Cooperation with the Kiel Research Centre for Tolerance

Since 2024, the Kieler Forschungsstelle für Toleranz (KFT) at the Chair of Social Psychology and Political Psychology at Kiel University and the Bavarian Research Centre for Interreligious Discourse (BaFID) have been collaborating in a joint project to develop a format for interreligious dialogue. The aim is to promote respect and tolerance between religious communities and to further develop the KFT’s tolerance model in practice.

The collaboration is led by Prof. Dr. Bernd Simon (Social Psychology and Political Psychology; KFT) and Prof. Dr. Georges Tamer (Oriental Philology and Islamic Studies; BaFID). The project receives technical support from research assistant Dr. Christoph Daniel Schäfer (Social Psychology) und Jan Gehm (Protestant Theology).

Through intensive dialogue between the two institutions, concrete approaches for the practical implementation of the tolerance model were developed. The procedures and content of the workshops were worked out and prepared in regular meetings. Subsequently, several rounds of workshops were held with Jewish, Christian and Muslim participants, in which the model was presented, tested and put up for discussion. The multi-phase workshops were evaluated after each session and continuously adapted based on the insights gained. Under the direction of Dr. Christoph Daniel Schäfer and with the support of Jan Gehm, the workshops were conducted and scientifically documented.

With its expertise in researching interreligious discourse, BaFID contributes a discursive theological and religious studies approach and supports the implementation of the studies. Further workshops and an application for a DFG project are planned for the next phase of the project in order to establish long-term cooperation between Kiel and Erlangen.