Summer school Lisbon

Hey!

Last year, I went to the summer school Religion in the Public Domain in sunny Lisbon. Two friends and I arrived three days earlier in order to get to know the city a little better before the summer school started, which was really nice, because we could show everyone else who arrived later where they could find the most beautiful spots, the nicest restaurants, and the best cocktails.

The summer school itself was very interesting and the days were filled with presentations given by remarkable lecturers and fascinating excursions. Especially the lecture given by Birte Nordahl, who was a clergy at Oslo Cathedral, was very moving. She told us about the ritual responses that happened at Oslo Cathedral after the terrorist attacks in Oslo and Utøya in 2011.

Another fascinating part of the summer school was the excursion to Fatima, a place of pilgrimage. We got to do some fieldwork, watching the pilgrims who came there, to pray, to burn candles in all kinds of shapes, and to practice other rituals.

Some of the pilgrims came all the way to Fatima to follow the so-called kneeling path, which looked like an extremely painful experience. I was really intrigued by this.

Besides the informative part of the summer school, we also did a lot of fun activities with our whole group. We ate some really nice dinners together, went to the beach, and also got to experience Lisbon’s local nightlife. All in all, it was a really fun and interesting summer school!

Greetings, Dian

Biomedical Sciences student.