Research proposals, project reports, event projects, international cooperation and lectures
Research proposals and project reports (selection)
Application within the framework of the ERASMUS program of the Commission of the European Communities to support a three-week summer school (workshop) for interpretive sociology in Munich (together with Horst J. Helle), application from January 19, 1988
Application for funding of a three-week international summer school (workshop) for interpretive sociology in Munich, submitted to the Volkswagenwerk Foundation. (together with Horst. J. Helle) International staffing of the conference with university teachers of sociology from Belgium, England, Holland, Italy, Poland and the USA, application from January 18, 1988, approval notice from June 13, 1988, final report to the Volkswagenwerk Foundation
Application to the Munich University Society for funding of a German-Chinese research project on the reception of the sociological classics in the People's Republic of China from October 30, 1993
Multi-year project to translate and edit Georg Simmel's writings on religion (together with Horst J. Helle, see list of publications)
Research project application: cultural comparison Korea - Germany, for submission to the Korea Foundation, Seoul, January 30, 1997 (together with Horst J. Helle, Michael Schillmeier, Werner Schneider and Ruth Waldmann)
Project application for the production of a CD-ROM "Multimedia Introduction to Sociology" (together with Horst J. Helle, Axel Röbkers and Werner Schneider), November 1997
Application to the Volkswagenwerk Foundation for a research grant as part of the funding priority "Selected projects of German-Chinese scientific cooperation": The cultural determinants of economic and social action in the transformation and modernization process using the example of China, completed on December 23, 1997 (together with Horst J. Helle and Ruth Waldmann)
Exposé for an Application to the Korea Foundation: Openness toward Globalization and Emphasis on National Traditions: An Alternative? A Sociological Study, April 23, 1998 (together with Horst J. Helle and Jin-Kyung Yoo)
Research proposal on the religious situation in Korea and the chance of a possible reunification, submitted to the Korea Foundation in April 1999
Collaboration on the concept paper for a future special research area of the DFG: "Church community and social integration in Europe. Theological, social scientific and cultural-theoretical aspects of cross-denominational communication processes between East and West. (Lead scientist: Prof. Dr. Peter Neuner, Faculty of Catholic Theology, LMU Munich ) Project area: "Development of the content of Christian faith as a topic of a sociological comparison of time" (together with Prof. Dr. Horst J. Helle) from June 4, 2002
Application for funding of an interdisciplinary conference: "The modernization of religious structures of meaning and the limits of human life - beginning and end of life from a cultural-scientific perspective", November 7 to 8, 2002, Institute for Sociology, LMU Munich (together with PD Dr. Werner Schneider) , submitted to the Volkswagenwerk Foundation on March 4, 2002 and to the Society of Friends and Sponsors of the University of Munich on August 9, 2002, funded by the latter according to the letter of approval dated November 25, 2002
Study and event projects, scientific meetings
Participation in the graduate college "The concept of experience in European religion and religious theory and its influence on the self-image of non-European religions" at the School of Philosophy (Hochschule für Philosophie) and the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich, since May 2002
Participation in the Excellence Program (Masters program for foreign students in English) at the LMU Munich, since October 2002
Application within the framework of the funding program Elite Network Bavaria (ENB) together with Prof. Dr. Michael von Brück and PD Dr. Jürgen Mohn (Institute for Religious Studies at the LMU) for the establishment of an interdisciplinary course of studies "Pluralization and globalization dynamics of modern (religious) cultures" from June 16, 2003
Project application for the 2003 call for proposals of the Virtual University of Bavaria (VHB) for the development of a virtual multimedia exercise "Basic Sociological Concepts - Introduction" together with Dr. Petra Deger, University of Regensburg and Prof. Dr. Werner Schneider, University of Augsburg, October 9, 2003
