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Dear friends and colleagues,

Our Quiet August is coming to an end and although there will be no colloquium next week, there will be an important change in the permanent staff team from 1 September.

Besides that, we would like to draw your attention to a new publication and we have a new bulletin entry for you as well as a recommendation for a Call for Papers.

If you like handmade rock ‘n’ roll music (and keep your fingers crossed for good weather), we have a very special recommendation for an open air concert on Friday.

Enjoy and have a good week!    

Anja & Lucy

KFG Staff Changes: Farewell, Judith & Welcome, Johannes!

There will be a major change in our KFG Permanent Staff team as of 1 September: Our long-time research coordinator Judith Zimmermann will be leaving the KFG to take up a new position at Leipzig University. Judith has been part of the KFG from the very beginning and has been highly significant in shaping and running our Centre for Advanced Studies. We appreciate her as an open, warm, committed, solution-oriented and creative person. Judith, your remarkable capacity to keep track of the many projects and matters at KFG and to inspire others with your dedication and precision is impressive. Our heartfelt thank you, Judith! We will miss you very much here and wish you only the best for your new job.

We do have mixed feelings about her leaving – sad but also excited that Johannes Duschka will now be stepping into Judith's place. He, too, has accompanied KFG for many years now – among other things as administrative coordinator – and knows our work and the processes very well. We are very happy that he is taking on this new responsibility in addition to his own research project.

For you fellows, he will be the primary contact person when it comes to questions regarding your research projects. Lucy and Anja will of course continue to support him and you in all organisational and administrative matters. We look forward to a good cooperation!

There will be a period of transition at the coordination office, thus Judith will continue to be present on Tuesdays. Furthermore, KFG events such as Screening Religion or Eranos dinners will always provide opportunities to meet again.

New Bulletin Entry: Benjamin Raßbach on “Zoroastrianism and Secularity in Sinjar”

We would like to point to the latest entry in our KFG Bulletin: Benjamin Raßbach, Doctoral student at the Institute for the Study of Religions at Leipzig University presents his observations on “Zoroastrianism and Secularity in Sinjar”. Benjamin is currently working on a dissertation project on Religious and political Mythologies of Sacred Spaces in Kurdistan, supervised by our Associate Member Markus Dreßler. He also runs a blog called “Kritik und Imagination” where he shares impressions from his last visit to the Sinjar region this summer.

Our Bulletin gives the opportunity to comment on current political, social or cultural events and developments from the perspective of Multiple Secularities, to place them in a broader context through our expertise or to present alternative perspectives. If you wish to make short, journalistic style contributions to the Bulletin, please contact Johannes Duschka .

Call for Papers for Conference on “New Approaches to ‘Re-Enchanted’ Central and Eastern Europe”, 2–3 December, Budapest

We would like to draw your attention to a Call for Papers for an international conference on “New Approaches to 'Re-Enchanted' Central and Eastern Europe”, organised by The Institute of Theoretical Studies of the Moholy Nagy University of Art and Design in Budapest (MOME) in collaboration with, among others, the SIEF Working Group on the Ethnology of Religion and the research project "Re-Enchantment of Central and Eastern Europe" at Charles University in Prague. The conference will take place in Budapest on 2–3 December and aims at shedding light on the various dimensions and aspects of ‘re-enchantment’ in Central and Eastern Europe. It raises questions such as “Is there something eminently ʻCentral Eastern Europeanʼ about the process of re-enchantment theorised in this way, and if so, what exactly”, “How does ethnic and religious identity manifest itself in the artistic dimension of re-enchantment in Central-Eastern Europe?” or “In what ways do new religious and spiritual movements use local heritage and traditions?”.

The convenors welcome submissions from disciplines such as social anthropology, ethnology, sociology, folklore, religious studies, cultural studies and art. Please submit your proposals by 31 August via e-mail . Papers should include an abstract of approximately 300 words and a CV of 100 words.

Submission of proposals: 31 August

Notification of acceptance: 15 September

Conference date: 2–3 December | Budapest

Concert with Conny Ochs at Church Ruins Wachau, 27 August

For years, Conny Ochs has been touring the country as a rock 'n' roll vagabond, from concert to concert, mostly solo, but never alone: reduced to the essentials, to an acoustic guitar and a sometimes pleading, sometimes demanding, sometimes hoping, sometimes regretting, but always bluntly honest voice, he celebrates his blues-infused country road folk. Friday night starting at 7.30 p.m., he will be supported by Jens Borgaard, a Danish-Dutch musician who plays a mixture of apocalyptic acoustic songs and songs that have matured in years of street music tradition.

The venue for this concert is a very special one: the church ruins of Wachau on the outskirts of Leipzig. It offers a unique atmosphere for this open air event. Tickets are only available in advance via this website

27 August | 7.30 p.m. (CET)

Kirchruine Wachau, Kirchplatz 1, 04416 Markkleeberg/Wachau |

Doors open 6.30 p.m.

If you have any content that you think suits the purpose of the weekly, please feel free to send it to us at multiple-secularities@uni-leipzig.de.