Find out more

Course Objectives

The “Religion, Culture and Public Life” PhD programme has four principal objectives:

The ReCuPL PhD programme has four principal objectives:

- to offer high-quality interdisciplinary training and research across the disciplines of sociology, political science, history, law, and education on religious diversity, cultural pluralism and repertories of religious/secular actors into public debates;

- to guide doctoral students to approach the topic of religion, сulture, and public life from a comparative perspective considering various religious and secular traditions (Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism, Taoism, and non-traditional beliefs);

- to enhance research and expertise of doctoral students on the topic of the programme through collaboration with research teams at other Universities

- to offer policy-oriented training in the field of inclusion, multiculturalism, religious freedom, and cultural and religious pluralism in media, organisations, educational sector, and social service.

Educational Activities

Module 1. Religion and Law
This module introduces doctoral students into the socio-legal analysis of governance of religious diversity and legal implementation of religious freedom focusing on the public dimension of religious and cultural life. Different areas of analysis will be examined including religion and national and international legal/judicial systems; national and local implementation of religious freedom worldwide; municipal administrations and faith communities within various legal, social and cultural contexts.

Module 2. Cultural Pluralism and Religious Freedom
This module focuses on the sociological definitions of the concepts of religion, culture and religious freedom emphasizing private and public meanings they imply. It introduces the keycharacteristics of cultural and religious diversity and religious pluralism considering them as descriptive and normative principles of modern and traditional cultures and societies along with the sociological dimensions of religious freedom.

Modulo 3. Defining Religion: Historical Perspective
This module is designed to provide doctoral students with a rich socio-historical framework for understanding religious phenomena, with a particular focus on the concept of religious diversity and pluralism as integral and evolving aspects of both modern and traditional cultures and societies. It delves into the historically informed approach, which involves assessing, questioning, and elucidating the ways in which "religions" intersect with established boundaries, authority structures, and the identities of social and cultural life.

Modulo 4. Religious Governance and Political System
This module primarily focuses on the socio-political dimensions surrounding the governance of religious diversity and religious freedom within the public sphere. Political systems and cultures, their compatibility with religious freedom and religious pluralism, state-based discrimination of religion, and societal-level of discrimination on the bases of religion are examined in this module.

Modulo 5. Methodology of PhD Research
The module provides a solid education in the field of methodology of social research analyzing the role of cultural and religious phenomena in fostering the meanings of normative, communicative and symbolic aspects of public life and day-to-day relations. This module empowers doctoral students with qualitative and quantitative techniques that characterize the methods of data collection, processing and interpretation in the sphere of interdisciplinary research of religion, culture and public life.

The language of the programme will be English. Students will have to complete postgraduate courses and PhD seminars at the UniPd or Partner University for a period of at least two semesters. They will spend at least three months in one or more Universities attending qualified courses

Research Areas

Four Universities will implement a joint course of study with the aim of issuing a joint degree of Research Doctorate
(PhD) in “Religion, Culture and Public Life”:
- The University of Padova (Italy)
- The Catholic University of Uruguay (Uruguay)
- The University of Nicosia (Cyprus)
- The University of Torino (Italy)

- University of Padova

The socioreligious and sociohistorical analysis in the scientific study of religion and culture at the University of Padova contributed a broad range of theoretical and empirical perspectives in studying contemporary public life with historical parallels. Religious diversity, religious freedom, and role of religion in public and private spheres considered in the context of ancient and modern societies constitute import part of current scholarship in Padova.

- Catholic University of Uruguay

The Catholic University of Uruguay (UCU) with its “Institute of Society and Religion” contributes to the advancement of knowledge on the topic of secularity and non-belief in contemporary societies in Latin America. The comparative study of ‘laïcité' in various political contexts, public role of religion and individual religiosity considered in terms of practices of non-affiliation present the focus of research conducted by the scholars at UCU who compared these phenomena and processes within various geographical contexts.

- University of Nicosia

The School of Law of the University of Nicosia (UNIC) has a strong international profile in socio-legal research on religion. Its expertise in human rights is intended to make an important contribution in all research areas covered by the programme and, in particular, in its topic regarding the governance of cultural and religious diversity.

- University of Torino

The University of Torino (UniTo) has a research tradition of studying religious phenomena with interdisciplinary lenses involving sociology, law, and political science, and a long tradition of historical-religious studies.

Professional Profile

ReCuPL trains doctoral students seeking for careers in academia, research centers, public policy sector, education, journalism, social service, national and international organisations dealing with cultural and religious pluralism, politics of religious freedom and socio-legal and religious grounds of inclusion and equity. The graduates will get the appropriate and high-level skills needed to embark on job market with the following employment opportunities for career paths:

- Teaching and administrative careers in the educational sphere (schools, universities, life-long education, education for adults, kindergartens) dealing with the management of pluralism, interfaith dialogue, inclusion, and equality.
- Government/public administration careers in the field of policymaking concerning the issues of religious/cultural diversity management in the healthcare system, social services, economic organisations, NGOs, and international organisations.
- Communication careers employed in the sphere of media dealing with production of media content about religion, religious freedom, religious/cultural minorities, and inequality.
- Academic careers at the University level, national and international research centers focused on the issues of religious pluralism, religious diversity, cultural dynamics, cross-cultural analysis of religious freedom, governance of religious diversity, and cross-national research of religion and politics, throughout history and contemporaneity.

  Other information

• Calls and Admissions
• Administrative infotmations 
• The International PhD guide