entered into the academic studies of Italian Universities in the 1960s’ (Terrin
1998: 374). For the Netherlands Platvoet points out that the change from
orthodox-exclusive to liberal-inclusive Christian theology paved the way for
the introduction of a non-confessional, non-apologetic study of religion in
several theological institutes during the 1960s (Platvoet 2002: 130). At the
beginning of the 1970s there occurred ‘a silent and quiet transformation of
faculties of theology into faculties for the science of religions’ (Wiegers [ed.]
2002: 25). In France a chair of history of religions and religious anthro-
pology was established in 1970 at the Sorbonne’s Faculty of Arts in order to
bridge the different areas of specialization; subsequently, a department was
created (Meslin 2002: 43). At English universities, ‘[i]n the mid–1950s there
were no more than sixteen people teaching religions other than Christianity’
(Cunningham 1990: 21). Nowadays, there are at least as many relevant
departments, and several departments of theology or divinity have added
‘religious studies’ to their names (Cunningham 1990: 24). Similar expansions
can be noted throughout Europe (cf. Jensen 2002: 183–184).
Religious, academic, and ideological changes aside, the main stimulus for
the unprecedented success of religious studies was the Europe-wide transition
from elite to mass universities and the corresponding expansion of the university
system. This has led to the dramatic increase in the number of students and
the establishment of several new chairs or even departments at new universities.
In Britain, this process resulted in the introduction of two prominent pioneering
departments—at the new University of Lancaster (1967) and the Open
University (1971). In Scotland, pioneering efforts to establish Religious Studies
outside Schools of Divinity were undertaken during the 1970s and 1980s, but
they were reversed by dramatic cuts in university funding during the mid 1980s
(Cox and Sutcliffe 2006). In Sweden, the government policy in the 1990s of
creating regional colleges, some of which were later granted university status,
led to an increase in departments at new colleges and universities (Falun, Gävle,
Södertörn University College/Stockholm), while traditional departments suffer
from inadequate funding. In Norway, one department (Bergen) was created in
the 1960s and two (Tromsø and Trondheim) in the late 1990s.
Changing constituencies
Earlier historians of religion operated in a largely Christian environment
and faced opposition from religious quarters. Nowadays, Western European
scholars of religion move in public spaces largely devoid of Christian concerns,
and students in the field are mostly non-committed to Christianity or even un-
churched. Teachers have to address an audience of religious outsiders and
analphabets for whom religious experiences, ritual competency, knowledge of
dogmas, myths and narratives, and other forms of fluency in religious language-
games can no longer be taken for granted. Many departments also attract a
1111
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1011
1
2
3111
4 5 6 7 8 9
20111
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
30111
1
2
3
4
35
6
7
8
9
40111
42222
3
411
WESTERN EUROPE
25
