Programs

RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISM: A GLOBAL AND COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE

As religious fundamentalism swells in different parts of the globe, so does the fear of fundamentalism in liberal democracies. How are we to understand the attraction of fundamentalist movements that are sometimes non-political, at other times ethno-national, and yet at other times prone to justify religious violence in the name of a righteous, cosmic war? This lecture by Bjorn Krondorfer addresses these issues by introducing some concepts from different religious fundamentalist movements in Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, and Islam. Adult and high school audiences.

Bjorn Krondorfer is Professor of Religious Studies at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. His field of expertise is religion and culture, with an emphasis on gender studies, cultural studies, and Holocaust studies. He has served as editor of the Cultural Criticism Series, and is the author of Remembrance and Reconciliation: Encounters Between Young Jews and Germans. He holds a Ph.D. in Religion from Temple University.