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Faculty of Theology

Projects & Collaborations

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"Tall al-Hamidiya Online" - Digitisation and Publication of the Finds from the Swiss Archaelogical Mission in Tall al-Hamidiya, Northeast Syria

Research Project  | 2 Project Members

From 1984 to 2011, the Swiss Archaeological Mission excavated Tall al-Hamidiya in Northeast Syria. The Late Bronze Age acropolis, with its monumental structures, including the Southwest Palace (approx. 14,500 m²) and the Central Palace (approx. 38,500 m²), was central to a city of approximately 245 ha. The impressive structures and Hurro-Akkadian texts suggest that Tall al-Hamidiya was Taidu, the royal city of the Mitannian empire, which had dominated Northern Mesopotamia and the Levant (ca. 16th-13thcentury BCE). Middle Assyrian kings conquered the site (13th-11th century BCE) and continued its occupation into the Neo-Assyrian period (9th-8th century BCE). This makes Tall al-Hamidiya one of the few sites in the region with a well-documented sequence of Mitanni—Middle Assyrian—Neo Assyrian habitation. 

From 1984 to 2020, Prof. Dr. Markus Wäfler (University of Bern) directed and funded the excavations. Since 2010/2011, the project has been situated at the University of Basel, where Dr. Oskar Kaelin, a project member since 1995 and co-director since 2008, has been affiliated. 

The main goals of the project supported by the Shelby White and Leon Levy Program for Archaeological Publications and directed by Dr. Oskar Kaelin are:

  1. Ensure that all excavated data (photos, plans, drawings) is freely accessible online (in English) through the long-term preservation center DaSCH – Swiss National Data and Service Center for the Humanities to guarantee future accessibility (with Prof. Dr. Rita Gautschy and her team). 
  2. Produce a monograph (as a free e-book) analyzing the findings at Tall al-Hamidiya, contextualizing them within the history of the Khabur region and the Ancient Near East, particularly the Mitannian, Middle, and Neo-Assyrian periods. 

Tall al-Hamidiya: https://sites.google.com/site/hamidiyataidu/

DaSCH-Website: https://www.dasch.swiss/

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In frölichkeit Sein lob außbreitt. Frauen und die Ausbildung evangelischer Frömmigkeit in der Reformationszeit und im Konfessionellen Zeitalter. Frauen und die Ausbildung evangelischer Frömmigkeit in der Reformationszeit und im Konfessionellen Zeitalter

Research Project  | 1 Project Members

Eine große Anzahl von Gesang-, Gebet- und Andachtsbüchern aus der Frühen Neuzeit wurde von Frauen verfasst. Das Projekt fragt danach, wie Frauen aus unterschiedlichen evangelischen Konfessionen und Denominationen sowie gesellschaftlichen Positionen zwischen 1520 und 1700 durch die Publikation von Gebets- und Andachtsbüchern und durch das Dichten von geistlichen Liedern zur Ausbildung evangelischer Frömmigkeit und damit zur Verstetigung reformatorischer Ideen in der Gesellschaft beigetragen haben. Gerade durch diese „kleine Literatur“, die bis heute nur in Einzelfällen erschlossen ist, wurde – so lautet die Ausgangsthese des Projekts – das Alltags- und Frömmigkeitsleben der Menschen und damit auch die evangelische Theologie in der Frühen Neuzeit entscheidend geprägt. Durch die Erschließung und systematische Analyse der Quellen schreibt das Forschungsprojekt diese Schriften und ihre Autorinnen als wichtige Akteurinnen der Frühen Neuzeit in die Christentumsgeschichte ein.

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A Study of Kant's Deconstruction of the Doctrine of Original Sin and of Ritschl's Interpretation of Kant's 'radical evil'

Research Project  | 2 Project Members

Although original sin is a traditional Christian doctrine, it has been the subject of significant criticism in many ways since the Enlightenment. However, during the Enlightenment, Immanuel Kant criticized the doctrine of original sin, but it can be said that by introducing the concept of 'radical evil,' he reinterpreted the theological implications of the doctrine of original sin. However, as a philosopher, Immanuel Kant did not undertake any actual theological reconstruction. It was a theologian, however, Albrecht Ritschl, who understood the implications of the doctrine of original sin as the 'kingdom of sin' without repeating Kant's criticisms of the traditional doctrine of original sin, but with Kant's philosophy. There are two parts to this project: analysis and judgment. The first part examines a) a traditional understanding of original sin, b) Kant's critique of original sin and understanding of radical evil, c) Ritschl's critical acceptance of Kant's philosophy, and d) Ritschl's understanding of the kingdom of sin. In the second part, thought experiments will be used to compare each position's theological coherence, rational-scientific logic, and how it could lead to religious dialogue. In conclusion, I will summarize my research and findings and assess whether they can be useful principles and religious ideas for modern people. The main goal of this project is to provide modern people who value morality, logic, and peace -especially among religions- with appropriate theological understandings of sin and evil. In this regard, their works, which were more of a complete philosophical or theological reconstruction than a revision of a single doctrine, are still worth considering.

