Heidelberg University’s Research Center for International and Interdisciplinary Theology to hold “Manfred Lautenschlaeger Award for Theological Promise” ceremony on May 23, 2014

Festive ceremony: “Manfred Lautenschlaeger Award for Theological Promise” will be presented

Heidelberg, Germany, 19-5-2014 — /EuropaWire/ — Ten young scholars from Finland, Germany, Israel, the United Kingdom and the United States are to receive the “Manfred Lautenschlaeger Award for Theological Promise” in appreciation of outstanding dissertations or other publications on the topic of “God and spirituality”. To mark the occasion, Heidelberg University’s Research Center for International and Interdisciplinary Theology” (FIIT) is organising a festive presentation ceremony on Friday, 23 May 2014, followed by a three-day colloquium featuring the prize-winners. Among the other conference participants are FIIT scholars and members of the awarding committee that evaluated the quality of the studies submitted.

The ceremony begins with speeches by Prof. Dr. A. Stephen K. Hashmi, Vice-Rector of Heidelberg University, Prof. Dr. Dr. Michael Welker, director of FIIT, and Prof. Dr. Johannes Eurich, dean of the Faculty of Theology, as well as the donor of the award, Dr. h.c. Manfred Lautenschläger. Subsequently, Prof. Welker and two Heidelberg theologians, Prof. Dr. Manfred Oeming and Prof. Dr. Peter Lampe, will introduce the award-winners and the publications they have been distinguished for. The lecture in English at the heart of the ceremony is entitled “Chosen People: The American Civil Religion” and will be delivered by Prof. Dr. Detlef Junker, Director of the Heidelberg Center for American Studies. University registrar Dr. Angela Kalous will officially present the awards.

The awardees for 2014 are David Albertson (University of Chicago), Michal Bar-Asher Siegal (Yale University), Matthias Becker (University of Tübingen), Angela Roskop Erisman (Hebrew Union College), Jennie Grillo (Oxford University), Wolfgang Grünstäudl (University of Regensburg), David Leech (University of Cambridge), Mika Pajunen (University of Helsinki), Devin Singh (Yale University) und Matthew Thiessen (Duke University). In the course of the three-day colloquium, the prize-winners will outline their plans for future research projects and discuss them with members of the awarding committee and scholars from the Research Center for International and Interdisciplinary Theology.

The Lautenschlaeger Award is presented annually to ten young scholars from all over the world working in different disciplines, including theology, philosophy, religious studies, ethics and adjacent subjects. It is endowed with prize monies of $ 10,000 for each recipient. The prize is awarded for doctoral dissertations or first book publications after the dissertation. In addition, the recipients in any given year receive the opportunity of organising a colloquium. This international and interdisciplinary event is funded to the tune of $ 15,000. It should be organised and headed by at least two awardees from different countries and disciplines.

CONTACT

Bettina Höhnen
Research Center for International and Interdisciplinary Theology
phone: +49 6221 543393
hoehnen@fiit.uni-heidelberg.de

Communications and Marketing
Press Office
phone: +49 6221 542311
presse@rektorat.uni-heidelberg.de

NOTE FOR NEWSDESKS

The presentation of the “Manfred Lautenschlaeger Award for Theological Promise” on Friday, 23 May 2014, will take place in the Great Hall of the Old University at 3 pm. You are cordially invited to attend and report. The colloquium with the awardees is scheduled for 24 to 26 May at the International Science Forum Heidelberg. Should you wish to attend the proceedings and report on them, you are requested to register with the organisers either by phone +49 6221 54-3393 or by mail tohoehnen@fiit.uni-heidelberg.de

FURTHER INFORMATION

Manfred Lautenschläger Award