Research Team

Dr Viera Pirker is Full Professor for Religious Education and Media Didactics at Goethe University Frankfurt. Her research focuses on Religious Education facing the Digital, Visual Religious Cultures, Identity and Plurality with special interest in Social Media and the changes to religious life on- and offline. Her recent book Virtualität und Transzendenz – theologische und didaktische Erkundungen (co-edited with Klara Pisonic, Herder 2022) elaborates on the integration of immersive technologies into theological thinking and educational practises. Her first book fluide und fragil – Identitätals Grundoption zeitsensibler Pastoralpsychologie (Grünewald 2013) offers an analysis of the psychological and religious approaches. Currently she is preparing a volume on Christianity in recent movie productions: Kirche, Kult und Krise – das Christentum im neueren Film (Schüren 2023, co-edited with Joachim Valentin).

Dr Pirker studied Catholic Theology at Tübingen University and focused a year abroad at Hebrew University of Jerusalem on Jewish Studies and Interreligious Dialogue. From 2004 on, she joined the faculty team for Religious Education and Catechetics at Sankt Georgen Graduate School of Philosophy and Theology Frankfurt, where she took her doctorate in 2012. After some years in the field of teachers’ training, she headed 2016 to Vienna University to enhance her research fields and teaching experience at the Institute for Practical Theology, Department of Catholic Theology. 2020 she has been appointed as Professor at Goethe University. She was part of the international CONTOC Research Group (Churches online in Times of Corona).