Postgraduate Programme Islamic Theology
- The first seven Fellows
Academics and politicians are increasingly calling for Islamic Studies to be institutionalized in Germany in order to guarantee appropriate representation of Moslems in schools and universities. With the aim of training young scholars in this field, Stiftung Mercator has joined forces with seven universities to establish a postgraduate programme in Islamic theology.
Structure and organization
The multicentre postgraduate programme has been set up at the universities of Münster, Erlangen-Nuremberg, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Osnabrück, Paderborn and Tübingen. Since autumn 2011, seven postgraduates have been pursuing a PhD course at one of the seven centres while at the same time taking part in the overarching postgraduate programme, which also involves acclaimed guest scholars from abroad. At a later date, additional doctoral students will join the programme, which focuses among other things on Quran exegesis, Islamic law, the history of Islam, Islamic philosophy and religious education. The programme is coordinated by the University of Münster.
Objectives
The objective of the postgraduate programme is to train young scholars, above all in preparation for the centres of Islamic Studies to be established with the support of the Federal Government and the state governments in which the universities are based. The idea is to address the shortage of young scholars trained in Islamic theology in Germany. In the medium term, the programme should contribute to ensuring appropriate representation of Moslems in academia, schools and the public sphere. What is more, it will create the necessary framework for training teachers in Islamic religious education at state schools and for training imams at universities in Germany.
