Profile

Professional career

• 10/1982 - 01/1984
  Civil service at the hospital St. Adolphs Stift in Reinbek near Hamburg
• 05/1996 - 04/1997
  Research fellow with a grant from the École Française d’Extrême-Orient am Hōbō­girin-Institut in Kyōto
• 02/2002 - 09/2004
  Research associate at the Institute for the Study of Religion at Leipzig University, DFG project "Norm and Practice: Religious Historical Research on the Ideal and Reality of Monastic Buddhism in India (7th century AD) ..."
• 06/2002 - 01/2003
  Lecturer for the Study of Religion at Philipps University Marburg
• 02/2003 - 09/2004
  Lecturer for the Study of Religion at the Faculty of History, Art and Oriental Studies at Leipzig University
• 10/2004 - 03/2005
  Substitute Professor for "General and Comparative Study of Religion" at the Leipzig University
• 12/2004 - 09/2008
  full professor for "Religion and Philosophy in East Asia" at the Japan Centre of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich
• since 10/2008
  Full professor for "History of Religions" with a focus on Buddhism at the Faculty of History, Art and Oriental Studies at Leipzig University

Education

• 07/1968 - 06/1972
  Primary school in Lübeck and Lauenburg
• 07/1972 - 06/1981
  School education at Otto-Hahn-Gymnasium in Geesthacht; graduation: "Abitur"
• 10/1984 - 09/1987
  Basic studies in the Study of Religion with the minors Japanology and philosophy at Philipps-University Marburg
• 12/1986 - 09/1987
  two-semester study stay at Bukkyō University in Kyōto
• 10/1987 - 09/1991
  Advanced study at the Department of Non-European Languages and Cultures, Department of Religious Studies of the Philipps-University of Marburg; degree "Magister Artium"
• 10/1991 - 05/1995
  Doctorate on the topic "Hōnens Buddhism of the Pure Land: Reform, Reformation or Heresy?" (summa cum laude; dissertation award of the University of Marburg) at Philipps University Marburg as a scholarship holder of the Evangelisches Studienwerk
• 01/1998 - 12/2001
  Habilitation with a grant from the DFG (German Research Foundation) on "Religious Biographies in East Asian Buddhism: A Study of Content, Form and Function of Hagiographic Texts" at Philipps-University Marburg

My main research field in empirical terms is East Asian Buddhism and Japanese religious history, especially medieval Buddhism with a focus on the Pure Land tradition. My main theoretical interest lies in the interplay between epistemic and social structures, with special emphasis on practices of conceptual distinctions and forms of institutional differentiation of social fields of action, which are categorised as 'religious' or 'secular' under the conditions of global modernity. In this sense, I situate my research in the field of historical (religious) sociology in the tradition of Max Weber, among others. I also draw important suggestions with regard differentiation theoretical questions from Niklas Luhmann's systems theory. Since I regard the formation of epistemic and social structures as being in many cases the result of partially path-dependent decision-making processes at critical junctures triggered by cultural encounters, I am interested in historical entanglements, especially in mutual cultural comparisons and cultural translations. I try to make corresponding historical studies fruitful for the theory and methodology in the study of religion. This is especially true for questions of the comparability of cultures and the applicability of comparative concepts such as 'religion' or 'secularity'.

• Kleine, C.

  From the History of Religions in Asia to a Global History of Religion

  AЯGOS. 2024. 3 (2). pp. 56–63.

  DOI: 10.26034/fr.argos.2024.4752
  show details
• Kleine, C.

  Über Säkularität als Spezialtaxonomie und die Kontextabhängigkeit von Klassifikationssystemen: Eine Rekonstruktion vormoderner Wissensordnungen anhand japanischer Enzyklopädien und Wörterbücher

  Grenzen der Religion: Säkularität in der asiatischen Religionsgeschichte. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. 2023. pp. 237–279.

  ISBN: 9783525500378
  show details
• Deeg, M.; Freiberger, O.; Kollmar-Paulenz, K.; Kleine, C. (Eds.)

  Grenzen der Religion: Säkularität in der Asiatischen Religionsgeschichte

  Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. 2023.

  ISBN: 9783525500378
  show details
• Kleine, C.; Wohlrab-Sahr, M.; Witte, D. (Eds.)

