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    <title>Religions in Transition: International Perspectives</title>
    <link>https://lecture2go.uni-hamburg.de/l2go/-/get/l/7792</link>
    <description><![CDATA[Religion, for many individuals, is practiced not in the abstract, but in concrete, embodied ways—through participation in local religious groups. These groups, often referred to as congregations, are central sites where religious belief, belonging, and behavior are lived out. They provide not only spaces for worship, but also platforms for socialization, community-building, charity, and political engagement.
Local religious groups are remarkably diverse. They vary in size, resources, denominational affiliation, organizational form, leadership structure, activities, and their relationship with their surrounding context. They include parish-based Christian congregations, free churches, mosques, synagogues, temples, and spiritual centers. They can be embedded in religiously diverse urban metropolises or operate in rural, mono-religious settings.
Despite this diversity, and despite their centrality in the religious field, our systematic knowledge of congregations remains limited—especially in the European context. The lecture series presents current congregational studies from various contexts such as Italy, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Croatia, and the USA.
The lecture series is organized by the Academy of World Religions at the University of Hamburg with support from the Udo Keller Foundation Forum Humanum.]]></description>
    <language>en-US</language>
    <copyright>University of Hamburg 2026</copyright>
    <itunes:author>University of Hamburg</itunes:author>
    <itunes:summary><![CDATA[Religion, for many individuals, is practiced not in the abstract, but in concrete, embodied ways—through participation in local religious groups. These groups, often referred to as congregations, are central sites where religious belief, belonging, and behavior are lived out. They provide not only spaces for worship, but also platforms for socialization, community-building, charity, and political engagement.
Local religious groups are remarkably diverse. They vary in size, resources, denominational affiliation, organizational form, leadership structure, activities, and their relationship with their surrounding context. They include parish-based Christian congregations, free churches, mosques, synagogues, temples, and spiritual centers. They can be embedded in religiously diverse urban metropolises or operate in rural, mono-religious settings.
Despite this diversity, and despite their centrality in the religious field, our systematic knowledge of congregations remains limited—especially in the European context. The lecture series presents current congregational studies from various contexts such as Italy, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Croatia, and the USA.
The lecture series is organized by the Academy of World Religions at the University of Hamburg with support from the Udo Keller Foundation Forum Humanum.]]></itunes:summary>
    <itunes:image href="https://lecture2go.uni-hamburg.de/images/58-511_video-73359_2026-06-01_18-00.jpg?lastmodified=1780389582788"/>
    <pubDate>Tue, 02 Jun 2026 11:46:02 +0200</pubDate>
    <lastBuildDate>Tue, 02 Jun 2026 11:46:02 +0200</lastBuildDate>
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      <title>Religions in Transition: International Perspectives</title>
      <link>https://lecture2go.uni-hamburg.de/l2go/-/get/l/7792</link>
      <url>https://lecture2go.uni-hamburg.de/images/58-511_video-73359_2026-06-01_18-00.jpg?lastmodified=1780389582788</url>
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      <title>Stuttgart Islam Study: the Diversity of Islamic Communities in the Stuttgart Metropolitan Region</title>
      <description><![CDATA[Religious pluralization and internationalization are having a lasting impact on German society. The Stuttgart Islam Study by the Liebenzell Institute for Missiological, Religious, Intercultural, and Social Studies (LIMRIS) provides the first comprehensive empirical survey of the inner Stuttgart metropolitan region (2.7 million inhabitants). The study is based on survey conducted through visits to more than 60 Islamic communities as well as several qualitative interviews. The study explores phenomena that have received little attention to date: the overall landscape of Islamic communities, their denominational diversity, and key areas of activity within Muslim communities in the region around the capital of Baden-Württemberg.

Dr. phil. Tobias Schuckert, PhD is professor of intercultural theology and religious studies at the International University of Applied Sciences Liebenzell. He holds a Ph.D. from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, and a Dr. phil. from Bergische University in Wuppertal, Germany. His research interests include the sociology of lived religion and theories of religious conversion.]]></description>
      <itunes:summary><![CDATA[Religious pluralization and internationalization are having a lasting impact on German society. The Stuttgart Islam Study by the Liebenzell Institute for Missiological, Religious, Intercultural, and Social Studies (LIMRIS) provides the first comprehensive empirical survey of the inner Stuttgart metropolitan region (2.7 million inhabitants). The study is based on survey conducted through visits to more than 60 Islamic communities as well as several qualitative interviews. The study explores phenomena that have received little attention to date: the overall landscape of Islamic communities, their denominational diversity, and key areas of activity within Muslim communities in the region around the capital of Baden-Württemberg.

