International Workshop: Managing Sufi Lodges and Shrines (EN)

This interdisciplinary workshop explores the management of Sufi lodges and shrines as examples of religious buildings. The discussions will focus on architecture, legal and economic aspects, and cultural heritage protection. The goal is to develop new theoretical approaches for managing these significant religious sites.

A key aspect of the workshop is the collaborative group work. Following an introductory keynote and the presentation of selected case studies, which provide practical examples, participants will work in small groups on specific aspects – Agents, Funding, Places, Contexts, or Symbolism – engaging in in-depth discussions to create innovative theoretical models and frameworks.

Programme

Thursday, 6 Februar 2025

08:30–09:00: Arrival and Get-Together

09:00–09:15: Welcome
Evelyn Reuter (University of the Bundeswehr Munich/Germany)

09:15–09:30: Introductory Remarks
Robert Langer (University of the Bundeswehr Munich/Germany)

09:30–10:30: Keynote
Maren Freudenberg (Ruhr University Bochum/Germany): Religions as economic players in the spiritual marketplace: Producing, selling, funding – and profit-making? Incl. Q&A and initial discussion

10:30–11:00: Coffee Break

11:00–12:45: Panel 1 – Managing Sufi Sites as Symbolic Knots of Individual and Collective Religiosity

Chair: Jakob Krais (University of the Bundeswehr Munich/Germany)
Respondent:

• Erhan Kurtarır (Yıldız Teknik Üniversitesi/Turkey)
• Michel Boivin (Centre d'Etudes de l'Asie du Sud et des Himalayas, CNRS-EHESS/France): Reframing the Sufi Space in the Southern Indus Valley: From the Sufi Lodge to the Sufi University
• Mark Sedgwick (Aarhus University/Denmark): Dreaming of al-Andalus: Modern Sufi Sites in Southern Spain

• Johara Berriane (University of the Bundeswehr Munich/Germany): Ahmad al-Tidjani of Fes (Morocco): the Multivocality of a Transnational Pilgrimage Site

12:45–14:00: Lunch

14:00–15:45: Panel 2 – The Transformation of Sufi Site Management from Religious Politics to Heritagization

Chair: Alexandra Bettag (University of the Bundeswehr Munich/Germany)
Respondent:

• Sebastian Ambros (University of the Bundeswehr Munich/Germany)
• Michiel Leezenberg (University of Amsterdam/The Netherlands): Spirituality after Saddam: Managing Sufi Lodges in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq
• Brett Wilson (Central European University/Austria): Abodes of Culture: Sufi Lodges as Museums in the Turkish Republic

• Pascale Bugnon (University of Geneva/Switzerland): Transforming Sacred Sites into Cultural Heritage: The Cases of Suleiman-Too in Kyrgyzstan and Said ibn Abi Waqqas in China

15:45-16:15: Coffee Break

16:15-16:45: Group Work Preparation
Participants will collaboratively review notes displayed on boards, be introduced to the group work categories (Agents, Funding, Places, Context, Symbolism), and form small discussion groups.

16:45-18:15: Parallel Group Work
Participants will discuss their assigned topics in small groups, drawing on insights from the keynote and case studies to develop systematization approaches.

19:00: Dinner

Friday, 7 February 2025

09:00–09:15: Final Preparation Time for Group Presentations

09:15–10:45: Group Presentations and Synthesis and Systematization Development

10:45–11:15: Coffee Break

11:15–12:00: Final Discussion
Chair: Cem Kara (University of Hamburg/Germany)

12:00–13:00: Lunch

13:00: Departure