PThU News
- PThU to launch major research project on relationship between Christian faith and soilThis September, the Protestant Theological University will be launching a five-year research project on the relationship between Christian faith and soil. Researchers involved in the project will engage in theological reflection on the value and meaning of soil, specifically in light of climate and ecological issues. They will do this together with Christian farmers and faith communities and various knowledge institutions and social partners. Part of the project is a large-scale quantitative study in collaboration with the Netherlands Institute for Social Research.
- Nicholas Adams to visit as Senior Research Fellow at PThUAt the invitation of the Moral Compass Project (MCP), Prof Nicholas Adams will be visiting as a Senior Research Fellow at PThU in March, April and June.
- 'Church and slavery' research project launchedThe NWO research project "Church and Slavery in the Dutch Empire: History, Theology and Heritage" has officially started on January 1, 2023. The project was applied for with coordination and financial support of the PThU in collaboration with colleagues at the VU Amsterdam and the University of Curaçao (UoC). One of the senior researchers within the project is Professor Rose Mary Allen of the University of Curaçao, who introduces herself below.
- Esther Mombo starts as guest lecturerThe PThU will be hosting Prof. Esther Mombo as guest lecturer. Prof. Mombo will give guest lectures on 7 and 14 December, a masterclass for PhD students and an open lecture on 12 December from 15.00 -16.30 at the PThU- Groningen. You are all cordially invited!
- Initial Graduate School students participate in Dragon's DenA series of dragon's den presentations concluded the first phase of the Initial Graduate School for students at the PThU, the Theological University Kampen | Utrecht and Jakarta Theological Seminary. In a gathering at our location in Groningen (with some participating online), they each had three minutes to pitch their research proposals to a team of professors, grant advisors and communications professionals.
- Student reports from the annual consultation in South AfricaInitial Graduate School student Sarah Korang Sansa joined the annual consultation between the PThU and its South-African partner Stellenbosch University and the University of Western Cape.
- Research project COHERENT receives NWA grantNWA has awarded a grant to the COHERENT project, which researches festive food practices, clothing and globalisation, and the contemporary significance of war sites. The project runs from September 2022 to August 2024. It is a collaboration between several scientific and societal partners, including the PThU.
- PThU moves into 2040 with 'passion and daring'Praise and folly went hand in hand at the opening of the academic year of the Protestant Theological University (PThU) on 30 August in the Nicolaïkerk in Utrecht. Master's student Tabitha van Krimpen put on a jester's hood to give those present a piece of her mind.
- Church and slavery research project receives major NWO grantThe research project into church and slavery of, among others, the PThU, is to receive a grant of € 750,000. The Dutch organisation for scientific research NWO confirmed this on 14 July. The research examines the role of the Protestant church in the Dutch colonial history of slavery. The NWO calls the research of enormous value for the current social debate.
- PThU strengthens education and research with four new appointmentsThe Protestant Theological University (PThU) has appointed two professors, an associate professor and an assistant professor. These are Dr. A. Huijgen as Professor of Dogmatics, Dr. L. Nelstrop as Professor of Church History, Dr. A. Goudriaan as Associate Professor of Church History and Dr. P.J. van Egmond as assistant professor of Church History. The synod of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands approved the appointments of the two professors on Saturday 2 July. The two other appointments had already been approved in the small synod.
- Theology under the conditions of the present worldIn the western world our current situation is labelled as post-modern, post-christian and post-secular. Even though these terms can be contested, they pose the question what it means to do theology under the conditions of our present day’s world. How to engage with the Bible and classical forms of theology and how to make them productive again? Our seminars for the new season deal with these questions.
- David VanDrunen to start as research fellowDr. David VanDrunen will stay at the PThU from May 28 to June 25, 2022 as a senior Research Fellow. Dr. VanDrunen is Robert B. Strimple Professor of Systematic Theology and Christian Ethics at Westminster Seminary California Seminary (USA).
- Janel Kragt-Bakker starts as senior research fellowDr. Janel Kragt-Bakker will stay as a senior Research Fellow at the PThU in Groningen from 9 May to 17 June 2022. Dr. Kragt-Bakker is associate professor of mission and culture at Memphis Theological Seminary (USA).
- Marnus Havenga is new research fellowDr. Marnus Havenga will stay at the PThU in Amsterdam from 9 May to 9 June 2022 as a junior research fellow. Dr. Havenga is a postdoctoral research fellow and 'contract lecturer' at the Department of Systematic Theology and Ecclesiology of the theological faculty of Stellenbosch University (South Africa).
- General Synod confirms the decision of the PThU to choose Utrecht as its new locationOn Thursday 21 April, the general synod of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands approved the intention of the Executive Board of the Protestant Theological University (PThU) to move this university to Utrecht.
- PThU appoints two new professors and an assistant professorThe Protestant Theological University has appointed two new professors and an assistant professor: Dr. E. van 't Slot as professor of Professional Education and Spirituality, Dr. E.P. Schaafsma as Professor of Theological Ethics and Dr. H. Rijken as Assistant Professor of Theology and the Arts. The synod of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands approved these three appointments on Thursday 21 April.
- Theology in wartime: Christian hope in UkraineFormer PThU student Stanislav Bondar lives and works in western Ukraine. Still lecturing in the middle of the Ukrainian crisis, he writes us how he wrestles with the relevance of theology amid the horrors of war. "What can I, as a theologian, say when artillery and mine-thrower sound?"
- PThU announces intention to choose Utrecht as new locationThe Board of Governors of the Protestant Theological University (PThU) intends to relocate the university to Utrecht.
- Support and compassion for UkraineThe Protestant Theological University has learned with dismay of the brutal invasion of the Russian army into Ukraine.
- PThU welcomes Indonesian PhD studentsGraduate School director dr. Benno van den Toren welcomed nine PhD students of PThU's partner institution Sekolah Tinggi Filsafat Theologi (STFT) Jakarta in Groningen yesterday. The students will be attending our university from February till July 2022 for a research stay, on a scholarship from the Indonesian government.
