Thank you for joining us during the PhD conference in March 2023. Information about the conference in 2024 will be published on this webpage in due time.
Morning – location: Aurora (HG-0C29 - ground floor, next to the restaurant)
9:30-10:00 Coffee and tea
10:00-10:20 Opening (by the director of the Graduate School, August den Hollander, dean Ruard Ganzevoort and dean of research and vice dean, Katja Tolstaja)
10:20-11:00 Presentation 1 sacred nature by prof. dr. Govert Buijs
11:00-11:15 Break
11:15-12:00 Presentation Spiritual Care and Planetary Health by prof. dr. Hans Alma
12:00-13:00 Lunch
Afternoon
13:00-14:00 various workshops/activities:
1. Exploring the Metaphor of the Two Books – the ‘Book of Nature’ and the ‘Book of Scripture’ – in Christianity, by Eva van Urk (room HG14-A37)
2. Extreme beliefs: setting up, funding and organizing a successful academic project by Nora Kindermann and Rik Peels (room HG2E-31/33, FRT senaatszaal)
3. Data Horror Escape Room by the VU University Library (room HG14-A36)
4. Engaged Scholarship by prof. dr. Ruard Ganzevoort (HG-10A28)
5. Ten Tips from a proof reader by Helen Pears (HG14-A20)
14:30-15:30 various workshops/activities:
6. Building healthy PhD work habits with PhD therapist Victor Kraak (FULL) (room HG2E-31/33, FRT senaatszaal)
7. Positionality in academics by prof. dr. Mariecke van den Berg (room HG-10A28)
8. Writing Academic English – a work-based discussion by Helen Pears (FULL) (room HG14-A20)
9. Digital Text Analysis of Social Media Language Surrounding Sacred Nature by Yusuf Çelik (room HG14-A36)
10. Out of the Ivory Tower: How to Reach a Broader Audience by Michèle Meijer and Sebastien Valkenberg (online)
16.00-18.00 Lecture Sacred Nature by Karen Armstrong, Pim Martens and Mark Verkerk
Sign up for this lecture here (before 27 March). This part of the conference is not obligatory, but we want to give you the opportunity to attend. Buying a ticket is required and as PhD candidate you can choose the reduced price tickets for students. (location: NU-Building, Theater 4)
Evening
18.30-20.00 PhD dinner on campus (for FRT PhD candidates and FRT staff) (location: top floor of the restaurant, VU main building)
Presentation 1 Sacred Nature
Govert Buijs studied political science, theology and philosophy, and obtained his doctorate cum laude in 1998 with a dissertation on the American political philosopher Eric Voegelin. He is professor by special appointment of Political Philosophy and Philosophy of Life (levensbeschouwing) at VU University Amsterdam and also teaches philosophy at the VU School of Business & Economics. He currently occupies the F.J.D. Goldschmeding Chair of Economics in Relation to Civil Society.
Presentation 2 Spiritual Care and Planetary Health
We often think of spiritual care in terms of individual counseling in personal matters, but how can we speak of spiritual health when we don’t take our relationship to other living beings and to the earth into account? The lecture will explore the role of the spiritual care giver when it comes to ecological challenges and the existential issues these raise. Requirements for research into this field will be discussed.
Hans Alma works as a professor of spiritual care and religious-humanistic meaning at the VU Faculty of Religion and Theology. She also has a practice as a coach and trainer in what she calls a 'workshop for meaningful living and working'. Her scientific work has been shaped by her interest in how people seek meaning in their lives, and from which sources they draw. A central focus of her research is the role of imagination and art in the search for meaning.
Workshop 1 Exploring the Metaphor of the Two Books – the ‘Book of Nature’ and the ‘Book of Scripture’ – in Christianity
In Christianity, there is the age-old ecumenical perspective that the natural world is not closed in on itself but actively shows forth ‘signs’ of the Creator, particularly God’s eternal power, wisdom, and goodness. However, in theology it is firmly acknowledged that the more general and somewhat ‘vague’ traces of God in creation need to be supplemented by a fuller understanding of God’s character and being through (the study of) holy Scripture. In this workshop, we will interactively explore the classical metaphor of the two books: nature and Scripture.
As a PhD candidate, Eva van Urk works in the field of Christian ecological theology. She investigates the potential of the concept of imago Dei for addressing human-caused extinction and stirring ecological responsibility. Her research is funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO).
