Sebastian Schüler

My academic background is in the study of religions and cultural anthropology which I both studied at Goethe-University Frankfurt. In 2009 I completed my doctoral dissertation in the study of religions at the University of Münster. In my thesis I critically worked on recent cognitive and evolutionary theories of religion. Further, I emphasized theories of embodied and social cognition in order to explain embodied dynamics and effects of bodily synchronization in ritual behavior.
In my current research project (for my second book) I work on an evangelical prayer movement which started in England ten years ago and by now grew into a global network of prayer. In addition, new communities emerged which emphasize monastic ideals. This movement can be characterized in terms of an emergent progressive shift that currently shapes the face of global evangelicalism. In addition, these new emerging Evanglicals focus on issues of social justice and engaged spirituality. Consequently, I am particularly interested in emergent forms of spirituality, the role of ritual practice and processes of religious community building in current religious transformations. I aim for theorizing on the role and techniques of religious embodiment and its place in the construction of spirituality, religious identities and organization.
Address: http://www.gko.uni-leipzig.de/religionswissenschaft/institut/mitarbeiter/sebastian-schueler.html#c36529