Christianity and the History of Ideas

The chief research aim of the Christianity and the History of Ideas department is the analysis of the longue durée of the concepts, ideas, practices, and mentalities that are fundamental to an analysis of the role of religion in Western society. To achieve this aim the programme has developed hubs of collaborative research and innovative scholarship centred around:

1. The study of the cultural, ecclesiastical, and material history of Christianity from the medieval to modern periods and of the transmission of this history as heritage to the present day;
2. The investigation of the relationship of religion and the secular through philosophical and historical study, on the one hand, and theoretical and empirical studies of the function of religion in the public domain, on the other.