After having been disregarded in favour of doctrines and dogmas for a long time, the sensory dimension of religions has recently attracted a large scholarly attention in religious studies.
In tune with the surrounding academic landscape, the Käte Hamburger Kolleg Dynamics in the History of Religions between Asia and Europe (funded by the German Ministry of Education and Research) has devoted the academic year 2015-2016 to the scrutiny of the role of the theme “senses” from the perspective of interreligious, intrareligious and intersocietal contact.
The conference on "Religion and the Senses" shall summarize the main results of this work. Through keynote talks, inputs and short statement given by guests, current and former fellows, the conference shall, on the one hand, look at the theme “senses” in moments of contact and, an the other hand, reflect on the role of this theme within religions East and West. Given the thematic complexity and analytical challenges hidden behind the key-word “senses”, talks, inputs and statements will focalize on four fields: the role of senses in
(a) notions,
(b) doctrines,
(c) ritual
(d) media of religions.