How Does Religion Matter Today in Poland? Secularization in Europe and the 'Causa Polonia Semper Fidelis'

Secularization in Europe has become, on the one hand, an undeniable socio-cultural and historical matter of fact. On the other hand, it is dangerous to talk of a universal development, although studies can show empirical evidence and validity for some regions and countries in Europe. In various theories of secularization it is assumed that irreligious social developments can be attributed to processes of modernization, transformation and functional differentiation as well as to the rationalization and individualization of cultural life-worlds. This (often ideologically disguised) hypothesis is associated with the critical wing of the European Enlightenment. As José Casanova emphasized, however, the hypothesis of a secularized Europe needs to be confronted with various special cases of ‘over secularization’ (e.g., East Germany, Czech Republic and Scandinavian countries) and ‘sub-secularization’ (such as Ireland and Poland). Nevertheless, the ‘causa Polonia semper fidelis’ is exposed as an exception amongst the so-called Eastern European transition countries. In Casanova’s opinion, the secularization in Europe could be regarded as a ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’ that serves both as cause and a consequence of the process of (religious) profanation. This means that religion becomes redundant not in itself or by losing its explicatory power, but by the conversion to the new belief of a decline of religion in human daily life and the whole of society. Since the normative theory of secularization cannot ultimately provide a general or a viable explanation for the special historical and religious developments in Poland, other approaches may be imperative. Therefore, this paper aims at focusing on the question of how and what socio-cultural, historical, and religious changes have resulted in today’s high percentage of committed Roman Catholic believers. It will also be necessary to undertake a re-reading (discussed in Casanova) of the argument adduced by Bishop Tadeusz Pieronek (former secretary-general of the Polish Bishops’ Conference and rector of the Pontifical Academy in Krakow) – namely that the European integration of the ‘Catholic Poland’ is an essential missionary assignment for the church

Decentralised Teaching with OER Podcasts in Higher Education

Open educational podcasts have become a popular medium of communication in decentralised teaching and learning environments, commanding a growing interest in education and digital media studies. Previous research on the efectiveness of educational podcasts for teaching and learning – mainly through user self-reports and experimental designs – has shown that podcasting can, for example, enhance skills development in language learning (e.g., Anzai, 2007), increase understanding of the material covered in lectures (e.g., Bongey, Cizadlo & Kalnbach, 2006), and be benefcial as a supplemental tool which helps to reinforce core course content (e.g., Gachago, Livingston, & Ivala, 2016). Very little research has been performed on podcasts that use narratives and storytelling approaches to help connect students more easily with classical theories in their feld (e.g., Drew, 2017). Yet, several questions remain open: How could podcasts be best integrated into higher education, teaching, and learning? What motivates learners to use these podcasts? What challenges and bottlenecks do they face in using them? ... The paper concludes with recommendations for its practical application and future research to explore learners’ motivation and listening behaviour. [Aus: Einleitung

Acting as Missionaries: The Religious Self in Intercultural Practice: An Approach from Action Theory and Cultural Psychology

This paper focuses on how young Protestant believers thematize their own lives and themselves in the mode of story-telling. Particular attention is paid to the psychologically relevant functions of story-telling. Narrative biographies are used to explain and analyze the meanings of actions of persons who are involved in doing missionary work, following a tradition influenced by the symbolic action theory and cultural psychology. In addition, because “mission” can mean very different things, the concept and reality of mission in a culturally diverse world – liberated, pluralized, and open to very individualistic life-styles – is addressed in short, revealing an ambiguous picture of the existence and development of religions and worldviews. Subsequently, first rather tentative results of an empirical research project are presented. Some possible meanings of experiences and actions, practices and symbolic representations of those doing missionary work within intercultural contexts are presented and how important their experiences, hopes etc. are for their life stories and their selves. The paper ends with a discussion on the relationship between the activities in question and the concept of “intercultural competence”

'From Love to Hate': A Story of Germania and Sam - Annotations to the History of American-German Relations

This essay is a modern narrative history that takes its content from the fictional characters of the English poet William Shakespeare. The aim of this story-based analysis is to reconsider configurations, general trends, and collective aspirations in the international and transatlantic relations between two nations of Western culture, Germany as Germania and the United States as Sam. On the basis of seven picturesque characters and episodes selected from his dramas and poems, each representing an image of love and hate in these relations, an interpretation in comparison with the cultural historical and socio-cultural developments in German-American relations is presented: (1) The Birth of Macduff, (2) The Passionate Pilgrim, (3) The Two Noble Kinsmen, (4) Shylock and Aaron the Moor, (5) Macbeths Dream of Power, (6) The Phoenix and the Turtle, and (7) Hamlet’s Reflections and the self-assurance of Fortinbras. This interpretative, comparative analysis involves three different levels of interpretation for each image: On the basis of Shakespeare’s texts a description and paraphrase of some of the important facts in the plot and the main characters are presented. Thereafter, a hypothesis is summarized regarding what we have seen as the main point in the story (at the level of the meaning of the image). Finally, these meanings, the ways of Shakespeare’s reception, and language games (‘Sprachspiele’; in the Wittgenstein sense) are transferred to historical and socio-cultural substantiation

Community-based Learning in und mit digitalen Medien: Ein Lehrpraxisbericht zum Flipped-Classroom-gestützten Crowdfunding-Seminar für Sozialpädagog_innen

Vor dem Hintergrund der Digitalisierung in der Hochschulbildung, insbesondere ihrer didaktisch- methodischen, technischen und organisatorischen Implementierung und ihrer Integration in geeignete Lernmanagementsysteme, beschäftigt sich das vorliegende Paper mit dem Lernen von Studierenden in und mit digitalen Medien sowie der kollaborativen Wissensarbeit im Rahmen eines Crowdfunding-Projekts für Jugendliche. Im vorgestellten Lehrpraxisbeispiel wird ein Flipped-Classroom-Konzept kombiniert mit einem Community-based Service Learning-Ansatz umgesetzt, um die Vermittlung digitaler Kompetenzen mit einer fachlich-inhaltlichen Wissensvertiefung im Bereich alternativer Finanzierungsformen im Management von Einrichtungen der Sozialen Arbeit einerseits und dem gesellschaftlichen Engagement der Studierenden andererseits zu verknüpfen

Experience in cross-cultural training research: Three relations between training research and professional training practice

Ausgehend von einer Verortung des Erfahrungsbegriffs im Kontext der Sozial- und Kulturwissenschaften ist es das Ziel dieses Aufsatzes, das Verhältnis zwischen interkultureller Trainingsforschung und professioneller Trainingspraxis aus drei Perspektiven näher zu bestimmen: Erfahrungen können erstens als theoretischer Untersuchungsgegenstand, zweitens als methodische Lernressource und drittens als diskursive und praktisch-konzeptionelle Komponente für das Design interkultureller Aus-, Fort- und Weiterbildungsmaßnahmen herangezogen werden, um im Wissenschaft-Praxis-Dialog zu vermittelnThe main objective of this article is to determine the relationship between inter-cultural training research and professional training practice from three perspectives based on a positioning of the concept of experience in the context of social and cultural studies: experiences can firstly be considered as an object of research, secondly from a methodological perspective as a learning resource and thirdly as a discursive and practical-conceptional component for the design of intercultural education programmes and cross-cultural trainings in order to negotiate the science-practice dialogue