Workshop 2 Extreme beliefs: setting up, funding and organizing a successful academic project by Nora Kindermann and Rik Peels
In this workshop, Rik Peels shares what his extreme beliefs project is about, how it is organized, and gives tips and tricks on how to acquire funding for research. He lays out how he and his team combine theoretical (theological, philosophical) work with more empirical (psychological/sociological/ethnographic) approaches in the study of fundamentalism, extremism and conspiracy theorizing.
Nora Kindermann does a PhD on The Epistemology of Fundamentalist Belief, in the Extreme Beliefs project.
Rik Peels (PhD) is Associate Professor in Philosophy and Religion & Theology at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands and principal investigator of the Extreme Beliefs project. His primary research interests are fundamentalism, the ethics of belief, ignorance, scientism, common sense philosophy, and various issues in the philosophy of religion.
Workshop 3 Data Horror Escape room offered by the VU University Library
‘You've received an urgent message from Professor Hutseephluts asking you to come to an old office hidden away on the top floor. It’s Thursday, half past six, and you’d rather go home, but you've never met the Professor and the email was rather stern, so you don’t dare to refuse.
The Professor is well known for collaborating with people from many different disciplines and although the research area is very obscure, you know that by reputation, the Professor is always open and gets high impact results. You also heard a rumour that the Professor might have won a very large research grant recently, so you wonder if the invitation might lead to an opportunity to work together.
With every step you climb, you see fewer people, and by the time you’ve reached the office on the top floor, the whole building seems to be empty. You hear your footsteps echo through the hall and see a crack of light under the door at the far end of the corridor.
"It’s not FAIR!", you mutter to yourself but there's no-one around to hear you complain.
You reach the office door and politely knock. You knock again. But there's no answer.’
What could have happened? Can you help Professor Hutseephluts to resolve this data horror and secure the grant?
Workshop 4 Engaged Scholarship – with prof. dr. Ruard Ganzevoort
Prof. dr. Ruard Ganzevoort is dean of the Faculty of Theology and professor of practical theology at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. His research focuses on the lived religion, how people shape their relationship to the sacred and how they relate to the tradition(s) from which they draw. He is working on projects in the field of religion and trauma, sexual diversity, spiritual care, and religion in popular culture.
Workshop 5 Ten Tips from a Proofreader – with Helen Pears
Editing is often relegated to the end of the thesis process. Yet writing is a constant act of revision where small investments in the craft can go a long way in helping what you want to say shine through. This workshop explores a number of academic writing tips and techniques designed to aid the thesis task and certainly, from this proof reader’s perspective, make my job all the more delightful in the reading!
Helen Pears is a proof reader and copy editor who has had a passion for and has worked with language and words in various capacities for over thirty years. Helen runs a proofreading service specialising in academic writing across the field of theology and the humanities.
Workshop 6 Building healthy PhD work habits –with PhD therapist Victor Kraak
Everyone knows that doing a PhD is hard. What can you do to reduce the risk of overwork? Based on five PhD-related themes we discuss so-called good practices.
Victor Kraak is a licensed therapist (GZ-Psycholoog) and has extensive experience in treating a wide range of psychological problems. He has worked in several mental health services and practices, also with (international) PhD students. He offers treatment with elements of cognitive behavioral therapy and psychodynamic therapies. In his approach he focuses on one’s personal background and highly values good assessment and appropriate treatment. He speaks Dutch, English and Spanish.
Workshop 7 Positionality in academics – with prof. dr. Mariecke van den Berg
During this workshop we reflect on the issue of positionality: how are we as individuals embedded in a variety of structures, both academic and social? How are those structures in turn based on power dynamics such as those related to gender, race, sexuality, mental and physical ability, class, nationality, etc.? And how can we then reflect in fruitful ways on how these power dynamics affect us as a person and a scholar? How can we recognize the (sometimes also obscured or hidden) positionality of other scholars?
Mariecke van den Berg is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Religion and Theology at VU Amsterdam and professor by special appointment of Feminism and Christianity at Radboud University in Nijmegen.
