Projects
The Haemorrhaging Woman (Mark 5:24-34par). An iconological research into the meaning of the bleeding woman in medieval art (1th-15th century). Also a contribution to the blood- and touching taboo before the era of modernity. KU Leuven
Polymathy and Interdisciplinarity in Premodern Islamic Epistemic Cultures Ghent University
KNOW is the first comprehensive study of polymathy and interdisciplinarity in premodern Islam. The project sets out to write a history
of knowledge that takes the interaction between disciplines as its primary subject. The project’s historical framework is the postformative period, 1200-1800 CE, which saw the rise of new institutions of learning, the proliferation of libraries, the formation and
integration of disciplines and ...
Lihn and Bolaño: meta-criticism, rhetoric and power in two trilogies of contemporary Latin American narrative KU Leuven
This research focuses on the narrative work of two contemporary Chilean writers: Enrique Lihn and Roberto Bolaño, in particular on the communicating vessels and metadiscursive nodes between the trilogy of power by Enrique Lihn (1929-1988) and the trilogy of horror by Roberto Bolaño (1953-2003). My thesis proposes that this set of novels share macro-structural, self-reflexive and intertextual features, as well as a shared context of production ...
Schelling's Philosophical Theology. Tracing the Idea of the Absolute KU Leuven
Schelling’s philosophy has attracted an increasing scholarly interest recently. What previous genera-tions of philosophers found irritating, i.e., that this philosophy cannot easily be categorized as a vari-ety of German Idealism, is precisely what many contemporary scholars find attractive. For them, Schelling is important not only as a sharp critic of German Idealism but also a precursor of much later philosophical paradigms such as ...
Schelling's Philosophical Theology KU Leuven
Sabbatical Johan Leemans: Greek Patristic Sermons (GPS KU Leuven
In this period I would like to achieve four things: 1. Finishing publications for which a lot of preliminary research has already been done: a Sources Chrétiennes volume with 6 martyr panegyrics by Gregory van Nyssa (in collaboration with M. Cassin, IRHT) and the translation and commentary of 45 Ascension and Pentecost sermons from Late Antiquity (in collaboration with R. Bishop, free collaborator). Under contract with resp. Cerf and Mohr ...
The Epic of Divine Wisdom by Maphrian Gregory Barhebraeus (1225/6-1286): Critical edition, translation and interpretation KU Leuven
The Epic of Divine Wisdom is a lengthy enigmatic poem written in the Syriac language by the Maphrian of the West-Syrian church Gregory Barhebraeus (1225-6/1286), in which he relates his assiduous pursuit of Wisdom, metaphorically represented by a beautiful maiden. After many adventures, his quest leads him to meet Jesus Christ, who explains to him why He came to earth and indicates to him the way to reach his beloved. Describing a universal ...
New Testament in Translation KU Leuven
An Augustinian Revolution in the Lecture Hall? Michael Baius (1513-1589) as Regius Professor of Theology in Leuven KU Leuven
This research takes a 'grassroots' approach to knowledge innovation at the Faculty of Theology of the Old University of Leuven, by examining student notes from the lectures on Holy Scripture of Michael Baius (1513-1589) and Jacob Jansonius (1547-1625). These professors taught at a 'bulwark of Catholic orthodoxy' in the Low Countries, during a period in which confessional strife between Protestants and Catholics and methodological renewal in ...