Transregionale Religionsgeschichte (Prof. Dr. Laura Lieber)

This course will take students into the long and complex history of Jews in Regensburg, from the first settlements in the 10^th century, through the period of the Crusades, the rise of the famous Pietists of Ashkenaz (whose poetry is still a part of the modern Jewish prayerbook), to the destruction of the community in 1519, its reemergence in the early modern period, the horrors of the 20^th century, and the renewal of the 21^st century.  We will consider a full range of sources but focus particularly on the materials visible “on the ground,” using the city of Regensburg as our primary text.

This seminar offers a close reading of the Song of Songs while simultaneously introducing students to the major genres of Jewish literary creativity across two millennia. Through the study of biblical poetry, rabbinic legal texts and exegesis, targumic translation, early Jewish mysticism, medieval and early modern kabbalah, heretical and messianic movements, liturgical poetry, and Jewish visual art and music, students gain a broad understanding of how this brief but theologically profound biblical book has inspired remarkably diverse forms of interpretation and cultural expression. Although the Song of Songs provides us with our central case study, the course functions as a guided tour of Jewish textual, ritual, and artistic imagination—ancient, medieval, and modern; poetic and legal; elite and popular; written, oral, musical, and visual. No prior knowledge of Hebrew, Judaism, or theology is required, and while the course is taught in English, English language skills are not a focus of evaluation.  All written work may be submitted in German. (Bonus points if you help the instructor with HER German!)

This seminar offers an introduction to medieval European book illumination and presents major works of religious art from late antiquity through the transition to the modern era.

In addition to the fundamentals of codicology, the seminar teaches basic skills in manuscript studies and places them within the broader context of Christian art, which serves as a vivid reflection of lived religion spanning more than a millennium.

From the birth of Abrahamic religions to the present day, the figure of the charismatic holy man has stood at the center of cultural, social, and political imagination. In this block course we will explore how such figures, who are often associated with miracles, ascetic practices, and claims of divine authority, were represented in Jewish, Christian, and later Islamic traditions. While our focus is both historical and literary, we will pay particular attention to the ways stories about holy men function simultaneously as religious texts, as literature, and as folklore moving across cultural boundaries.

Alongside questions of theology and religious history, the course will introduce students to methods from literary studies and folklore research. We will practice close reading, discourse analysis, and comparative approaches, examining how motifs, symbols, and narrative structures give meaning to these traditions. By the end of the course, students will have gained not only a deeper understanding of the holy man archetype, but also critical skills for analyzing religious traditions as part of wider literary and cultural systems.