TY - JOUR

T1 - Introduction

T2 - Theory, Method, Hannover, and the Study of Religion

AU - Führding, Steffen

N1 - Funding Information: The project, financed for three years, 2006–2009, by the research department of the European Commission, included projects linked to eight countries. The project has resulted in several books published by Waxman, Münster, and in even more articles. The U.S. journal Religion and Education devoted a special issue (Vol. 37, Number 3, 2010) to the project. With an introduction by W. and ‘responses’ from invited scholars, including my own critical one (). Funding Information: Historically in the Netherlands both Catholic and Protestant churches have provided parallel systems of institutionalization (and thus religious education). While there is no separate compulsory religious education course in Dutch schools today, it is obligatory for primary schools (age four to twelve years) to include Geestelijke Stromingen ( gs ), or neutrally taught courses on diverse spiritual traditions. gs is often incorporated into regular history or geography classes, and focuses on Christianity – historically the country’s majority religion. In public primary education, religious communities are granted the right to provide confessional religious education. Christian or humanist education is provided in most schools, but parents can request ire (, 213; , 79–80). ire can therefore be found in both Muslim and non-Muslim schools. Although the state funds ire in public schools, Muslim communities provide the teachers through Contct Orgaan Moslims en Overheid ( cmo ), the contact organization for Muslim schools. Currently there are forty-three Muslim primary schools and one secondary school in the Netherlands, all fully funded by the state. Although these schools must meet all basic educational standards to be eligible for state funding, they generally incorporate and additional one to three hours of ire in their curriculum. From 1995 to the present, ire teachers in the Netherlands have received ire training at Inholland University of Applied Sciences, which also has offered training for imams and Islamic ‘spiritual workers’ since 2006. In 2014, Inholland University introduced Diploma Islamitisch Onderwijs ( dio ), a continuing education course for teachers of all subjects working in Muslim schools. Amsterdam University, a private Protestant college, opened a Center for Islamic Theology in 2005 and Leiden University has recently developed a program for the study of Islamic Theology (, 156). All these initiatives have received financial support from the state.

PY - 2017

Y1 - 2017

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85161423888&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1163/9789004347878_002

DO - 10.1163/9789004347878_002

M3 - Editorial in journal

AN - SCOPUS:85161423888

VL - 8

SP - 1

EP - 26

JO - Supplements to Method and Theory in the Study of Religion

JF - Supplements to Method and Theory in the Study of Religion

SN - 2214-3270

ER -