Presentation

I was born in Bruchsal, Germany, in 1976. I studied theology and English language and literature at Freiburg University (Germany) and Manchester University (UK). For my master’s thesis, I studied Jewish feminism and the images and metaphors for god used in new rituals and prayers. Since 2003, I have participated in the activities of the international research project “Film and Theology”. I have continued this interest in the interaction between theology and culture in my doctoral research at Graz University (Austria), financed by the Andrea-von-Braun-Stiftung (Germany) and the Fonds für Wissenschaft und Forschung (Austria). In my doctoral thesis, “Transcendental Bodies: Überlegungen zur Bedeutung des Körpers für filmische und religiöse Erfahrungen” (published 2008), I analysed the role of corporeality in religion and in film perception showing that attention for the bodily dimensions of this experience can help in relating to a transcendent reality. During my doctorate, I started teaching courses on modern Judaism for the master’s degree in Religious Studies at Graz University and have continued to do so since, with teaching occasionally also at Freiburg and Münster as well as Trento. From 2007 to 2008, I was involved in a research project on theological aesthetics at the Fondazione Bruno Kessler – Centro per le Scienze religiose, and since 2009, I have collaborated in a project on Gender Studies at the same centre. My research topic is sexuality, its representations in media, in particular in cinema, and their implications for the development of an aesthetic-sexual theology.

Research interests

At the moment, I’m involved in various research projects. My main project is a study of sexuality and the changes in its experience and practice under the conditions of a media society. Theology needs to take account of these changes in order to be able to re-evaluate the value of sexuality as experience of the other person and another reality. I maintain that a study of various media (cinema, lifestyle magazines, internet) can help theology to understand better these changes and to go beyond the traditional dualism of sexuality and spirituality in order to find again spirituality within sexuality. My research is founded on sociological studies of sexuality in today’s society, on theories of gender studies and new approaches to a sexual theology (G. Jantzen, M. Althaus-Reid, G. Loughlin). Another research interest, which is relevant as well for the study of sexuality in media, is the relationship between theology and culture between inculturation and isolationism. I’m particularly interested in film and the arts as spaces of theology and spaces of religious experience which, as I retain, is first of all a bodily-sensual experience. I’m also involved in a project on the construction and the use of the category of gender in various disciplines, both in the arts and sciences. A first output of this field of research is the organisation of an international conference on “Gender and knowledge(s)” in 2010 which will provide the opportunity to evaluate the impact of theories of gender on the epistemology of various disciplines. I also continue my interest in modern Judaism with studies on Jewish identity in Europe, how it is lived and represented in media, and how media and individuals interact in the construction of identity.

• Transcendental Bodies: Überlegungen zur Bedeutung des Körpers für filmische und religiöse Erfahrung. Regensburg: Pustet, 2008.
• con Ornella, Alexander Darius (eds.): Reconfigurations: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Religion in a Post-Secular Society. Vienna: LIT, 2007.
• Drachenfrau und Geistfeuer: Neue Metaphern für Gott in der jüdischen feministischen Theologie und Praxis. Münster: LIT, 2002.

• Leidenschaft auf der Leinwand: Eine Provokation oder eine ProVokation für die Theologie? In: Hoff, G.M. (ed.): Lieben. Provokationen. Salzburger Hochschulwochen 2008. Innsbruck: Tyrolia, 2008, 210–223.
• Zwischen allen Stühlen oder ein anderer Name für Kreativität? Erfahrungen einer Theologin mit dem interdisziplinären Arbeiten. Ein Essay. In: Briefe zur Interdisziplinarität 1 (2008), 8-12. 
• “Ich bin doch ein Feminist”: Dogville in der Perspektive der feministischen Filmtheorie und der Gender Studies. In: Orth, St.; Staiger, M.; Valentin, J. (eds.): Dogville - Godville: Methodische Zugänge zu einem Film Lars von Triers. Marburg: Schüren, 2008, 123-140. 
• Text-Bilder, Bild-Texte: Hanekes Literaturverfilmungen für das Fernsehen. In: Wessely, Ch.; Larcher, G.; Grabner, F. (eds.): Michael Haneke und seine Filme: Eine Pathologie der Konsumgesellschaft. 2nd ed. Marburg: Schüren, 2008, 341-362.
• The Sensuality of Sense: Reflections on the Bodily Dimension of Filmic and Religious Experience. In: Ornella, A. D.; Knauß, S. (eds.): Reconfigurations: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Religion in a Post-Secular Society. Vienna: LIT, 2007, 197-216. 
• Authentizität und Ambiguität: Körper, Identität und Gender in den Filmen von Pedro Almodóvar. In: Martig, Ch.; Karrer, L. (eds.): Eros und Religion: Erkenntnisse aus dem Reich der Sinne. Marburg: Schüren, 2007, 108-129. 
• “A Jew in a Porsche?” Jewish (Religious) Identities in Contemporary Europe”. Disputatio Philosophica: International Journal on Philosophy and Religion 5 (2006), 17-33.   
• con Ornella, Alexander Darius: “There are no angels in America”?: Eine fundamentaltheologische Annäherung an religiöse Phänomene in der Medienkultur]. In: Wessely, Ch. (ed.): Kunst des Glaubens - Glaube der Kunst: Der Blick auf das “unverfügbare Andere”. FS G. Larcher. Regensburg: Pustet, 2006, 384-396. 
• Vom Fremdsein, der Befremdlichkeit und der Einsamkeit: Das Schloß von Michael Haneke. In: Wessely, Ch.; Larcher, G.; Grabner, F. (eds.): Michael Haneke und seine Filme: Eine Pathologie der Konsumgesellschaft. 1st ed. Marburg: Schüren, 2005, 261-282.

• Sjö, Sofia: Monster, Mütter und Messiasse: Die Präsenz des Weiblichen in SciFi-Mythen. In: Martig, Ch.; Pezzoli-Olgiati, D. (eds.): Outer space - Reisen in Gegenwelten: Beiträge zu Film und Religion. Marburg: Schüren (forthcoming 2009) - English into German. 
• Zordan, Davide: Derrida in Dogville: Dekonstruktion zwischen Inszenierung und Filmanalyse. In: Orth, St.; Staiger, M.; Valentin, J. (eds.): Dogville - Godville: Methodische Zugänge zu einem Film Lars von Triers. Marburg: Schüren, 2008, 107-122. - Italian into German.
• Larcher, Gerhard: Foundational Theology, Art and Aesthetics: Methodological Interrelations. In: Ornella, A. D.; Knauß, S. (eds.): Reconfigurations: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Religion in a Post-Secular Society. Vienna: LIT, 2007, 19-27 - German into English, together with Barbara A. Emmel.
• Karrer, Leo: Experience as an Interpretative Framework for Art: Reflections on the Art of Theology (and its Failures). In: Ornella, A. D.; Knauß, S. (eds.): Reconfigurations: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Religion in a Post-Secular Society. Vienna: LIT, 2007, 29-42 - German into English, together with Barbara A. Emmel.