Workshop 8. Writing Academic English, a work-based discussion with Helen Pears
Writing is always hard work and we all benefit from a helping hand and a fresh pair of eyes in order to make the most of our words. Often the best way to do this is by seeing what is happening in concrete examples of writing. This workshop offers the space to discuss questions arising from your own writing experience and offers a proofreading ‘health-check’ for a sample of your work.
Helen Pears is a proof reader and copy editor who has had a passion for and has worked with language and words in various capacities for over thirty years. Helen runs a proofreading service specialising in academic writing across the field of theology and the humanities.
Workshop 9 Digital Humanities and Sacred Nature by dr. Yusuf Çelik
The rise of social media has facilitated the sharing of information, ideas, and other kinds of expressions at an unprecedented rate and volume. Thanks to ongoing advances in Natural Language Processing, humanities scholars are now able to gather social media texts and analyze these with the help of computers. In this workshop, we will explore some of the possibilities and challenges of analyzing social media language surrounding sacred nature.
Yusuf Celik is currently the assistant professor of digital humanities & Islam. He received his PhD from the University of Edinburgh. His research focuses on historical intertextuality through the lens of digital technologies and philosophical hermeneutics.
Workshop 10 Out of the Ivory Tower: How to Reach a Broader Audience with Sebastien Valkenberg (online)
Scientific publications often tend to be difficult, esoteric sometimes. Scholarly jargon may be abracadabra to society at large. In the worst case this leads to distrust, whereas the whole of society should profit from the best available knowledge. If only scholars learned to communicate their message to a broader audience...
This workshop helps you to present your arguments in an accessible, even attractive way for non-peers. After a short introduction it’s up to you. Self-written texts form the basis for a lively session in which participants comment on each other’s work. Not only do you learn how to process feedback on your own efforts; you will also be provided with tools to edit that of others in a structured way.
Sebastien Valkenberg is a philosopher and is information specialist at the VU University Library for the humanities department. He regularly gives courses on information literacy. He also has a weekly column in Het Financieel Dagblad. He also writes regularly for EW and De Telegraaf.
Day 2 – March 31, 2023
The second day of the PhD conference is organized by the 14 research teams of the Faculty of Religion and Theology. Here, you can find an overview of all research teams and their programmes. Please find a detailed description of the programme of each research team below. The programmes of some of the research teams are not yet available, these will be added to this webpage shortly.
The research teams Reformed and Evangelical Theology and Decolonizing Diversity will not be organizing the second day of the PhD conference, either because they have their own research days later this year or because they are unable to organize it this year. PhD candidates from these research teams are encouraged to participate in a programme of one of the research teams!
Research Teams
name research team, time - hybrid/online
1. Cities of God 12-15:30h - Hybrid - Forumzaal 5
2. Conflicting Identities in Early Christianity 10-17h - Hybrid - HG-09A24
3. Contextual Bible Interpretation 10-17h - Hybrid - HG-09A24
4. Digital Approaches to Sacred Texts 9-17h - Hybrid - HG-14A28
5. Islamic Theology 15-19h - Online
6. Reformed and Evangelical Theology (no programme)
7. Decolonizing Diversity (no programme)
8. Future of Academic Theology/Religious Studies 13-16:30h - Hybrid - HG-2E31/33 (FRT senaatszaal)
9. Transformations of Religiosity (no programme)
10. Peace, Trauma, and Religion 15-18.30 - online
11. Religion, Public Policy, and Human Rights (no programme)
12. Religious History and Heritage 9-17h - Hybrid - HG-06A28
13. Spiritual Care 9-17h - Hybrid - HG-13A24
14. Strong Religion and Extreme Beliefs 11-12:30h - Hybrid - HG-2E31/33 (FRT senaatszaal)
Afternoon and evening
16:00-17:00 Workshop How to Network, location: HG-10A20 (on campus only)
17:00-19:00 Drinks with fellow PhD’s, FRT staff and FRT master students, closing of the conference, location: Faculty of Religion and Theology (main building, second floor, wing E) (on campus only)
This is a hybrid meeting.
Please be welcome in room [to be decided] VU main building.
Online link for this meeting: [will be sent later]
All times are Amsterdam times.
