About us

Our research project, "Apocalypse and Climate Change: Impact of Religious Vocabularies in the Netherlands," is a collaboration between a team of interdisciplinary researchers who are interested in the intersection of religion, culture, and the environment.

Our team includes Professor Dr. Caroline Vander Stichele, who specializes in the study of early Christian literature and has published extensively on the topic of religion and ecology; Dr. Frank Bosman, an expert in the fields of religion, culture, and popular media; Dr. Deborah de Koning, a social anthropologist with expertise in contemporary (religious) phenomena/practices/cultural objects and the ways in which people ascribe meaning to them through ethnography; and Dr. Ömer F. Gürlesin, a postdoctoral researcher with expertise in religion and the environment, specifically in the Islamic tradition.

Together, we aim to explore the role that religious language and discourse play in shaping public attitudes towards climate change and the environment in the Netherlands. Our interdisciplinary approach draws on insights from fields such as religious studies, anthropology, cultural studies, and environmental studies to deepen our understanding of the complex relationships between religion, culture, and the natural world.

Through this research, we hope to contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the ways in which religious vocabularies can both hinder and facilitate environmental action, and to promote greater awareness of the crucial role that religious communities can play in responding to the environmental challenges of our time.