Bert Jacobs is a doctoral researcher of the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO), affiliated to the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, KU Leuven, where he is a member of the Research Unit History of Church and Theology, and of The Louvain Centre for Eastern and Oriental Christianity (LOCEOC).

His research focuses on the theological and cultural interaction between Christians and Muslims in the Islamicate world, in particular in the period of the so-called ‘Syriac Renaissance’ (1026-1318). Under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Herman Teule and Prof. Dr. Mehdi Azaiez he is currently preparing a dissertation entitled Christian-Muslim Controversy during the Syriac Renaissance: Sources and Study of Dionysius Bar Ṣalībī’s Disputation against the People of the Arabs. As Bar Ṣalībī’s treatise constitutes the single most comprehensive repository of excerpts from the Qurʾān in Syriac translation, a significant portion of the project deals with their origin (sources), nature (translation methodology), and function (apologetics and polemics).

Bert Jacobs will pursue his research on these topics at the Berliner Byzantinistik (April 9–26, 2018), to discuss research and editing methodology of the Qurʾānic excerpts with Manolis Ulbricht, in the context of the project initiative Corpus Coranicum Christanum.

 

– Aus privaten Gründen musste Herr Bert Jacobs diesen Forschungsaufenthalt absagen. Es ist geplant, ihn zu einem späteren Zeitpunkt nachzuholen. –