Teaching

The Chair of Islamic doctrine has a strong interdisciplinary and interfaith profile, which also translates into the teaching of its team members. In addition to courses on systematic theology, Prof. Dr. Lejla Demiri offers a number of courses in cooperation with scholars of Christian theology. Students from different religious backgrounds study their Scriptures and theological traditions together, learning with and from each other. Furthermore, the research expertise of ChID’s team members enriches the teaching, bringing in topics from the fields of mystical traditions, apologetic literature, philosophy of education, and literary and historical studies. In addition to the regular curriculum, ChID has organized study trips and lecture series to engage contemporary questions with theological perspectives. These teaching activities offer students unique opportunities to reflect critically on their contexts, which are shaped by religious and cultural pluralism. Given the international academic network that ChID members bring with them, they often invite scholars from abroad to specific course sessions, thereby offering students a broad range of perspectives and a global expertise.

Senior Research Seminar

Since 2017 the Chair of Islamic Doctrine has been offering the Senior Research Seminar for advanced MA students to guide them in their academic study and research. The seminar further provides a vibrant platform for PhD and Habilitation (postdoctoral) candidates to present and discuss their ongoing research and to offer feedback on others’ ideas. In recent years (since 2020) the seminar has been organized in cooperation with the Chair for Religious Studies and Jewish Studies (Faculty of Protestant Theology) Prof. Dr. Holger Zellentin. For this semester's programme, please see the poster.

Scriptural Reasoning

‘Scriptural Reasoning’ (SR), a practice which originally developed as a Jewish intra-faith activity, has become a prominent and especially rich method for interfaith dialogue between Muslims, Christians, and Jews. Be it in schools, parishes, or in academic settings, people of Abrahamic faiths read and reflect upon their respective Scriptures together. Committed to Scriptural Reasoning since 2004, Prof. Dr. Lejla Demiri was a member of the SR group at the University of Cambridge. Since then she has been an active participant in various SR events and at the University of Tübingen she has offered yearly Scriptural Reasoning seminars in cooperation with Prof. Dr. Christoph Schwöbel (from 2015 to 2021), thereby introducing a central interfaith practice into Tübingen’s academic university setting. Students engage with Scriptural passages selected according to a specific theme and learn from the ‘other’ tradition and gain fresh perspectives on their ‘own’. The annual Scriptural Reasoning seminars are an integral and much valued part of the courses taught by the Chair of Islamic Doctrine.

Read the report of this year's SR seminar

Study Trips

In 2013, 2015, 2016, and 2017, Prof. Dr. Lejla Demiri organised study trips (Summer Academy on Muslim-Christian Dialogue) to Rome in cooperation with the Lay Center at Foyer Unitas and Cambridge Muslim College (CMC). Students spent several days in Rome, where they visited places such as St. Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican museums, and monasteries. They attended a General Audience with the Pope and Sunday mass to get an impression of Christian spirituality. An important element of these study trips were personal encounters with scholars of religion, diplomats, and people committed to interfaith dialogue. These study trips gave students from Tübingen, Cambridge, and Rome unique opportunities to meet, to gain insights into religion in Italy, and to learn about Christian and Muslim perspectives on specific topics.