معرفی
Prof. Dr. Gritt Klinkhammer is Professor for Empirical Religious Studies and Theory of Religion at the University of Bremen, holding this position since July 2004. She works in the Department of Empirical Religious Studies and Theory of Religion, contributing significantly to religious studies research and education in Germany with a focus on empirical approaches to understanding contemporary religious phenomena.
Her educational journey began with studies in religious studies, sociology, and philosophy at Ruhr University Bochum and Philipps University Marburg, where she earned her MA with a thesis on conversion research methodology. She completed her doctorate in Philosophy in 2000 at the University of Hanover with a dissertation titled "Modern Forms of Islamic Lifestyle: A Qualitative-Empirical Study of the Religiosity of Second-Generation Sunni Turkish Women in Germany," demonstrating her early focus on Muslim communities in Germany.
Prof. Klinkhammer's research expertise centers on Muslim life in Europe, with particular attention to organizational structures, Sufism, Salafism, and broader Islam discourses. She investigates religious pluralism through the lens of both conflict and coexistence dynamics in increasingly diverse religious landscapes. Her methodological strength lies in qualitative religious research and biographical approaches to understanding religious phenomena, combining empirical fieldwork with theoretical reflection. She has made significant contributions to theories of religion, especially regarding how religious studies interfaces with value judgments and scientific investigation.
Her recent scholarly output (including multiple 2025 publications still in print) reveals a deepening focus on religious pluralism in contemporary German society, with particular attention to Christian-Muslim relations, Islamophobia in Christian media, and the experiences of Muslim communities in educational settings. Her work increasingly addresses state regulation of religious expression and examines how religious diversity manifests in institutional contexts. Methodologically, she consistently combines qualitative empirical approaches with theoretical reflection on the study of religion itself, demonstrating both practical research skills and conceptual sophistication.
Prof. Klinkhammer holds several significant leadership positions in her field. Since September 2017, she has served as Chair of the German Association of Religious Studies (DVRW). She has been a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Religious Studies Media and Information Service (REMID e.V.) since October 2004. From 2019-2023, she served on the Scientific Advisory Board of the German Islam Conference (DIK) in the funding area "Mosques for Integration." She is an active member of the Migration Council (RfM), the Sociology of Religion Section of the German Sociological Association, and the International Society for the Sociology of Religion.
Her academic leadership extends to editorial work, where she has co-edited the influential series "Muslimische Welten. Empirische Studien zu Gesellschaft, Politik und Religion" since 2008 (14 volumes) and "Islam in der Lebenswelt Europa" from 2004-2020 (12 volumes), demonstrating her sustained commitment to advancing scholarly discourse on Islam in European contexts through collaborative academic publishing.