  Historicizing Secular-Religious Demarcations: Interdisciplinary Contributions to Differentiation Theory

  Berlin & Boston: De Gruyter. 2024.

  ISBN: 9783111386645
  show details
• Kleine, C.

  Demarcating Religion: On the Varying Ways of Conceptualizing Social Differentiation in Japanese History

  Historicizing Secular-Religious Demarcations: Interdisciplinary Contributions to Differentiation Theory. Berlin & Boston: De Gruyter. 2024. pp. 301–327.

  DOI: 10.1515/9783111386645-012
  show details

more publications

The aim of my teaching is to make my research foci (see there) fruitful for a basic education in the study of religion. This means that I examine empirical and historical data from a decidedly religionswissenschaftliche perspective and address theoretical questions relevant to the discipline as a whole. By providing insights into my own research, I would like to inspire students, especially in the Master's program, to become interested in scholarship and motivate them to conduct independent research. It is particularly important to me that empiricism and theory are always combined. In this context, it is of particular importance to me to raise awareness of the necessity of acquiring basic knowledge of religious traditions already during the BA course, especially with regard to pre-modern and non-European traditions, since without this, serious theory formation cannot succeed or remains stuck in Eurocentric models. While being open to the theories and methods of other disciplines, I always emphasise the identity of the discipline of Religionswissenschaft and the independence of its discourse. I would like to enable students to competently participate in this discourse.

• Global and entangled history of religion

  Seminar Leipzig University 2024/25

• Critical terms and cardinal concepts in the study of religion

  Seminar Leipzig University 2024/25

• Religion and law

  Seminar Leipzig University 2024/25

• Basics of historical research in the study of religion: theories and methods

  Seminar Leipzig University 2024/25

• Introduction to the research on religion(s): Religion and Conflict

  Lecture series; Leipzig University 2023/24; together with Gert Pickel, Sebastian Schüler and others

• Crisis and religious change

  Seminar Leipzig University 2023/24

• Basics of historical research in the study of religion: theories and methods

  Seminar Leipzig University 2023/24

• Boundaries of religion: secularisation, secularism, secularity

  Seminar Leipzig University 2023

• Buddhism in Japan: history, teaching and practice

  Seminar Leipzig University 2023

• Religious history of Japan: A topic-centred introduction

  Seminar Leipzig University 2022/23

• Basics of historical research in the study of religion: theories and methods

  Seminar Leipzig University 2021/22

• Current topics, debates and theoretical approaches in the study of religion

  Seminar Leipzig University 2022

• Critical concepts in the study of religion

  Seminar Leipzig University 2022

• Basics of historical research in the study of religion: theories and methods

  Seminar Leipzig University 2021/22

• Introduction to the research on religion(s): Religious Identity

  Seminar Leipzig University 2021/22; together with Sebastian Schüler, Gert Pickel and others

• Global history of religions and the history of religious entanglements

• Religion in political conflicts

  Seminar Leipzig University 2021

• Religious and intellectual history of East Asia

  Seminar Leipzig University 2020/21

• Basics of historical research in the study of religion: theories and methods

  Seminar Leipzig University 2020/21

• Religion and law

  Seminar Leipzig University 2020

• Boundaries of Religion: Secularisation, Secularism, Secularity; Seminar University of Leipzig

  Seminar Leipzig University 2020

• Introduction to the research on religion(s): Religions and their relationship to the media

  interdisciplinary lecture series, together with Sebastian Schüler, Gert Pickel and others, Leipzig University 2019/20

• Introduction to the research on religion(s): religion and politics

  interdisciplinary lecture series, together with Sebastian Schüler, Gert Pickel and others, Leipzig University 2018/19

• Religions of East Asia

  Lecture, University of Leipzig, repeatedly, last in 2018/19

• Fundamentals of work in the history of religion

  Seminar, Leipzig University, repeatedly, last in 2018/19

• History of religions in Japan: A topic-centered introduction

  Seminar, Leipzig University 2018

• Foundations of Buddhism

  Lecture, Leipzig University, repeatedly, last in 2018

• East Asian Buddhism

  Lecture, Leipzig University repeatedly, last in 2017/18

• Introduction to research on religion(s). Religion, gender relations and gender

  interdisciplinary lecture series, together with Sebastian Schüler, Gert Pickel and others; Leipzig University 2017/18

• Secularity, secularization and secularism in Asia

  Seminar, Leipzig University 2017

• Introduction to Research on Religion(s): Religious Plurality and Pluralization in Compararison

  interdisciplinary lecture series, together with Sebastian Schüler, Gert Pickel and others; Leipzig University 2017/18

• The 'New Buddhism of the Kamakura Period': A Buddhist Reformation in Japan?

