PhD projects at the Institute for Religious Studies
Below is a partial list of highlighted PhD projects at the Leiden Institute for Religious Studies.
PhD projects
Manichaeism in the Byzantine Empire: 300-600 CE - Rea Matsangou
The aim of this research is to critically re-examine the Greek-patristic sources (from the 3rd until the 6th century), in the light of the new discoveries, in order to illuminate the historical milieu in Byzantine society concerning Manichaeism.
The Reception History of Isaiah 24-27 in Early Judaism and Early Christianity - Wilson de Angelo Cunha
My research project, entitled The Reception History of Isaiah 24-27 in Early Judaism and Early Christianity, is an attempt to describe how Isaiah 24-27 was interpreted beginning roughly in 150 B.C.E. with the Greek translation of Isaiah and ending in around 400 C.E. with Jerome’s commentary on the same book.
Participants, Roles and Characters - Che Chebineh
Participants, Roles and Characters: A Literary, Text-syntactical and Cultural-anthropological study of Genesis 26:34-8:22. The story of Jacob and Esau (Genesis 26:34-8:22) remains a puzzle to readers with respect to acts of the characters involved.
Troubled Discourse: Politics, Science, Ethics, and Religion in Public Debates on Genomics - Olga Crapels
My research is concerned with the question of what the role and status are of ethical -religious and non-religious- arguments in public debates on biotechnology.
Fictional Religions: The Morphology and Reception of Invented Religions embedded in Works of Fiction - Markus Davidsen
As a consequence of the decline in the power of religious institutions throughout the 20th century, ‘fictional religions', that is invented religions embedded in fictional works, have increasingly become a source of religious inspiration for contemporary Westerners.
Transnational identity: the relation between Morocco and its emigrants – Merel Kahmann
This PhD project focuses on how the Moroccan government tries to stay in contact with Moroccan migrants abroad and how that relation affects the transnational identity of Moroccans living in the Netherlands.
Setting New Boundaries - Recontextualizing group identity in the diaspora - Levi Klempner
My research involves the identity of two minority faith groups as migrants in new lands. It seeks to compare and highlight identity negotiating tools and mechanisms used by the Copt and Rum Orthodox (Greater Syrian Greek Orthodox) in the United States, France and the Netherlands.
Galilee: landscape of imagination. Galilee as a literary construction in the New Testament - Els Klok
The hypothesis of the research is that the use of space in the gospels can only be understood in the context of classical historiography. Classical authors use space not merely as a background to a story but as an important means to express ideology.
Izates and Helena of Adiabene - Michal Marciak
“Izates and Helena of Adiabene. Oriental kings and queens between indigenous tradition and Judaism” The purpose of this project is to provide an overview and discussion of the available sources regarding the royal family of Adiabene, which lived and converted to Judaism in the 1st century CE.
Cultural Religious Participation, Self-Esteem & Social Identity - Noah Millman
Members of any institutionalized religion participating at only a cultural level, differ from those who follow their faith to the letter.
Religion and economy: roles, relationships, ends – Roberto Puggioni
My research is on the relationships between two aspects of human life which could seem, at first sight, very far from each other. I inquiry into the relations between religion and economy in the social context, both with a foundation in philosophy of religion, and with a sociological approach in the perspective of the sociology of religion.
Dress Codes: A comparative study of dress and religious identity within the Coptic community in past and present – Tineke Rooijakkers
Through dress we convey silent messages about our identity, thereby visualizing and reinforcing a sense of community.
The Concept of Forgiveness in the Works of Philo of Alexandria - Fulco Timmers
The meaning of forgiveness in the works of Philo is problematic. Forgiveness implies a relation: a relation between the wrongdoer, and the one who forgives the wrongful action.
Cultural Religious Participation, Self-Esteem & Social Identity - Noah Millman
This project will look at how culturally inclined or 'secular' Jews, maintain membership and view themselves as members of an institutionalized religion and as a sometimes disadvantaged minority group.