Open Istanbul Lectures fall 2025

In 2025, 1700 years have passed since the Council of Nicaea in 325 and this is commemorated with a study trip in theology to the former center of Christianity, Constantinople, i.e. today’s Istanbul. Prior to the trip, there will be open lectures in Auditorium Theologicum and on Zoom.

The Zoom link is https://aboakademi.zoom.us/j/68539702741 (Meeting ID: 685 3970 2741).

8 September at 16.15-18.00

Anni Maria Laato: The Nicene Creed and the Church Fathers

22 September at 16.00-18.00

Antti Laato: Lecture on the church fathers’ relationship to the scriptures when they worked on the creed

6 October at 16.15-18.00 (only on Zoom)

Andreas Westergren (Lund University): Religion, Politics and the Legacy of Constantine the Great

In this lecture, I will first introduce the topic of religion and politics from a historical point of view, and then move on to Constantine the great’s rule as a specific example, discussing his relation to Christianity, his foundation of Constantinople, and the political theologies that were developed around him, not least by Eusebius of Caesarea. In order to prepare the lecture, I ask you to read Hal Drake’s translation of Eusebius speech “In Praise of Constantine”, one of “the most remarkable texts to survive from the 4th century” (Smolin 2024, 86) 

20 October at 16.15-18.00

Jakob Dahlbacka and Kim Groop: Contestation of sacred space

3 November at 16.15-18.00

Cecilia Nahnfeldt: Fieldwork

The course “Interreligious Relations in Istanbul and Beyond: The Role of Religion in Society, State, and Secularism” consists of ten students/doctoral students from Åbo Akademi University. The course will begin in the fall of 2025 with literature studies and seminars via Zoom to culminate in a study trip to Istanbul from 6–16 November 2025. The course is conducted in close collaboration with the Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul (SRII).

This course explores the intersections of religion, politics, and by focusing on the relations between religious and between religious and non-religious actors in the public sphere.

Picture: Pexels by Soner Arkan.