Berkley Center

Hans Kippenberg holds a wisdom-professorship of comparative religious studies at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Jacobs University Bremen. His research interests include the history and sociology of European paganism, Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism, Islam in the Near East and Europe, Max Weber’s sociology of religion, the public status of religious communities in European history and contemporary religious violence. Kippenberg has held teaching and research positions at various international institutions, such as Israel's Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, the University of Chicago, the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, the Wissenschaftskolleg Berlin and the University of Groningen. He served as first and second chairman of the German Association for the Study of Religions from 1993-97 and 1997-2001.