This course focuses on the question “How do people in diverse communities use the Bible in relationship to establish, critique or conceive of leadership within and from Christian communities?”, and attempt to critically reflect upon this subject and surrounding topics.
The course Divine Leadership?! Politics, Spirituality and the Bible focuses on the question “How do people in diverse communities use the Bible in relationship to establish, critique or conceive of leadership within and from Christian communities?” Using the Bible as a resource text relates to spirituality studies. Leadership and spirituality on their turn link up with the issue of Christian identities translating into political agency. Participants will examine concrete cases of Biblical interpretation across a spectrum of community contexts, challenging them to reflect on ways of studying them. The course works with a diversity of didactic methods.
Offered by the Centre for Contextual Biblical Interpretation at the Protestant Theological University (link) and the School of Religion and Theology of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (link).
You can earn 2 ECTS after completing this course. If you would like to earn extra ECTS, please contact the course coordinators about the possibility of arranging additional assignments.
The reading material will be distributed before the start of the course, providing students with time to familiarize themselves with the content before lectures begin.
The maximum number of participants is 30 people. This will be a selective process based on your application. In finalizing the composition of the group, the organizers aim at nurturing diversity (such as disciplinary, gender, age, and institutional belonging). Please include 2-3 points of motivation and what you'd like to achieve from the summer school.
Prof. dr. Dorottya Nagy (PThU)
Prof. dr. Peter-Ben Smit (VU)
Dr. An-Ting Yi (VU)
Researchers of the Centre for Contextual Biblical Interpretation
A full list of lecturers will be provided in due course.
This course is for MA/PhD students, advanced BA students in theology, religious studies, or related disciplines, professionals, and researchers.
After the completion of this summer course, participants should gain knowledge of orientation on how to look at the dynamics between religion, particularly Christianity, and leadership. They should also be able to reflect upon the use of the Bible in politics and related discourses and communities, as well as tools and methods for such critical reflections. Particularly, training in contextual biblical interpretation and an interdisciplinary approach to researching the Bible’s role in particular communities will also be obtained. Furthermore, this course offers opportunities to broaden hermeneutical horizons, deepen theological thinking, critically examine methodological and disciplinary presumptions and boundaries, and reflect upon the researcher's positionality in interactions with participants from all around the world.
The course fee is €425, including course materials.
The housing, food, and public transport costs are excluded.
A limited number of scholarships are available on request. Financially disadvantaged students who are interested in attending this summer school program have the opportunity to apply for scholarships by writing a persuasive letter that explains their desire to participate in this course and the benefits it will have on their future academic endeavours.
The housing costs do not include a Utrecht Summer School sleeping bag. This is a separate product on the invoice. If you wish to bring your own bedding, please deselect or remove the sleeping bag from your order.
For this course you are required to upload the following documents when applying: