Main research interests
| • | Global history and entangled history approaches in religious studies, with a focus on India (Bengal), Europe, and North America | |
| • | Religion and politics (social reform, colonialism, ethnonationalism, racism) | |
| • | Religious comparison and cultural exchange since the early modern period | |
| • | Esotericism and alternative religiosity |
Curriculum Vitae
| Since 2024 | Chair of Religious Studies and Intercultural Theology, Georg-August-University Göttingen |
| 2021 – 2024 | Assistant professor (Universitätsassistent), Institute for Religious Studies, University of Vienna |
| 2023 | Harvard University, with a research fellowship from the Gerda Henkel Foundation |
| 2020 – 2021 | Replacement Chair, Institute for Missiology, Ecumenical Studies and Religious Studies, University of Hamburg |
| 2020 | Habilitation in Religious Studies, Ruprecht-Karls-University Heidelberg |
| 2019 – 2021 | Research Associate, Cluster of Excellence "Religion and Politics", University of Münster, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster |
| 2016 – 2019 | Research Associate (DFG individual project), Institute for Religious Studies and Intercultural Theology, Ruprecht-Karls-University Heidelberg |
| 2016 – 2017 | Substitute as Associate Professor, Religious Studies, University of Amsterdam |
| 2015 – 2016 | Research Associate, Cluster of Excellence "Asia and Europe in a Global Context", Ruprecht-Karls-University Heidelberg |
| 2015 | Doctorate (with distinction, summa cum laude) in Religious Studies, Ruprecht-Karls-University Heidelberg |
| 2011 – 2014 | Doctoral scholarship from the German National Academic Foundation |
| 2010 | Magister Artium (with distinction) in Religious Studies and Medieval/Modern History, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg |
| 2005 – 2010 | Master's degree in Ancient, Medieval and Modern History, Philosophy and Religious Studies, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg and University of Amsterdam, study fellowship from the German Academic Scholarship Foundation |
Selected publications
Numerous publications can be accessed at academia.edu.
"Global Religious History and Religious Comparison: a Programmatic Outline", in: JRAT, S. 1-23, Link Vorabversion https://doi.org/10.30965/23642807-bja10091.
"Daoism and Kung Fu as Occult Sciences: Historical Comparisons between Chinese Practices and Mesmerism", in: Appropriating the Dao: The Euro-American Esoteric Reception of East Asian Thought, Pokorny, Lukas; Franz Winter (Hg.), London/New York: Bloomsbury 2024, S. 15–34. Link: https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350289598.0005
„Esotericism between Europe and East Asia: How the ‚Esoteric Distinction‘ Became a Structure in Cross-Cultural Interpretation“, in: Numen 71/1, 2024, S. 9–28. [Open Access]
„The Emergence of ‚Esoteric‘ as a Comparative Category: Towards a Decentered Historiography“, in: Implicit Religion 24/3–4, 2023, S. 353–383. [Link]
„(Anti-)Colonialism, Religion, and Science in Bengal from the Perspective of Global Religious History“, in: Journal of Global History 18/1, 2023, S. 88–107. [Open Access]
Global Tantra: Religion, Science, and Nationalism in Colonial Modernity, New York: Oxford University Press 2022. [Link]
mit Giovanni Maltese, „Global Religious History“, Sonderausgabe von Method & Theory in the Study of Religion 33/3–4, 2021. [Open Access]
mit Egil Asprem, New Approaches to the Study of Esotericism (Supplements to Method & Theory in the Study of Religion 17), Leiden/Boston: Brill 2021. [Open Access]
mit Hans Martin Krämer, Theosophy Across Boundaries. Transcultural and Interdisciplinary Perspectives on a Modern Esoteric Movement, Albany: State University of New York Press 2020. [Link]
„Socialism and Esotericism in July Monarchy France“, in: History of Religions 57/2, 2017, S. 197–221. [Link]
„Revolution, Illuminismus und Theosophie. Eine Genealogie der ‚häretischen‘ Historiographie des frühen französischen Sozialismus und Kommunismus“, in: Historische Zeitschrift 304/1, 2017, S. 50–89. [Link]
Sozialismus, Katholizismus und Okkultismus im Frankreich des 19. Jahrhunderts. Die Genealogie der Schriften von Eliphas Lévi, Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter 2016. [Link]
„Socialist Religion and the Emergence of Occultism. A Genealogical Approach to ‚Secularization‘ in 19th-Century France“, in: Religion 46/3, 2016, S. 359–388. [Link]
Vril. Eine okkulte Urkraft in Theosophie und esoterischem Neonazismus, München/Paderborn: Wilhelm Fink 2013. [Link]
„Die Erfindung des esoterischen Nationalsozialismus im Zeichen der Schwarzen Sonne“, in: Zeitschrift für Religionswissenschaft 20/2, 2012, S. 223–268. [Link]
Current publications
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Current Public Outreach Material
Artikel für die Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung über "Rechtsextreme Esoterik" :https://www.bpb.de/themen/rechtsextremismus/dossier-rechtsextremismus/550441/rechtsextreme-esoterik/
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Aktuelle Öffentlichkeitsarbeit
Artikel für die Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung über "Rechtsextreme Esoterik" :https://www.bpb.de/themen/rechtsextremismus/dossier-rechtsextremismus/550441/rechtsextreme-esoterik/