Hans Joas

Prof. Dr. Dr. hc mult. Hans Joas holds the Ernst Troeltsch Honorary Professorship at Humboldt University of Berlin's Faculty of Theology and is a Visiting Professor at the University of Chicago's Committee on Social Thought and Department of Sociology. He has held academic positions across Europe and North America since the 1980s, including professorships at Erlangen-Nuremberg, Free University of Berlin, and University of Erfurt. His research focuses on social theory, sociology of religion, human rights genealogy, and the sociology of war. He has authored over 20 books including The Power of the Sacred (2017) and Moral Change and the Ambiguity of Religions (2023). Joas is a full member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and has received major accolades including the Max Planck Research Prize and DGS Lifetime Achievement Award.

Education:

• 1979: Dr. phil., Free University Berlin
• 1981: Habilitation, Free University Berlin

Research Interests: His work critiques Weberian disenchantment narratives, explores moral universalism's origins, and examines religion's role in modernity. Current projects include a global history of moral universalism and affirmative genealogies of values.

Recent Articles: Focus on religious ambiguity, human rights' theological foundations, and war's sociological dimensions. Recent works analyze Christianity's role in racism and anti-racism struggles.

Awards:

• 2022 DGS Lifetime Achievement Award
• 2022 German Sociological Association's Outstanding Work Award
• 2015 ASA Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award

Teaching: Recent courses include 'Moral Universalism in the 20th Century' and 'History of Human Rights' at Humboldt University.