Time Presenter
12:00 h Welcome; general introduction
12:15 h Haije Bergstra
12:45 h Miranda Klaver, ‘Public Prophetic Praise and Prayer: Mediating God’s presence in the Netherlands’
13:15 h Break
13:45 h Kathryn Gray
14:15 h Kyung Banks
14:45 h Methodological session, esp. on data analysis and coding in an intercultural context
15:15 h Any other issues
15:30 h Closure
Some guidelines
1. As a presenter you have 20 minutes at max to introduce your paper (or thoughts), leaving us with at least 10 minutes for Q&A.
2. Please send the title of your presentation (which may or may not coincide with the title of a previous paper you published on the theme) to Stefan Paas before 24 March: s.paas@vu.nl.
3. Stefan will be most happy to distribute the paper you’d like to introduce in advance; since this is an explorative seminar, though, don’t expect all participants to have close-read your paper prior to the meeting. PPP-slides can also be send to Stefan for distribution.
4. In case the timeslot you have been assigned conflicts with other duties, please feel free to swop places with another presenter (and let Stefan know).
Date: March 31, 2023
On campus & online
It is our pleasure to invite you to a combined session of the two research groups mentioned above on March 31. For those of you who will be able to make it to Amsterdam, we will meet on campus (the room is still to be announced). For those who cannot participate physically, the Zoom-link is provided below this message.
Here’s the line-up for our seminar:
Morning session
Chair: Bert Jan Lietaert Peerbolte
10.00 Opening, getting to know each other
10.15 Ramy Shenouda (participating from Australia; 15 minutes presentation, 15 minutes discussion)
10.45 Emily Plank (15/15)
11.15 Mart-Jan Luteyn (15/15)
11.45 Yimenu Adimas (20/20)
12.30 lunch break
Afternoon session
Chair: Peter-Ben Smit
13.45 Solomon Abebe (20/20)
14.30 Marie-Josée Frontin (participating from Canada; 15/15)
15.00 Tessema Forsido (20/20)
15.45 Wrap up and future plans
16.00 End of conference
We’re looking forward to meeting you either on campus or online on the 31rd of March!
Also on behalf of Peter-Ben Smit,
Bert Jan Lietaert Peerbolte
Date: March 31, 2023
On campus & online
It is our pleasure to invite you to a combined session of the two research groups mentioned above on March 31. For those of you who will be able to make it to Amsterdam, we will meet on campus (the room is still to be announced). For those who cannot participate physically, the Zoom-link is provided below this message.
Here’s the line-up for our seminar:
Morning session
Chair: Bert Jan Lietaert Peerbolte
10.00 Opening, getting to know each other
10.15 Ramy Shenouda (participating from Australia; 15 minutes presentation, 15 minutes discussion)
10.45 Emily Plank (15/15)
11.15 Mart-Jan Luteyn (15/15)
11.45 Yimenu Adimas (20/20)
12.30 lunch break
Afternoon session
Chair: Peter-Ben Smit
13.45 Solomon Abebe (20/20)
14.30 Marie-Josée Frontin (participating from Canada; 15/15)
15.00 Tessema Forsido (20/20)
15.45 Wrap up and future plans
16.00 End of conference
We’re looking forward to meeting you either on campus or online on the 31rd of March!
Also on behalf of Peter-Ben Smit,
Bert Jan Lietaert Peerbolte
This research team has no programme this year. Members of this research team are encouraged to participate in a programme from another research team.
| 9.30–10.00 | Prof. Willem Th. van Peursen Digital Approaches to Sacred Texts: current projects and future plans |
| 10.00–10.45 | Prof. Eveline van Staalduine-Sulman What to Ask? How to Answer? The Quest for the Translations of the Targum by Konrad Pellikan (1478-1556) |
| 10.45–11.15 | Coffee Break |
| 11.15–12.00 | Mathias Coeckelbergs* Intertextuality in the Hodayot. A Computational Perspective |
| 12.00–13.00 | Lunch break |
| 13.00–14.30 | PhD peer review session (part 1)** |
| 14.30–15.00 | Break |
| 15.00–16.30 | PhD review session (part 2)** |
* Mathias Coeckelbergs is teaching assistant and PhD student at the Information Science Department (ReSIC), Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), and Quantitative Lexicology and Variational Linguistics (QLVL) department, KU Leuven. He has also been involved in various projects of the research group, most recently in the CLARIAH-funded project Patterns in Translation: Using Colibri Core for the Syriac Bible (PaTraCoSy). In his presentation he will tell about his PhD project, which is now in its final stage.
