Name

Kim König

University

University of Oldenburg

Institute, Research Group

Institute for Protestant Theology and Religious Education, Research Group for Religious Education

Supervisors

Prof. Dr Dr Joachim Willems
PD Dr Tilman Hannemann

Room

A06 1-112

Telephone

-

Email address

Academic CV

Since January 2022: Research Fellow at the Institute for Protestant Theology and Religious Education

• Teaching in the field of religious education and religious studies from the 2022/23 winter semester

Since July 2018: Project coordinator for the SCHLAU Oldenburg education and anti-discrimination project

October 2019–July 2021: Master’s degree at C.v.O. University of Oldenburg – Protestant Theology and Religious Education (M.Ed., Gymnasium), German (M.Ed., Gymnasium), German Studies (M.A.)

• Dissertation: “‘Toxic’ men and emancipated women? – An intersectional perspective on investigation teams and key themes in the crime series ‘Tatort’”

10/2016–01/2020: Two-subject Bachelor’s degree at C.v.O. University of Oldenburg: Protestant Theology and Religious Education, German Studies

• Final dissertation: “The Interference of Perpetrator and Victim Roles in Bernhard Schlink’s ‘The Reader’”

Working title of the doctoral project

Abstract

As a subsystem of society, schools reflect a part of the broader social reality, as illustrated, for example, by the heterogeneous composition of pupils within a learning group. Addressing diversity therefore plays a central role in school teaching.

Religious education has a particular role to play in this regard, as, in addition to the obvious need to address religious and/or ideological diversity, this very dimension is intertwined with other characteristics such as gender, ethnic origin and social status, making an intersectionality-sensitive approach to education essential. Addressing religion in complete isolation from other social categories fails to do justice to its complexity.

This qualitative research focuses on the interplay between religious diversity, gender dimensions and race (as a category of difference based on ethnicity) . Religion is often described as a phenomenon dominated by cis men and characterised by heteronormativity. Even though male dominance has declined in several predominantly Protestant churches – for example, through the introduction of the ordination of women – the field of religion continues to present significant challenges for non-male lived realities. ‘Diversity-conscious education’[1] is a cross-cutting theme in schools; consequently, religious education also bears a responsibility to engage with contemporary realities of life, which include taking different gender dimensions into account. In concrete terms, this is evident, amongst other things, in the (in)visibility of non-binary perspectives, the possible attribution of supposedly gender-specific characteristics, or the (de-)stigmatisation of certain groups, for example Muslim women who wear headscarves.

Prospective religious education teachers are interviewed on this very topic at the start of their degree programme. The interviews aim to identify existing concepts, expectations and needs arising from dealing with the intersection of religious diversity and gender dimensions in the classroom, from which didactic approaches for the university education of trainee (religious) teachers can be derived.