Research Projects at the Centre for Theological Gender Studies

The Centre for Theological Gender Studies initiates, supports and connects the research with a focus on gender undertaken by its members. This way, the research focuses and projects at the centre are as diverse and multidisciplinary as its members.

This website provides insights into current research projects that are explicitly based at the Centre for Theological Gender Studies, as well as a selection of research projects for which the director and the former director of the centre are responsible. 

For information on other research projects, please visit the personal pages of the centre's staff and members.

In recent years, gender studies has established itself as an interdisciplinary field across the whole spectrum of theological research. Nevertheless, there is no systematic overview of the state of the art of theological gender research in the form of a comprehensive handbook in the German-speaking world. Therefore, the project “Handbook Theological Gender Research” aims to address this significant gap in the German-speaking theological landscape in four successive volumes. The handbook will be published by Springer between 2027 and 2029. Prof. Marianne Heimbach-Steins and Prof. Judith Könemann edit and supervise the handbook.

The first book gives an overview of what has been achieved so far and the status quaestionis of current theological gender research in the individual theological disciplines and sections. The second book situates Christian theological gender studies in the interdisciplinary academic debate and reflects on its (non-theological) contextual and influencing factors. The third book presents specific theological topics, discourses, and debates across sections and denominations from a gender perspective in order to provide innovative, in-depth impulses for the further development of the field of research. Finally, the fourth book will synthesize the similarities, differences, and potentials of theological gender research highlighted in the previous books. The systematic structure of the handbook project aims to provide a representative overview of the current state and development prospects of Christian theological gender research while also providing impulses for future research. A third-party funding application for the project is currently underway.

Overview of the structure of the handbook:

> Book 1: Gender Studies in Christian Theology. An Inventory
> Book 2: Contextual Factors and Influences on Theological Gender Studies
> Book 3: Gender Research in Christian Theology. Topics, Debates, and Discourses
> Book 4: Commonalities, Differences, and Potentials of Theological Gender Research. Syntheses. Index

Theological gender studies are firmly established in research and teaching at the Catholic Faculty of Theology at the University of Münster. However, continually including questions of gender in theological teaching and raising relevant questions across the range of different theological topics proves to be difficult. To overcome this challenge, theological teaching at University requires easily accessible materials and methods.

This is where the TeachTank: Teaching Modules “Gender in Theology” comes in. Together with members of the Centre for Theological Gender Studies and lecturers from other theological faculties in Germany and abroad, teaching materials are developed that make it easier to implement questions of gender justice and equality more strongly in theological teaching in all four theological sections. These can be used digitally and analogously by all lecturers at the faculty. The materials can be accessed online in the Learnweb. Members of the university can register there. To do so, please contact gender.theologie@uni-muenster.de.

This project examines the social consequences of the Federal Constitutional Court's decision on the so-called “third gender” in October 2017 (1 BvR 2019/16) and the resulting changes to civil status law, which remain controversial, from a Christian socio-ethical and philosophical perspective. It examines the current political and social debate, focusing on the key question of what new social conflicts legal recognition produces and how theological ethics can contribute productively to addressing these conflicts. It pays particular attention to the Catholic Church as a social actor involved in the conflicts of recognition surrounding the third gender. The legislative process, which came to an initial conclusion at the end of 2018, is explicitly understood not as the end point of (successful or failed) recognition, but as the starting point for necessary reflection on ongoing and newly initiated social processes.

Here you can find further information on the project: https://www.uni-muenster.de/FB2/ics/forschen/genderforschung.html

The project “Spiritual Abuse in Religious Communities” examines the phenomenon of spiritual abuse in the dioceses of Osnabrück and Münster, using two religious communities in which spiritual abuse has occurred as examples. In addition to work on clarifying the concept of “spiritual abuse,” particular attention is paid to investigating the conditions and factors that give rise to and perpetuate spiritual abuse. Moreover, the project analyses the religious practices, theological beliefs, and anthropological concepts that facilitate spiritual abuse. In this context, gender becomes a central category. In cases of spiritual abuse in particular, women as well as men become victims, and women also act as ‘perpetrators’.

Here you can find further information on the project: https://www.uni-muenster.de/FB2/gm_projekt/