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Are Religions Becoming Green

Research Project  | 4 Project Members

Religious communities are able to address climate change and other environmental challenges. They can use their public voice to lobby for progressive climate policies, disseminate pro-environmental values among their members, and undertake projects to improve the carbon footprint of their institutions (e.g. energy efficient refurbishments). However, it is unclear to what extent religious communities in Switzerland are undertaking such activities and contribute to solve existing environmental challenges. 

Scholarship suggests that religious traditions and communities become more environmentally aware and engaged over time. Although the topic has increasingly received attention in recent years, there is still little expertise about religious environmentalism at the congregational level. Yet, research at the congregational level is particularly important, given that congregations constitute important mediators of environmental engagement between the macro-level leadership of religious communities and the micro-level membership. Congregations can disseminate “green” theologies and environmental programs, which the leadership initiated, among the local membership. At the same time, they can promote religious grass-roots initiatives, which started at the local level, towards the leadership or expand them towards other local congregations.

This project will identify (a) to what extent congregations in Switzerland are environmentally engaged, (b) what types of environmental engagement they undertake, and (c) under what circumstances they are most likely to be environmentally engaged. To this end, the research team conducts a survey about the environmental engagement of congregations. The project will contribute to the increasing international debates about religious environmental engagement by exploring the mechanisms of this engagement.

The project is being conducted under the direction of Prof. Dr. Jens Köhrsen at the Center for Religion, Economics and Politics (ZRWP) at the University of Basel. The team consists of Adam Hearn, Fabian Huber, Ann-Lea Buzzi and Julius Malin.

The study is being conducted in collaboration with the project "Switzerland's changing religious diversity. The National Congregations Study Switzerland II", which is being conducted at the University of Lausanne under the direction of Prof. Dr. Jörg Stolz.


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CoSi: Co-Evolution and Coordinated Simulation of the Swiss Energy System and Swiss Society. Part of the SWEET (Swiss Energy research for the Energy Transition)

Research Project  | 4 Project Members

The Sustainability Research Group (SRG) has numerous roles within the SWEET-CoSi project. As part of WP4, researchers help to define key consumer behaviors, their underlying drivers, and their evolution in the context of the Swiss energy transition and integrate them into a joint framework of individual consumer decision-making. This is used as basis for a SSH-model framework which is then used for online surveys and experiments which will be conducted to better understand and quantify the impact of the identified behaviours and drivers. Furthermore, in WP5, the SRG contributes by developing a toolbox to support co-visioning, co-creation, and governance processes in PEDs, through living lab research, focus group workshops, interviews and surveys.

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Forschungsnetzwerk Recht und Religion

Research Networks of the University of Basel  | 10 Project Members

Das Forschungsnetzwerk Recht und Religion (FNRR) befasst sich mit Fragestellungen, die an der Schnittstelle zwischen Recht und Religion liegen. Das Netzwerk legt Wert auf die wissenschaftliche Begleitung aktueller Problemstellungen in der Gesellschaft wie etwa religiöse Symbole in der Öffentlichkeit und in Unternehmen, der rechtlichen Status von Religionsgemeinschaften und ihr Verhältnis zum Staat sowie die soziologische Dynamik der multireligiösen Topographie und deren Folgen.

Am FNRR sind Forschende der Juristischen Fakultät und des Fachbereichs Religionswissenschaft der Theologischen und der Philosophisch-Historischen Fakultät der Universität Basel beteiligt. Ferner sind Angehörige der Rechtswissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Universität Zürich, des Religionswissenschaftlichen Seminars der Universität Luzern sowie der Juristischen Fakultät der Universität Fribourg involviert.


The Research Network Law and Religion (FNRR) deals with issues at the interface between law and religion. The network attaches great importance to the academic monitoring of current problems in society, such as religious symbols in the public and in companies, the legal status of religious communities and their relationship to the state, and the sociological dynamics of the multi-religious topography and its consequences.

The FNRR involves researchers from the Faculty of Law and the Department of Religious Studies of the Faculty of Theology and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Basel. Members of the Faculty of Law of the University of Zurich, the Department for the Study of Religion of the University of Lucerne and the Faculty of Law of the University of Fribourg are also involved.