Follow-up application for further funding of the graduate college "The concept of experience in European religion and religious theory and its influence on the self-image of non-European religions" at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, together with Prof. Dr. Michael von Brück, Prof. Dr. Jürgen Mohn, and others, August 2004
Organization of scientific conferences
Planning and coordination of a three-week international summer school (OASIS-Summerschool) for interpretive sociology in Munich, August 1, 1988 to August 19, 1988, elaboration of the event program, administration of finances (travel and accomodation expenses), supervision of the anthology “Verstehen and Pragmatism”, resulting from the conference and edited by Prof. H. J. Helle, Frankfurt am Main 1991
Planning and coordination of the international conference "Cultural and political orientations in the Europe of the future", Munich, June 24 to 25, 1992 (together with Prof. Helle and Dr. Dörr-Backes)
Planning and coordination of the international conference "Modernization and Secularization in Europe", Munich, November 17 to 20, 1993 (funded by the DFG), administration of finances (travel and accomodation expenses), preparation of a final report to the DFG
Planning and coordination of the international conference "Georg Simmel between Modernity and Postmodernity", Munich, July 25 to 26, 1994 (together with Dr. Dörr-Backes), funded by the Klinge Foundation & Holding KG, administration of finances (travel and accomodation expenses), preparation of a final report to the foundation (for anthology see list of publications)
Planning and coordination of an international and interdisciplinary conference: "The modernization of religious structures of meaning and the limits of human life - beginning and end of life from a cultural studies perspective, November 7 to 8, 2002, Institute for Sociology of the LMU Munich (together with PD Dr. Werner Schneider ); funded by the Munich University Society e.V.; the conference papers were published in an anthology
International cooperation, research and teaching contacts, scientific training trips
Cooperation with Prof. Harold L. Orbach, Kansas State University, Department for Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work, Manhattan, Kansas, U.S.A., during his visiting professorship at the Institute for Sociology, winter semester 1987/88 (problems of sociological theory formation)
Research stay at Kansas State University, Department for Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work, Manhattan, Kansas, USA, from the end of August 1988 to April 1989, working on George Herbert Mead together with Prof. Harold L. Orbach in preparation for the doctoral dissertation. This established a continuous exchange of ideas on problems of sociological theory formation (American pragmatism and symbolic interactionism with special reference to the work of George Herbert Mead)
Visits to sociological institutes at the University of Chicago, the New School for Social Research, New York, the University of Kansas at Lawrence and the University of California, Berkeley, September 1988 to April 1989
Since 1990 research contact with Dr. Karl-Ludwig Ay, Bavarian Academy of Sciences, Max Weber Complete Edition, exchange of ideas and experiences on the work of Max Weber
Training trip to Beijing, China, from August 4, 1992 to August 23, 1992, talks on the preparation of a research project on the religious situation in China with Prof. Hua Qing, Department of Sociology, Beijing University, viewing of materials, visit to the University of Hefei, Anhui Province
Contacts with Sogang University, Department of Sociology, Seoul, Korea, Prof. Dr. Yoon, planning of a teaching and research stay in Korea
Cooperation with the Catholic University of Korea, Songsim Campus, Institute for Religious Education, Prof. Dr. Park Il-young, religious scientist with the research focus on "Shamanism" in Korea, winter semester 1997/98
Cooperation with the University of California, Santa Barbara, Ca., Department for Religious Studies, Prof. Dr. Phillip E. Hammond in the field of sociology of religion (classics of sociology of religion, religious situation in contemporary societies)
Contacts with the German-Japanese Institute in Tokyo, Dr. Lisette Gebhard (exchange of ideas and experiences on the topics 'New Age' and 'New Religious Movements')
Cooperation with Ms. Jin-Kyung Yoo, Korean guest researcher at the Institute for Sociology in the winter semester 1998/99 and summer semester 1999 (exchange of information on social developments in Korea, differences in the modernization process of Korea and Germany)
