Katharina Neef

Katharina Neef is a research associate at the Institute of Religious Studies and the Center for Teacher Education and School Research at the University of Leipzig. With a doctorate in Religious Studies from 2010, she has held academic positions at multiple institutions including Chemnitz University of Technology and Saxony Academy of Sciences.

• Specializes in 19th-20th century religious minorities
• Focuses on religion-policy intersections
• Expert on ethics education frameworks
• Studies secularist movements and state-religion pluralism
• Contributes to historical sociology of religion

Her recent publications examine secularism in European contexts, religious heterodoxy, and sociology's disciplinary history. Notable works include co-editing the Handbook of Religious Studies in Germany (2023) and analyzing freethought networks in Freethinkers in Europe (2020).

Neef's teaching portfolio spans religious history courses, international master seminars on religion in public spheres, and specialized topics like:

• Atheist poster art
• Religious diversity in post-WWII Germany
• Heterodox medieval movements
• Max Weber interpretations

She maintains active research into religious education formation processes and state treatment of marginal communities, with fieldwork connections to Eastern Europe and transnational secularist movements.