Theologien vor der Herausforderung Krieg"

Paulien Wagener:

• Ü "Orthodoxe Kirchen in Deutschland"

Saeed Radawi:

• Introduction to Geʽez

Summer Semester 2023

Jun.-Prof. Dr. Stanislau Paulau:

• S "Halle und der Christliche Osten: Vernetzungen,  Abgrenzungen, Wechselwirkungen (Forschungsseminar)"
• S "Vormoderne Christentumsgeschichte Afrikas in Quellen"

Winter semester 2022/2023

Jun.-Prof. Dr. Stanislau Paulau:

• Ü  "Christentum und Krieg interkulturell. Völkerschlacht bei Leipzig im  Spiegel russischer und deutscher Erinnerungskulturen, 1813–1913–2023"
• VL "Grundzüge globaler Christentumsgeschichte von der Antike bis zur Reformation"

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