Prof. Dr. Volkhard Krech
Chair of Religious StudiesProfessor for Religious Studies; CERES Director & Speaker of the Research Department;
Speaker SFB 1475: Metaphors of Religion,
Project leader THERE,
Project leader Graduate School RePliR
Volkhard Krech, born in 1962, is professor of the Study of Religion at Bochum University, Germany, and director of the Center for Religious Studies (CERES). His main research interests cover the theory of religion and history of religions, religious pluralisation and globalisation, processes of sacralisation, religion and violence, religion and art, and history of Religious Studies. His publications include Georg Simmels Religionstheorie (1998), Religionssoziologie (Bielefeld 1999), Wissenschaft und Religion. Studien zur Geschichte der Religionsforschung in Deutschland 1870-1933 (Tübingen 2002), “Sacrifice and Holy War: A Study of Religion and Violence” (p. 1005-1021 in W. Heitmeyer and J. Hagan [eds.]: International Handbook of Violence Research. Kluwer Academic Publications: Dordrecht/Boston/London 2003), “The Religious Field between Globalization and Regionalization: Comparative Perspectives” (with Stefan Huber, in: Bertelsmann Stiftung [ed.], What the World Believes: Analysis and Commentary on the Religion Monitor 2008, Gütersloh 2009, 53–93), a commentary on Georg Simmel’s Die Religion (Reihe Die Gesellschaft, Neue Folge, hg. von Hans Diefenbacher, Bd. 6, 2011), Wo bleibt die Religion? Studien zur Ambivalenz des Religiösen in der modernen Gesellschaft (Bielefeld 2011), and Die Evolution der Religion. Ein soziologischer Grundriss (Bielefeld 2021).
orcid.org/0000-0002-9013-4461
Office Hours
on appointment
Areas of Research
Theory of Religious History, Religious Pluralism and Globalization, Sacralization, Religion and Violence, Religion and Art, History of the Study of Religion
Director of Center for Religious Studies and CERES Directorate
Principal Investigator of CRC 1475 „Metaphors of Religion“
Spokesperson of CRC 1475 „Metaphors of Religion“
Professor of Center for Religious Studies
Coordinator of Euro-Asian History of Religions , Religion & the Arts , Religious Diversity in Present Times and Religious Encounters
Project Leader of Migration und Religion. Eine historisch-komparative Untersuchung ausgewählter Migrantengruppen , Subproject B05 , Subproject INF and Theorie and Empiricism of Religious Evolution
Member of Research Department of CERES RESEARCH DEPARTMENT
Former Projects and Affiliations
Project Leader of DFG Research Group “Transformation of Religion in the Modern Age” , Dynamics of Text Corpora and Image Programs , Gush Emunim and Hamas , Iconic Religion , Islamic Theology at German Universities , Komparatistik und Theorie der Religionsgeschichte , NORFACE Project on Religious Diversity , Pluralisierung des Religiösen. Zur Transformation religiöser Deutungsmuster aus Sicht der Anbieterseite , Pluralisierung des Religiösen. Zur Transformation religiöser Deutungsmuster in den „neuen“ Mittelschichten der BRD , Religious Diversity in North Rhine-Westphalia , Religious Globalization , Modelling Topics and Structures of Religious Online Communication , SaWa , Semantic and Social Network Analysis as a Means to Study Religious Contact (SeNeReKo) and Una sit religio
RUB Member of Käte Hamburger Kolleg
Cooperation Partner of Plureligion Network