  Seminar, Leipzig University 2016

• Fundamentalism: Political 'Kampfbegriff' or category of religious studies

  Seminar, Leipzig University 2015/16

• Multiple secularities in the history of religion

  Seminar, Leipzig University 2014/15

• Introduction to Research on Religion(s): Religions in their cultural context

  interdisciplinary lecture series, together with Sebastian Schüler, Gert Pickel and others; Leipzig University 2014/15

• History of Religions in Japan

  Seminar, Leipzig University, repeatedly, last in 2014

• Religion and space

  Seminar, Leipzig University 2014

• The Religions of East Asia

  Seminar, Leipzig University 2013/14

• Religious nonconformism: theoretical and empirical approaches

  Seminar, Leipzig University 2013/14

• Buddhism and the indigenous cults of Japan

  Lecture as part of the interdisciplinary course "Buddhism across Asia: Past and Present Transformations"; October 3 2013, Copenhagen University, Asian Department

• The ‘practical atheism’ of Japanese Pure Land Buddhism

  Lecture as part of the interdisciplinary course "Buddhism across Asia: Past and Present Transformations"; October 4 2013, Copenhagen University, Asian Department

• Religion and jurisprudence: Current court decisions on religious issues

  Seminar, Leipzig University 2013

• Aggression and autoaggression in religions: from religious suicide to "Holy War

  Seminar, Leipzig University 2013

• Religion & Social Development: Max Weber re-read

  Research seminar within the framework of the Research Training Group "Religious Nonconformism and Cultural Dynamics"; together with Prof. Dr. Philip Clart (East Asian Institute), Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Höpken (History Department), Prof. Dr. Monika Wohlrab-Sahr (Institute for Cultural Studies), Leipzig University 2013

• Critical terms in the study of religions

  Seminar, Leipzig University 2012/13

• Doctrinal traditions and popular cults of Japanese Buddhism

  Seminar, Leipzig University 2012

• The discussion about the term "religion" and the search for non-European equivalents

  Seminar, Leipzig University 2012

• European representations of the religions of the world in the 17th century: Samuel Purchas (1577-1626), Alexander Ross (1590-1654) and Bernhard Varen (1622-1650/51) - pioneers of comparative studies of religions?

  Seminar, Leipzig University 2012

• Religious self-representation: From hagiography to internet presence

  Seminar, Leipzig University 2011/12

• Religions of the world at a glance

  Lecture, Leipzig University 2011/12

• Max Weber's study on Buddhism

  Seminar, Leipzig University 2011

• Topics and problems of research on Buddhism

  Seminar, Leipzig University 2011

• Canon and canonization in the history of religion

  Seminar, Leipzig University 2011

• Critique of religion from Tominaga Nakamoto to the 'New Atheists'

  Seminar, Leipzig University 2010

• State and religion: theoretical and historical approaches

  Seminar, Leipzig University 2010

• Buddhism: historical and dogmatic foundations

  Vorlesung, Leipzig University 2010

• Forms of religious encounter and interaction

  Seminar, Leipzig University 2009/10

• Fundamentalism

  Seminar, Leipzig University 2009/10

• Niklas Luhmann's functional systems theory

  Seminar, Leipzig University 2009/10

• Buddhism in China

  Lecture, Leipzig University 2009

• Doctrinal systems of Chinese Buddhism

  Seminar, Leipzig University 2009

• Non-conformist movements and sects in the history of Japanese religion

  Seminar, Leipzig University 2009

• Selected Problems of Buddhist Studies

  Seminar, Leipzig University 2008/9

• Introduction to Buddhism

  Seminar, Leipzig University 2008/9

• Buddhism II: China and Korea

  Lecture, LMU Munich 2008

• Introduction to Japanese religious and intellectual history III: From 1868 to the present

