The Role of Religion in the Public Sphere

About the lecture

In this module, we investigate the role of religion in the public sphere, focusing in particular on (i) religion’s involvement in politics (ii) the history of religion and politics in Europe (iii) changing philosophical and political views on religion from the Enlightenment (iv) secularisation, secularism, and secularity (v) the rise and fall of secularisation theory and changing geopolitical landscape in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

About the lecturer

Dr Ulrich Schmiedel is a lecturer in Theology, Politics and Ethics at the University of Edinburgh. His research combines systematic theology with both sociology of religion and philosophy of religion. His recent books include The Spirit of Populism: Political Theologies in Polarized Times (2021) and Terror und Theologie: Der religionstheoretische Diskurs der 9/11-Dekade (2021)