PhD Courses in Denmark

Systematic Theology and Church History 

Date and time: 29 May 2024 from 9:00 to 17:00

The mystical tradition has been both a significant source of inspiration and provocation for many of the most influential philosophers of the 20th century. Whether we think of Maurice Blondel’s (1861-1949) notion of the open system, Henri Bergson’s (1859-1941) system of creative evolution, Jacques Lacan’s (1901-1981) psychoanalytical developments of the unconscious, Simone Weil’s (1909-1943) understanding of attention, Michel de Certeau’s (1925-1986) view of utopia, Jacques Derrida’s (1930-2004) insistence on multiplicity, or Jean-Luc Marion’s (1946-) idea of excess, 20th century philosophy proves fertile soil for engaging with the mystics. But what is “mysticism”? Until the early modern period, the meaning of the word remained close to the Greek verbal root, muô, denoting something that is “closed”. If the Christian tradition employed the derived adjective mystikos to denote both the sacrament of Holy Communion and the hidden allegoric meanings of Scripture, it was only in 17th-century France that the adjective metamorphosed to become its own noun, la mystique. Henceforth, “la mystique” came to denote a specific way of writing and talking about the secrets of the divine, a modus loquendi that described a spiritual experience rather than a theological doctrine. Although mystics were ridiculed by the rationalistic theology of the 18th and 19th centuries, this turn towards the experiential has helped thinkers of the 20th century to develop nuanced philosophies of action, ontologies that consider reality to be a thing in movement. This PhD course seeks to investigate points of contact between the mystical tradition and philosophy of action in the 20th and 21st centuries. 

The course will be held as a workshop in order to both engage and to profit from the diversity of the participating scholars, combining individual presentations and a colloquy. In order to invite as many international Ph.d.-students and other colleagues from our network as possible, the course will have a hybrid character and be available via Zoom. The workshop will combine the different disciplines such as systematic theology, church history, dogmatics, literature and of course philosophy. Prior to the workshop, the participants will prepare by reading different texts assigned by the key-note speakers.

Academic aim:

- Explore in the format of colloquy questions related to the reception of early modern mysticism in philosophy in the 20th and 21st centuries from various angles, both from the contributing keynote lecturers and participating doctoral students. 

- Elaborate on the various and potential modes of activity and passivity (e.g. but not restricted to the question of limits of human agency, (divine) grace, medio-passivity, mental effort, attentiveness, spontaneity, the role of prayer, answering a call or calling for an answer etc.)

- Work with concepts such as apotheosis, human will, self-sufficiency, attention, de-creation of the self, controllability, effort, and grace in plenary conversations.

Target group: Primarily PhD students within Theology and Humanities

Course teachers: 
Cathrine Bjørnholt Michaelsen, Assistant Professor, Copenhagen Business School
Carsten Juhl, Retired lecturer and director of Theory Department, Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts 

Course organisers:
Lars Cyril Nørgaard, Associate Professor, Section of Church History, University of Copenhagen
Joanna M. Winterø, PhD fellow, Section of Systematic Theology, University of Copenhagen
Bastian F. Vaucanson, Guest Researcher, Section of Church History, University of Copenhagen

Programme:
09.00 - 12.30 Welcome. Morning session with lecturer CBM and one student paper
12:30 - 13:30 Lunch break
15.30-17.00 Afternoon session with CJ including panel colloquy and one student paper

Language: English

ECTS: 1 for participation / 1.5 for participation with paper presentation

Max. numbers of participants: 20

Registration: Please register via the link in the box no later than 8 May 2024.

We encourage PhD students to send in a short abstract for a 15-minute paper presentation no later than 2 April 2024 to jowi@teol.ku.dk. (presenters will earn 1.5 ECTS).

Further information: For more information about the PhD course, please contact the PhD Administration (phd@hrsc.ku.dk).

Literature: TBA