** In the PhD peer review sessions in the afternoon each PhD student receives the opportunity to pitch and to receive feedback from peer reviewers based on written documents that have been distributed in advance. To each PhD student a fellow-student will be assigned as peer reviewer.
Agenda
13.15 h Welcome; general introduction
13.30 h Marius Dorobantu One brain, two minds, and an enormous opportunity for theology and religion.
14.00 h Michiel Bouman Discussion of PhD proposal ‘Updating Theology
14.30 h Break
15.00 h Henk van den Belt: Theological Reflection as a Contribution to the Humanities on Three Levels
15.30 h Gijsbert van den Brink The Future of Academic Theologies
16.00 h Katja Tolstaja
16.30 h Closure
15:00 Opening, welcome and short presentation, Y. Ellethy
15:15 "Freedom of belief: is there any in a secular context?", N. van Doorn-Harder
15:40 Doing PhD: experience, challenges and recommendations, VU-CIT graduates: J. Al-
Ahmad & R. Quadir
16:00 Discussion
16:15 Break
16:25 PhD peer-review session I
17:50 Break
18:00 PhD peer-review session II
19:00 End
PhD Days 2023
31 March—Research Group “Peace, Trauma and Religion”
Online Afternoon Sessions on 31 March—ONLINE
As announced in the meetings of the Research Group “Peace, Trauma, Religion”, we have decided to limit our sessions on 31 March to the afternoon—online, since our group is composed of people in different places in the world. We want to be mindful of time-zone differences.
Exploring postcolonial/decolonial approaches to theology and research has become a prominent feature in the conversations and interests within our Research Group. Inspired by this trend and considering this epistemological framework for our investigations, we have invited Friederieke Willhöft from Hamburg/Germany, whose PhD-research is on Epistemic Violence, to provide an introductory lecture, followed by a general discussion.
For the project presentations, we invite you, PhD-researchers/presenters to prepare a poster of your project. Preparing and presenting a research-based poster is a very practical and creative way to provide an overview of the different projects and yet going into more in-depth presentations individually. If you need advice on how to make a research poster, please find here a document with helpful tips.
Based on the number of presenters, we will compose sub-groups for individual presentations and discussions of the different projects. If you are planning to present your PhD poster and use this great ooportunity to receive feed-back in a small group discussion, please send your poster to a.f.pachecolozano@vu.nl and e.c.van.der.kaaden@student.vu.nl by 26 March!
This research team has no programme this year. Members of this research team are encouraged to participate in a programme from another research team.
This research team has no programme this year. Members of this research team are encouraged to participate in a programme from another research team.
10:00 - 11:00 Mirjam van Veen, Welcome and short presentation: “Pilgrim’s Progress: History, Historiography, and Personal Reflections”
11:00 - 12:00 August den Hollander: “Religious books as objects” - Visit to the VU Library Special Collections (only offline)
12.00 – 13.30 - Lunch – Provided by Graduate School
In the afternoon, we will have one presentation by members of our research group who are at the end of their PhD work. This is an informal session designed for exchange between all participants.
We will then have peer-review feedback sessions where we help one another with drafts of works in progress.
13.30 – 14.30 Informal Discussion: Christiaan Winter “Process, Pitfalls, Tips, and Tricks”
14.30 – 14.45 – Break
14.45 – 16.30 - Peer Review and Feedback Sessions
Review of submitted chapter(s) and/or proposals
Opportunity to give feedback to supervisors and graduate school
17-19.00 - Networking event organized by the Graduate School
- 9.30 – 10.00: Coffee and tea
- 10.00 – 10.30: Dr. Gertie Blaauwendraad, Welcome and short presentation: “Spiritual Care: Developments and Research Agenda at our Faculty”
- 10.30 – 11.15: Annemarie Foppen, MSc: Presentation of PhD-research on Religious Leadership
- 11.15 – 11.30: Break
- 11.30 – 12.30: Discussion of chapter Tobias Cinjee
- 12.30 – 13.15: Lunch, informal discussion on own experiences with the process of PhD-research (written input by Tobias and David)
- 13.15 – 14.00: Discussion of proposal David Kim
- 14.00: Closing of session by Gertie Blaauwendraad
11-12:30 Research team meeting
This research team has no programme this year. Members of this research team are encouraged to participate in a programme from another research team.