"How to Conceptualize Religion in a Comparative Perspective. Some Preliminary Considerations"
Volkhard Krech, Ruhr University, Germany

Volkhard Krech, is professor of Religious Studies at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, and director of the International Research Consortium on “Dynamics in the History of Religions” as well as the Center for Religious Studies (CERES). His research interests cover the theory of religion and history of religions, religious pluralization and globalization, processes of sacralization, religion and violence, religion and arts, and history of Religious Studies.

His publications include “Religious contacts in past and present times: aspects of a research programme” (pp. 191-213 in Religion 42/2, 2012,); “Religion als Kommunikation” (pp. 49–62 in Michael Stausberg, ed., Religionswissenschaft (Berlin/New York 2012); Wo bleibt die Religion? Zur Ambivalenz des Religiösen in der modernen Gesellschaft (Bielefeld 2011); and Dynamics in the History of Religions between Asia and Europe in Past and Present Times (ed. together with Marion Steinicke, Brill 2011), among others.