Prof. Dr. Ralf K. Wuestenberg

Ralf K. Wüstenberg, born 1965, is Chair for Systematic and Historic Theology at Europa-University Flensburg. After studying Theology in Berlin, Cambridge (England) and Heidelberg, Dr. Wüstenberg graduated from Humboldt-University Berlin (Dr. theol.) and Ruprecht-Karls-University Heidelberg (Habilitation). In 2013/2014, he was a Visiting Fellow in the Faculty of Divinity, Cambridge University and St. Edmund’s College, in 2002/2003 he taught as Dietrich-Bonhoeffer-Lecturer at Union Theological Seminary, New York, and in 1999 he was a Visiting research fellow in the University of Cape Town. As ordained minister (Pfarrer), he served in the Lutheran Church at Berlin Cathedral (Berliner Dom) in the years 2003-2005. His publications include the English titles Christology. How do we talk about Jesus Christ today? (Cascade Books 2014), The Political Dimension of Reconciliation in South Africa and Germany (Wm B. Eerdmans 2009), Theology in Dialogue. The impact of Arts, Humanities and Science on contemporary religious discourse (Wm. B. Eerdmans 2002), A Theology of Life. Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Religionless Christianity (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1998).

 

Prof. Dr. Udo Steinbach

Prof. Dr. Udo Steinbach is co-founder and shareholder of the HUMBOLDT-VIADRINA Governance Platform. Prof. Steinbach heads the MENA Study Centre at the Maecenata Foundation. Since 1971, Dr. Udo Steinbach has worked scientifically with the contemporary Middle East, the Caucasus and Central Asia. He has also advised Parliament and the government on current political, economic, cultural and religious issues in these regions. In the years of his work as Director of the German Orient Institute in Hamburg (1976-2007) he was actively involved in political dialogue projects of the German Federal Government, including the Euro-Arab Dialogue and the Human Rights Dialogue with political, academic and religious representatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran. He was also a founding member of the Deutsche Arbeitsgemeinschaft Vorderer Orient (DAVO). Since 1991 he is honorary professor at the University of Hamburg.
He is also the author and editor of numerous publications on the politics, society and culture of the Middle Eastern, Caucasian and Central Asian countries. These include standard works such as the book “Der Islam in der Gegenwart” (“Islam in the Present”, edited in five editions by Werner Ende) and “The Arab World in the 20th Century. Departure – upheaval–perspectives“(2016).
After retirement, he worked on the establishment of the Center for Middle and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Marburg between 2007 and 2010. He is still a member of numerous committees of science, science policy and science promotion with a focus on the regions mentioned.

 

Prof. John Klassen 

Prof John Klaasen studied at The University of the Western Cape; The College of Transfiguration; The University of Kent in Canterbury and Stellenbosch University. He currently is a Minister of Religion in The Anglican Church in Southern Africa and Lecturer in Department of Religion and Theology 2009-2015. He was appointed to the position of Senior Lecturer in 2016 and later became the Head of the Department of Religion and Theology in the same year. In 2019 he was promoted to Associate Professor Status and is continuing his term as both lecturer and HoD.

His field of research is in Narrative Theology, Theology and Development and he lectures in Practical Theology (Homiletics, Pastoral Care, Christian Education, Narrative Theology, Theology and Development) and Ethics (Worldviews and Morality)

 

Dr Zeina M. Barakat

Dr Zeina M. Barakat is a Jerusalem-born Palestinian scholar who holds a doctorate in reconciliation, peace, and conflict resolution studies from Friedrich-Schiller University in Jena, Germany. She received her B. A. from Bethlehem University and her M. A. from al-Quds University in Palestine. She taught at al-Quds University in Jerusalem, Al-Istiqlal University in Jericho, Friedrich-Schiller University in Jena, and Europa-University in Flensburg, Germany. She is the author of several academic books and articles including, Sexual Harassment (2012), one of the few books in Arabic dealing with this taboo topic in Arab society. Her book, From Heart of Stone to Heart of Flesh: Evolutionary Journey from Extremism to Moderation, published in 2017, has been well-received in the academic community.

Zeina's teaching courses included 'Gender in the Islam', 'Gender and Women’s Rights in the Middle East and in the Western World', 'Meditation in Conflict, Contested Narratives', 'Prospects of Reconciliation and Peace in Israel /Palestine, and Reconciliation and Culture in Palestinian Society', 'Learning from South African Experience: Reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians', 'Forced Migration and the Refugee Problem – Why people move?', 'Conflict Resolution, Game Theory and Negotiations'.