What we do:
The interdisciplinary and international network consists of scientists who are dedicated to researching the cognitive processes of belief (Credition). We are working on developing comprehensive models that can be used to describe the structure and dynamics of faith processes. The aim of the research is to deepen the understanding of faith in both its religious and secular forms and to make these findings applicable in various areas such as education, psychology and social interactions.
Linguistic challenges and unsolvable translation problems: Languages differ in many ways. This particularly affects terminology related to faith and religion. Even in ancient times, such problems arose due to incompatibilities between Greek and Latin. Today, the main issue is the incompatibility of English with other languages, such as German. However, this poses complicated challenges for our English-language research, especially in a global language context
Who we are:
The Credition Research Project network is international and interdisciplinary . It brings together expertise from disciplines as diverse as psychology, anthropology, theology, cognitive science, neuroscience and medicine. This enables innovative approaches and a holistic view of the processes that underpin the emergence of faith or beliefs. The breadth of the credition topic is also reflected in the presentations presented as part of the research project. Here you can find the link to all speakers at our congresses.
University of Graz: The Credition Research Project was launched in 2011 by Prof. Dr Peter Scherrer, Rector of Research at the University of Graz. The headquarters of the research network is also located at the University of Graz. The Headquarters Manager is Prof Dr Aljoscha Neubauer (University of Graz). The scientific directors are Prof Dr Hans-Ferdinand Angel (University of Graz) and Prof Rüdiger J. Seitz (Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf).
Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf: The success of the Credition Research Project is also based on cooperation with the Neurological Clinic (Prof Dr Rüdiger J. Seitz) at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, which has been in place from the outset.
"HHU views the cooperation with the Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz as an important expansion of its international relations and sees the cooperation with the Faculty of Theology as an enrichment of its diverse research activities"
Prof. Dr Anja Steinbeck, Rector of Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU)
Brief description of the project
What images and narratives do individuals believe? How do they assess the importance of democracy, religion, equality, freedom or science - and what do they understand by these? The respective worldviews can differ fundamentally even within a somewhat coherent framework (Western, Asian, etc.). This is even more the case in a global context. Processes are involved in the development of individual world views that have so far received little attention in science. They are called creditions (from the Latin credere = to believe). This is what we are focussing on in our project.
Have we piqued your interest?
Then you can get further ideas for workshop topics or find out more about our events and congresses in the archive. If you are looking for further scientific information, you will find a short presentation on the Open Access Publication server of the University of Graz. Alternatively you can also click here: What is Credition?
