The Role of Islam and Christianity in Public Space. Perspectives from Indonesia and Germany

International Conference

Date: 26 to 28 September 2025
Location: JO 1, Johannisstr. 4, University of Münster, Germany
Hosts: Center for Islamic Theology and the Department of Religious Studies and Intercultural Theology at the University of Münster

Conference outline

Friday, September 26, 2025
14:30 Tea/ coffee
15:00 - 15:30 Welcome addresses
• Prof. Dr Astrid Reuter, Director of the Center for Religious Studies
• Prof. Dr. Mouhanad Khorchide, Center for Islamic Theology
• Prof. Dr. Simone Sinn, Department for Religious Studies and Intercultural Theology

Panel 1: 15:30 - 17:00
Role of Religion in the Public Space
Moderator: Prof. Dr. Mouhanad Khorchide
• Prof. Dr. Noorhaidi Hasan, Rector of the State Islamic University, Yogyakarta
• Rev. Dr Jacky Manuputty, Chair of the Christian Communion of Churches, Indonesia
• Dr. des. Catharina Jabss, Faculty of Protestant Theology, Münster

Panel 2: 17:15 - 18:45
Religion, Democracy, and challenges to democracy
Moderator: Prof. Dr. Simone Sinn
• Prof. Dr. Burhanuddin Muhtadi LSI, Professor of Political Science at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University, Jakarta
• Rev. Dr. Dyah Ayu Krismawati, Executive Secretary for Asia, United Evangelical Mission, Wuppertal
• Dr. Saskia Schäfer, Humboldt University, Berlin

19:00 Dinner

Saturday, September 27, 2025

Panel 3: 9:00 - 10:30
Religion, Democracy in a multi-actor perspective
Moderator: Recep Aktas
• Ms. Alissa Wahid, Director of the Gusdurian Network Indonesia that promotes interfaith dialogue, FoRB and minority rights, and religious moderation.
• Prof. Dr. Hans-Peter Großhans, Professor of Systematic Theology and Director of the Institute for Ecumenical Theology, Faculty of Protestant Theology, Münster
• Prof. Dr. Thomas Stodulka, Professor of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Münster

10:30 - 11:00 Coffee break

Panel 4: 11:00 - 13:00
Religion and Ecology
Moderator: Jessica Aleksejenko
• Dr. Samsul Maarif, Director of the Center for Religious and Cross-Cultural Studies, Yogyakarta
• Prof. Dr Septemmy Lakawa, Professor of Mission Studies and Trauma Theology at the Jakarta Theological Seminary, Jakarta
• Prof. Dr. Frans Wijsen, Professor Emeritus, Department of Empirical Religious Studies, Radboud University, Nijmegen
• Prof. M. Nur Kholis Setiawan, Professor of Islamic Studies, UIN SAIZU Purwokerto

13:00 - 14:30 Lunch break

Panel 5: 14:30 - 16:00
Religion and Gender
Moderator: Dr. Stefanie Burkhardt
• Dr. Nor Ismah, Postdoctoral Fellow in the Religion and Globalisation Cluster at the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore
• Dr. Ferdi Thajib, Senior Lecturer in social and cultural anthropology at Friedrich-Alexander University, Erlangen-Nürnberg
• Rev. Dr. Mery Kolimon, Senior Lecturer in Missiology, Contextual Theology, and Feminist Theology at Artha Wacana Christian University in Kupang, West Timor

16:00 - 16:30 Coffee break

Panel 6: 16:30 - 18:00
Religious Education in Public Schools
Moderator: Carolin Puckhaber
• Dr. Suhadi Cholil, senior lecturer at the Graduate School of the State Islamic University Sunan Kalijaga, Yogyakarta
• Prof. Dr. Fahimah Ulfat, Professor of Islamic Religious Education and Didactics at the University of Münster
• Prof. Dr. Antje Roggenkamp, Professor of Practical Theology and Religious Education at the Faculty of Protestant Theology in Münster

Sunday, September 28, 2025

Panel 7: 9:00 - 10:30
Qur’an and Bible: Interpretation and Meaning
Moderator: Dr. des. David Fastlabend
• Prof. Dr. Sahiron Syamsuddin, Director of Islamic Higher Education, Indonesian Ministry of Religious Affairs.
• Prof. Dr. Robert Setio, Dean of the Faculty of Theology at the Protestant University, Yogyakarta
• Prof. Dr. Mouhanad Khorchide, Director of the Centre for Islamic Theology, University of Münster

10:30 - 11:00 Coffee break

Panel 8: 11:00 - 13:00
Interreligious Relations in academia and in civil society
Moderator: Prof. em. Dr. Reinhard Achenbach
• Rev. Dr. Izak Lattu, Dean of the Faculty of Theology, Satya Wacana Christian University, Salatiga
• Dr. Zainal Abidin Bagir, Director of the Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies, Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta
• Prof. Dr. Simone Sinn, Director of the Department for Religious Studies and Intercultural Theology at the University of Münster

12:30 - 12:45 Conluding remarks
12:45 Lunch