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Introduction to the Religious Literacy / Religionssensibilität Program

The Religious Literacy / Religionssensibilität program at Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz is designed to equip students with the knowledge and skills necessary to recognize and interpret religious phenomena in a societal context. This program aims to provide students with a deeper understanding of the importance of religious orientations for European culture and to enable them to distinguish between religiosity, faith, and religion from a scientific perspective.

Program Overview

• Credit Points: 12 LP
• Duration: 2 semesters
• Start of Studies: Every semester
• Responsible Institution: FB 01 | Catholic-Theological Faculty
• Responsible Examination Board: Further information available

Target Group

• Students of all disciplines
• Students in MAST3R study programs who can have the certificate recognized as part of their studies

Qualification Goals

Students will be able to:

• Recognize and interpret phenomena and forms of lived religion in a societal context, distinguish between religiosity, faith, and religion from a scientific perspective
• Understand the importance of religious orientations for European culture, identify key cultural traditions, and interpret recent religio-cultural developments
• Reflect on their own religious orientation in relation to religious pluralism, understand interreligious commonalities and differences, and articulate their own standpoint reflectively
• Describe the relationship between religious communities and society, know religious policy models, and understand their own rights regarding religion
• Know the main beliefs and cult forms of Christian and non-Christian religions, especially Judaism and Islam, and be able to guide respectful interaction among people of different cultural and religious backgrounds
• Understand key theories of ethics for value and norm justification, including the methodical distinction between philosophical and theologically grounded ethics, and possess appropriate discussion and argumentation skills in dealing with ethical questions of the present

Structure of the Certificate

Thematic Foundations (A): 5 LP

Students deal with phenomena and forms of lived religion in the context of current societies and learn important theoretical models and practical approaches to religious literacy. They acquire basic religious knowledge of Christianity and non-Christian religions and reflect on ethical questions regarding value and norm justification in the context of religious orientations.

Individual Specialization (B): 2 LP

Students acquire in-depth special knowledge and competencies from areas such as religion and law, liturgy and space, religion and morality, philosophy of religion, Christian creed, or religious understanding.

Individual Specialization (C): 5 LP

Students attend a thematically appropriate seminar from the teaching offer of the Catholic-Theological Faculty (Systematic and Practical Theology).

Module Examination

Oral examination (20 minutes, graded) on the topic of the seminar work and contents from the thematic foundations.

Application and Admission

The certificate can be started in the winter or summer semester. The application is possible within the following deadlines:

• Winter semester: May 16th to September 1st
• Summer semester: November 17th to March 1st

Application is also possible during the application phase for a regular study program at JGU. The prerequisite for participation is enrollment by the start of the semester.

Study Office and Contact Person

The certificate is administered by the Study Office Catholic Theology. Cristina Sofia Gliwitzky helps with all content-related questions about the certificate program "Religious Literacy / Religionssensibilität".

For organizational and technical questions, you can contact the central coordination office of the certificate programs at JGU.