  Undergraduate seminar, LMU Munich 2008

• Japanese religions on the Internet

  Advanced Seminar, LMU Munich 2008

• Buddhism I: Foundations

  Lecture, LMU Munich 2007/8

• Reading and translation of Buddhist source texts in original language: The Amituo jing / Amida kyō (T no. 366)

  Technical language exercise, LMU Munich 2007/8

• Introduction to Japanese religious and intellectual history II: From 1333 to 1868

  Undergraduate seminar LMU München 2007/8

• The indigenous religions and philosophies of East Asia; Part 2

  Lecture, LMU Munich 2007

• History, teaching and practice of Zen Buddhism

  Seminar LMU Munich 2007

• Introduction to Japanese religious and intellectual history I: From the beginnings to the Kamakura period (1185-1333)

  Undergraduate seminar, LMU Munich 2007

• Reading course for the lecture "The indigenous religions and philosophies of East Asia II

  Reading course, LMU Munich 2007

• The indigenous religions and philosophies of East Asia; Part 1

  Lecture, LMU Munich 2006/7

• Reading course for the lecture "The indigenous religions and philosophies of East Asia I

  Reading course, LMU Munich 2006/7

• The esoteric-tantric Buddhism of East Asia

  Advanced Seminar, LMU Munich 2006/7

• Technical language history of religion: "Selected texts on Japanese religious history".

  Reading exercise, LMU Munich 2006/7

• Modernization processes in Buddhist influenced cultures

  Block seminar in cooperation with Michael von Brück, Hans van Ess, Jens Uwe Hartmann and Klaus Vollmer, LMU Munich 2006

• Hagiography and religious edification literature in East Asia

  Advanced seminar, LMU Munich 2006

• The New Religions of Japan

  Undergraduate seminar, LMU Munich 2006

• Buddhism III: Japan

  Lecture, LMU Munich 2006

• Introduction to the History of Japanese Religions II

  Undergraduate seminar, LMU Munich 2005/6

• Reading Buddhist texts in Chinese: Sūtras Mahāyāna -Sūtras

  reading exercise, LMU Munich 2005/6

• Buddhism II: China and Korea

  Lecture, LMU Munich 2005/6

• The Lotus Cult in East Asian Buddhism

  Advanced seminar, LMU Munich 2005/6

• Reading Buddhist texts in Chinese

  reading exercise, LMU Munich 2005

• Introduction to the history of Japanese religions

  Undergraduate seminar, LMU Munich 2005

• Buddhism I: The Foundations

  Lecture, LMU Munich 2005

• The Amida Cult in East Asian Buddhism

  Advanced seminar, LMU Munich 2005

• Religious precepts, laws and rules

  Seminar, Leipzig University 2004/5

• Founder legends; stories of saints, edifying descriptions of life: Content, form and function of religious biographies

  Seminar, Leipzig University 2004/5

• Introduction to the history of Japanese Buddhism

  Seminar, Leipzig University 2003/4

• Critical terms in the study of religions

  Seminar, Philipps-University Marburg 2002/3

• Daoism: An Introduction

  Seminar, Philipps-University Marburg 2002

• Reading of selected Buddhist texts in translation

  Seminar, Hannover University 2001/2

• The dynamics of religious movements in Japanese Buddhism of the Kamakura period

  Seminar, Leipzig University 2001/2

• The history of European critique of religion

  Seminar, Philipps-University Marburg 2001

• How Buddhist is Japanese Buddhism?

  Seminar, Philipps-University Marburg 2001

• Reviews of new publications on Buddhism

  Seminar, Free University Berlin 2001

• Hagiography in intercultural comparison

  Seminar, Philipps-University Marburg 2000/1

• Buddhism in the context of Japanese modernity

  Seminar, Philipps-University Marburg 2000

• Aspects of Japan's religious and intellectual history

  Seminar, Philipps-University Marburg 1999/2000

• Introduction to Buddhism: Mahāyāna

  Seminar, Free University Berlin 1999

• The Narrative in the Religions

  Seminar, Philipps-University Marburg 1998

• Selected texts of particular significance for religious studies (1): "Eastern Texts

  Undergraduate seminar, Philipps-University Marburg 1997/8

• Hagiography in comparison

  Exercise, Philipps-University Marburg 1995/6

• The Amitābha cult in Buddhism: Its historical origins and manifestations in East Asia

  Exercise, Philipps-University Marburg 1994