Cooperation with Prof. Dr. Zaiqing Fang, Tsinghua University, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Institute of Science, Technology and Society, Beijing, China, during his Eric Voegelin visiting professorship at the Faculty of Social Sciences in the winter semester 1999/2000 in the field of sociology of knowledge and culture as well as the history of science
Cooperation with Ms. Chen Li, Chinese Academy for Social Sciences, Beijing, China, during her one-year research stay at the Institute for Sociology of the LMU Munich (01/06/1999 - 31/05/2000), comparative studies (China - Germany) and development of contacts to Chinese universities
Three-week scientific information and contact trip to China on the basis of an invitation from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (Institute for World Religions) from September 9 to September 29, 2002. Visits to religious centers, universities and research institutions, expert discussions in preparation for a research project on the current religious situation in China
Cooperation with Prof. Zaiqing Fang, Institute for the History of Natural Sciences, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, China, in the field of science, history and culture in Germany, since September 2002
International collaboration with Prof. Xiaoye Zhe from the Chinese Academy for Social Sciences (CASS) during her three-month guest stay at the Institute for Sociology of the LMU Munich from September 3, 2003 to December 2, 2003. Prof. Zhe was invited by me and her stay was funded by the DFG within the framework of the agreement on scientific cooperation between the German Research Foundation and the Chinese Academy for Social Sciences. Joint research project "The Social Process of the Ownership Reform in the Chinese Enterprises: Comparison with German Experience"
Lectures
10/08/1987: “The Phenomenological Approach in the Sociology of Religion”, OASIS Summer School for Interpretive Sociology in Leuven, Belgium, 20/07/1987 - 14/08/1987
20/03/1989: “Sociology within the Boundaries of the Subject”, Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work, Kansas State University. Manhattan, Kansas, U.S.A.
22/06/1993: "George Herbert Mead's Analysis of Social Process: beyond Micro- and Macrosociology", Congrès du Centenaire de l'Institut International de Sociologie, Sorbonne, Paris
07/12/1993: "Sociological Perspectives on the Analysis of New Religious Movements", Institute for Missiology and Religious Studies at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich
23/11/1994: "From Pendulum and Table-Backing to Esotericism and the 'New Age': New Religious Movements in the Mirror of Sociology", as part of a teaching assignment for 3 evenings at the Volkshochschule im Norden des Landkreises München e.V. (Adult Education Center in the North of the District of Munich e.V.)
20/02/1995: “On the Social Constitution of Religious Awareness of Time. A Theoretical Analysis”, senior seminar of the chair Prof. Helle, Institute for Sociology of the LMU Munich
12/04/1996: “Some Aspects in Georg Simmel's Writings on Religion related to the Contemporary Situation”, International Conference on Georg Simmel: Georg Simmel's Actual and Potential Impact on Contemporary Sociology”, April 11 – 13, 1996, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A.
19/11/1996: “Religion in Postmodernity. Sociological Perspectives”, community center of the Petruskirche Parkstadt-Solln, Munich
17/04/1999: “What is Religion? The Problem of Defining religion and the New Religious Movements as a Topic in the Sociology of Religion”, research colloquium at the University of Regensburg, Prof. Dr. R. Hettlage / Prof. Dr. H.J. Helle
13/05/1999: "Sociological Approaches to Explaining the Phenomenon of Religious Fundamentalism", Institute for Missiology and Religious Studies at the LMU Munich
23/06/1999: “Can Symbols still Integrate? On the Change in the Social Function of Symbols in Contemporary Societies”, habilitation colloquium of the social science faculty of the LMU Munich
02/07/2002: "Breeding Ground for Fundamentalism - a Social Scientific Perspective", interdisciplinary colloquium at the TU in Garching, series of topics: Fundamentalism - immunized thought structures
06/07/2004: "The Phenomenological Sociology of Alfred Schütz: Lifeworld, Everyday World, the Variety of Realities and the Meaningful Province of Religious Experiences", graduate college "The concept of experience in European religion and religious theory and its influence on the self-understanding of non-European religions". University of Philosophy and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich
21/05/2008: “New Age and Esotericism. A Sociological View”, research colloquium of the chair Prof. Bonß, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of the Bundeswehr Munich, Neubiberg