Marianne Moyaert

Marianne Moyaert is a Professor at KU Leuven in Belgium, affiliated with the Department of Systematic Theology and the Study of Religions since 2023. Previously, she held the Chair of Comparative Theology and Hermeneutics of Interreligious Dialogue at VU Amsterdam, where she led the master’s program in Interreligious Studies and the Emoena interfaith leadership program. Her research focuses on comparative theology, interreligious hermeneutics, and the ritual and material dimensions of interfaith encounters, with a particular emphasis on religionization's historical and societal impacts.

Since 2020, Moyaert directs the VIDI research project Unequal Partners?, examining interfaith dynamics in Christian-Jewish and Christian-Islamic couples in the Netherlands. She serves as editor-in-chief of Currents of Encounter, a Brill series bridging theology, intercultural studies, and interfaith dialogue. She also sits on the steering committee of the Interreligious/Interfaith Studies group and co-chairs the Comparative Theology group at the American Academy of Religion.

Her 2024 magnum opus, Christian Imaginations of the Religious Other: A History of Religionization, explores how Western religious identities are constructed through cultural norms, hierarchies, and encounters with difference. Moyaert’s work bridges historical analysis with contemporary societal challenges, advocating for equitable interfaith engagement in diverse contexts.