Central to the ReIReS project is the provision of the transnational access to the largest available integrated system of expertise and facilities in historical religious studies. Result of the first call earlier this year is, that 12 scholars were granted scholarships to conduct research on very different time periods and contexts.
About the Programme
The ReIReS programme “Transnational access to special collections and archival documents” gives access to 14 collections linked to six ReIReS partners in Bologna, Hamburg, Leuven, Mainz, Paris and Sofia. All these institutions offer their physical materials as well as their analytical and technical data. The sources available include all kinds of material about the history of Christianity in Europe and also some of the most relevant collections of Jewish and Muslim documents and books, granting the effective possibility of attracting the attention of new users, as well as public interest, particularly for studies concerning interreligious and interconfessional dialogue throughout history.
About the Research
October 2018, the scholarship programme of ReIReS started with the first twelve scholars arriving in the libraries to work on documents, manuscripts and rare books to develop innovative and groundbreaking investigations in the history of religion in Europe. Their research includes topics like:
- the transformation of the Syriac discourse about Palestine in late antiquity and early Islamic times,
- liturgical rites in a German medieval Jewish community,
- the relationship between politics and female mysticism in France and Italy,
- the perspective of German travel reports on North-African countries,
- Catholic approaches and attitudes about the eugenics in the first half of the 20th century,
- French broadcasts of Vatican Radio during World War II and
- the influence of female catholic lay activists on the Second Vatican Council.
Management and Next Call
The call for proposals and the selection and ranking process are managed by Claus Arnold and Alexandra Nusser from JGU Mainz and Mathijs Lamberigts from KU Leuven in cooperation with the other partners which offer Transnational access. All applications are selected and ranked by the indepentent ReIReS Peer Review Committee, consisting of outstanding scholars.
The next call will be published in January 2019 on the ReIReS website – if you are interested, apply and tell others about the opportunities ReIReS offers!
