Faculty of Theology



Education
1990-1996 Studies in Theology, Universities of Marburg and Göttingen
1997-2001 Dr. theol., University of Marburg
2001-2003 Vicariate at Kirchhain; Ordained Pastor
2003-2006 Research Fellow at the Faculty of Theology, University of Jena; Associate Member of the DFG Research Training Group “Leitbilder in der Spätantike”
2006 Habilitation at the Faculty of Theology, University of Jena


Professional Career
1999 Staff Member at the Faculty of Theology, University of Marburg
2006 Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Theology, University of Jena
2006-2007 Associate Professor of Church History, University of Jena
2007- Full Professor and Chair of Church History at the Faculty of Theology, University of Göttingen


Fellowships, Awards, and Honors
1994-1996 Undergraduate Stipend, funded by the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes
1998-2000 Graduate Scholarship (Promotionsstipendium), funded by the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes
2003-2006 Martin Bucer Scholarship, funded by the Protestant Church of Kurhessen-Waldeck
2006 Offer of a Full Professorship, University of Mainz (declined)
2011 Associate Fellow at the Lichtenberg-Kolleg, University of Göttingen


Professional Activities
(2009/10; 2010-2014) Director and Principal Investigator of the Courant Research Centre “Education and Religion From Early Imperial Roman Times to the Classical Period of Islam (EDRIS)”,University of Göttingen
Faculty Member of the DFG Research Training Group (Graduiertenkolleg) 896 “Images of Deities – Images of God – Images of the World. Polytheism and Monotheism in the Ancient World” (“Götterbilder – Gottesbilder – Weltbilder. Polytheismus und Monotheismus in der Welt der Antike”)
Member of the Board of the Graduate School of Humanities Göttingen (“Graduiertenschule für Geisteswissenschaften Göttingen”, GSGG)
2021-2023 Dean of the Faculty of Theology
since 2022 Ephorus of the Theological Stift
2022-2024 Advisory Board Research project "Authority, Community and Individual Freedom – Latin Monastic Culture and the Roots of European Educational Ideals" (University Lund)


Editorial Board Memberships

Adamantiana; Archa Verbi - Subsidia; Early Christianity in the Context of Antiquity; Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception; Fontes Christiani; Neue Theologische Grundrisse; SERAPHIM - Studies in Education and Religion in Ancient and Pre-Modern History in the Mediterranean and Its Environs; Zeitschrift für Antikes Christentum / Journal of Ancient Christianity (Member Editorial Board; 2007-2014 Review Editor)

Advisory Board Memberships
2004-2010 Historical Commission of the German National Committee of the Lutheran World Foundation
2006-2010 Hessische Kirchengeschichtliche Vereinigung
2007- Konfessionskundliches Institut Bensheim


Other Memberships

  • Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft für Theologie
  • Society of Biblical Literature
  • Association Internationale d'Études Patristiques
  • Internationale Gesellschaft für Theologische Mediävistik
  • Hessische Kirchengeschichtliche Vereinigung
  • Gesellschaft für Niedersächsische Kirchengeschichte
  • Theologischer Arbeitskreis Pfullingen
  • Deutscher Hochschulverband
  • Evangelischer Bund
  • Universitätsbund Göttingen



Third-Party Funded Projects

  • DFG Research Project “Preaching as a process of religious education in late antique Christianity” (2020-2023)
  • Collaborative Research Centre 1136 „Education and Religion in Cultures of the Mediterranean and Its Environment from Ancient to Medieval Times and to the Classical Islam“ (2015-2020; Speaker)
  • DFG Research Unit 2064 „STRATA - Stratifikationsanalysen mythischer Stoffe und Texte in der Antike“ (2016-2019)
  • DFG Research Training Group (Graduiertenkolleg) 896 “Images of Deities – Images of God – Images of the World. Polytheism and Monotheism in the Ancient World” (“Götterbilder – Gottesbilder – Weltbilder. Polytheismus und Monotheismus in der Welt der Antike”) (2007-2012)
  • Courant Research Centre “Education and Religion From Early Imperial Roman Times to the Classical Period of Islam (EDRIS)”,University of Göttingen (2009-2016)
  • DFG Research Project “Religious and Social Role Models in Late Antique Lives of Saints” (2009-2012)