IAHR XXI Quinquennial World Congress 2015 to take place in Erfurt, Germany,  August 23-29, 2015

According to the decisions taken and announced during the IAHR XX Quinquennial World Congress in Toronto, Canada, in August 2010, the IAHR Executive Committee issued a call for bids for hosting the IAHR XXI Quinquennial World Congress in 2015.

The call was issued on the 26th of October 2010, with an April 1st, 2011, deadline for submissions. The call was sent to all members and affiliates and uploaded at the IAHR website at http://www.iahr.dk/

Three IAHR member associations in cooperation with various local departments or centers for the academic study of religions filed bids for hosting the 2015 IAHR Quinquennial World Congress:

• The Czech Association for the Study of Religions (CASR) with the Department for the Study of Religions, Masaryk University offered to host the Congress in Brno, the Czech Republic. The bid was submitted and signed by Dr. David Václavík, President of the Czech Association for the Study of Religions and Dr. Ales Chalupa, Head of the Department for the Study of Religions at Masaryk University. (The bid from CASR and the Department for the Study of Religions at Masaryk University was accompanied by letters of recommendation from some individual IAHR members and IAHR Honorary Life Members, as well as from some member associations and affiliates.)
  
  
• The Religious Studies Subject Group in the School of Divinity at the University of Edinburgh, supported by colleagues in the interdisciplinary study of religion in related Schools including the Religion and Society Edinburgh Network, in association with the British Association for the Study of Religions (BASR), offered to host the Congress in Edinburgh, Scotland. The bid was submitted and signed by Dr. Steven Sutcliffe on behalf of the Local Committee, with the names of the members of the Local Committee as well as the names of the BASR Honorary Secretary and President listed in the bid.
  
  
• The German Association for the Study of Religions/Deutsche Vereinigung für Religionswissenschaft (DVRW), with the Department for the Study of Religions (Religionswissenschaft), the Max-Weber-Centre (MWK, Institute for Advanced Study), and the Research School "Religion" (RSR) of the University of Erfurt Germany. The bid was submitted and signed by Prof. Dr. Christoph Bochinger, President of the DVRW, and Prof. Dr. Jürg Rüpke, Speaker Research School ‘Religion’ University of Erfurt, and Co-speaker Kollegforschergruppe ‘Religious Individualization’ at the Max-Weber-Centre, Fellow für Religionswissenschaft, Max-Weber-Kolleg.

The IAHR Executive Committee was in complete agreement: each of the three bids received was of a remarkably high quality. However, having carefully studied each of the three bids with reference to the IAHR ‘Basic Framework for Running an IAHR World Congress’ (see http://www.iahr.dk/congress.html) and thus to criteria or parameters pertaining to the plans for the financing of the Congress and the Proceedings, the organizational framework and scheme, the venue, its accessibility and attraction, and the proposed dates, the IAHR Executive Committee, at its annual business meeting in Thimphu, Bhutan, July 3rd, 2011, unanimously agreed to gratefully accept the bid from the German Association for the Study of Religions (DVRW) and its local partners in Erfurt, Germany.

Consequently, it is my pleasure and privilege, on behalf of the IAHR Executive Committee, to announce that the IAHR XXI Quinquennial World Congress will take place in Erfurt, Germany, August 23 – 29, 2015.

The IAHR Executive Committee takes the opportunity to extend heartfelt thanks to each of the three member associations and their local partners, and to each and everyone involved in the preparation for the bids. We thank each national member association and all the involved partners for their engagement in the IAHR and their willingness to serve the IAHR by offering to host its prestigious Quinquennial World Congress.

Sincerely,

Tim Jensen, IAHR General Secretary, Copenhagen August 15, 2011