Honorary Doctor: Professor Jörg Rüpke, Universität Erfurt, Germany (Arts)
Professor Jörg Rüpke has been awarded the title of Honorary Doctor at Aarhus University, which will be celebrated on 12 September 2025 during the university’s annual celebration.
Professor Jörg Rüpke has been awarded the title of Honorary Doctor at Aarhus University, which will be celebrated on 12 September 2025 during the university’s annual celebration.
He is an internationally renowned scholar of religion and one of the world’s foremost experts on ancient religions, especially those of the Roman Empire. He is vice director of the Max-Weber-Kolleg at the University of Erfurt and has set new standards in the study of religion with influential concepts such as urban religion and lived ancient religion.
His research is characterized by a strong interdisciplinary approach, bringing together textual, archaeological, and historical sources to shed new light on the role of religion in everyday life and urban settings in antiquity. Since 2007, he has maintained a close and fruitful collaboration with scholars at Aarhus University and the Centre for Urban Network Evolutions (UrbNet). UrbNet’s centre director Professor Rubina Raja invited Rüpke to lecture at Aarhus University in 2007, in connection with the launch of her first research project embedded at the university.This partnership has led to joint courses, collaborative research projects, co-authored publications, and major international conferences, underscoring the depth and significance of his ties to Aarhus University’s academic community. Furthermore, Jörg Rüpke is delivering the Future Lecture at the School for Culture and Society, Aarhus University, on 11 September 2025, moderated by Rubina Raja.
Selected Co-publications:
Raja, R. & Rüpke, J. (2024). “Urban Religion through the Lens of Urban Archaeology”, Myhtos 18, e-pub.
Raja, R. & Rüpke, J. (eds) (2023). Urban Representatios of Religion, Religion in the Roman Empire, 9.3 (Special Issue), Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck.
Raja, R. & Rüpke, J. (2023). “Representing Religion as a Strategy in the Cities of the Roman Empire”, in: Raja, R. & Rüpke J. (eds), Urban Representatios of Religion, Religion in the Roman Empire, 9.3 (Special Issue), Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 303-309.
Raja, R. & Rüpke, J. (eds.) (2015). A Companion to the Archaeology of Religion in the Ancient World, Chichester.