Dr. phil. Tobias Schuckert, PhD is professor of intercultural theology and religious studies at the International University of Applied Sciences Liebenzell. He holds a Ph.D. from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, and a Dr. phil. from Bergische University in Wuppertal, Germany. His research interests include the sociology of lived religion and theories of religious conversion.]]></itunes:summary>
      <itunes:duration>00:43:36</itunes:duration>
      <itunes:image href="https://lecture2go.uni-hamburg.de/images/58-511_video-73359_2026-06-01_18-00.jpg?lastmodified=1780389582788"/>
      <link>https://lecture2go.uni-hamburg.de/l2go/-/get/v/73359</link>
      <pubDate>Mon, 01 Jun 2026 18:00:00 +0200</pubDate>
      <guid>https://lecture2go.uni-hamburg.de/l2go/-/get/v/73359</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Congregations in a Danish Urban Area: Organization – Activities – Cooperation</title>
      <description><![CDATA[In Denmark religious transition has among other things involved changing proportions between the majority evangelical lutheran church, minority religious groups of mainly Danish origin, and minority religious groups of mainly foreign origin: the former slowly declining, the middle more or less stable, and the latter growing. By focussing on Aarhus city (the second largest in Denmark) and urban area, this presentaton will analyse and discuss how these three congregational forms are linked to two other features, namely activities, and outreach and cooperation.

Ulla Schmidt is Associate Professor in practical theology at the Aarhus University. Her research interests include churches and organisation, state – church-relations, rituals and practices related to death, practice theory and practice theory and practical theology.]]></description>
      <itunes:summary><![CDATA[In Denmark religious transition has among other things involved changing proportions between the majority evangelical lutheran church, minority religious groups of mainly Danish origin, and minority religious groups of mainly foreign origin: the former slowly declining, the middle more or less stable, and the latter growing. By focussing on Aarhus city (the second largest in Denmark) and urban area, this presentaton will analyse and discuss how these three congregational forms are linked to two other features, namely activities, and outreach and cooperation.

Ulla Schmidt is Associate Professor in practical theology at the Aarhus University. Her research interests include churches and organisation, state – church-relations, rituals and practices related to death, practice theory and practice theory and practical theology.]]></itunes:summary>
      <itunes:duration>00:41:09</itunes:duration>
      <itunes:image href="https://lecture2go.uni-hamburg.de/images/00.000_video-73141_2026-04-27_18-00.jpg?lastmodified=1777366666839"/>
      <link>https://lecture2go.uni-hamburg.de/l2go/-/get/v/73141</link>
      <pubDate>Mon, 27 Apr 2026 18:00:00 +0200</pubDate>
      <guid>https://lecture2go.uni-hamburg.de/l2go/-/get/v/73141</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Attributes and Activities of Religious Communities in Italy: Insights from a City Congregations Study</title>
      <description><![CDATA[This presentation explores the characteristics and activities of religious communities in three Italian cities using the City Congregations Study methodology. The research was conducted between 2020 and 2021, mapping a total of 877 communities in Bologna, Milan, and Brescia and their surrounding areas. The findings highlight key differences across traditions, with Catholic groups more involved in social services and Muslim and Orthodox communities more focused on supporting migrants. The study also reflects on patterns of urban religious diversity and their broader implications.
Olga Breskaya, PhD, is Associate Professor at the Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Education and Applied Psychology at the University of Padua, Italy. Her main research interests include the sociology of human rights, religious change in post-communist societies and religious socialization, religious pluralism, and the comparative study of religious freedom. She recently co-edited Religion Between Governance and Freedoms with Roger Finke and Giuseppe Giordan (Springer, 2024) and co-authored A Sociology of Religious Freedom with Giuseppe Giordan and James T. Richardson (Oxford University Press, 2024).]]></description>
      <itunes:summary><![CDATA[This presentation explores the characteristics and activities of religious communities in three Italian cities using the City Congregations Study methodology. The research was conducted between 2020 and 2021, mapping a total of 877 communities in Bologna, Milan, and Brescia and their surrounding areas. The findings highlight key differences across traditions, with Catholic groups more involved in social services and Muslim and Orthodox communities more focused on supporting migrants. The study also reflects on patterns of urban religious diversity and their broader implications.
Olga Breskaya, PhD, is Associate Professor at the Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Education and Applied Psychology at the University of Padua, Italy. Her main research interests include the sociology of human rights, religious change in post-communist societies and religious socialization, religious pluralism, and the comparative study of religious freedom. She recently co-edited Religion Between Governance and Freedoms with Roger Finke and Giuseppe Giordan (Springer, 2024) and co-authored A Sociology of Religious Freedom with Giuseppe Giordan and James T. Richardson (Oxford University Press, 2024).]]></itunes:summary>
      <itunes:duration>00:39:11</itunes:duration>
      <itunes:image href="https://lecture2go.uni-hamburg.de/images/58-511_video-73059_2026-04-20_18-00.jpg?lastmodified=1776766667450"/>
      <link>https://lecture2go.uni-hamburg.de/l2go/-/get/v/73059</link>
      <pubDate>Mon, 20 Apr 2026 18:00:00 +0200</pubDate>
      <guid>https://lecture2go.uni-hamburg.de/l2go/-/get/v/73059</guid>
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