INSTITUTe FOR RELIGIOUS STUDIES Peggy Reeder, M.A.
Peggy Reeder studied Religious Studies, Theology and Education at the University of Oxford and Heidelberg University. She has been a research assistant and doctoral candidate at the Institute for Religious Studies since 2022. Her teaching and research focus on the relationship between religion and current developments in technology, AI and the New Space Age in Europe and the USA, with special consideration for theory building around formations analogous to religion.
Academic Background
- since September 2022: Research assistant at the Institute for Religious Studies in study coordination and teaching
- March 2020-August 2022: Research assistant at the Institute for Religious Studies with focus on translation and research
- 2019-2022: M.A. Religious Studies (major) and Education with a focus on organizational development (minor) at Heidelberg University
- Title of Master's thesis: Aspects of religious references and analogies of religion in the discourses on philanthropy in the USA
- 2016-2019: B.A. in Theology and Religion at the University of Oxford, UK
Thematic Focus
- (Commercialized) space flight and religion
- Religion and AI
- Formations analogous to religion
- Religion and popular culture
- Philanthropy in the USA
Teaching
- Winter semester 2024/25: “M1 History of the Discipline of Religious Studies”, with Laura Brandt, M.A. (German)
- Summer semester 2024: Proseminar “You are a religious studies scholar...” - Cosmologies as a training ground for competence in religious studies (German)
- Winter semester 2023/24: Proseminar “Promise or peril? Silicon Valley, religion, and technological progress” (English)
- Summer semester 2023: Proseminar “Wealth, freedom and ‘American values’”: Perspectives on philanthrocapitalism in the U.S. from the study of religion (English)
- Winter semester 2022/23: Proseminar “M3 Comparative Approaches to Religious Studies - Religions and Materiality” (German)
- Winter semester 2021/22: Tutorial “Working academically”
Talks
- ““A leap of faith”: the prevalence of religious motifs and analogies in ethical, explainable, and trustworthy AI”. Presentation as part of the panel “Religious studies, religion(s), and AI” at the XXXV Annual Conference of the DVRW 2023 Bayreuth, 25.09.2023.
- “The development of formations analogous to religion in Silicon Valley”. Presentation at the Implicit Religion US Conference, 31.05.2023.