Comenius
COMENIUS is the alliance of Dutch-speaking Protestant theological faculties and their sister institutions in Europe. Especially from Eastern and Central Europe (specifically: Austria, Hungary, Romania, the Czech Republic and Slovakia). On the Dutch side, besides the PThU, the theological faculties/universities in Amsterdam, Apeldoorn, Groningen, Leiden, Utrecht and Leuven (VU, TUA, RUG, TU Utrecht, UL, UU and ETF) participate. Recently, the Doopsgezind Seminarium has also joined.
The name of the partnership is an acronym: the letters stand for Commission for East/Middle European and Dutch Inter-University Cooperation. At the same time, of course, the name refers to the great Protestant scholar Jan Amos Comenius (1592-1670). Komenský, as his original name was, was born in Moravia (Czech Republic), studied in Germany, and later lived in various Western and Eastern European countries because of religious persecution. Among other things, he taught for some time in Saróspatak (Hungary), discussed at Leiden with Descartes and spent his last phase of life in Amsterdam. Everywhere he devoted himself to improving education so that people from all walks of life would flourish. Comenius is buried in the Netherlands (Naarden).
Our partnership is proud that Comenius was not only an educator but also a theologian, and sees in him an excellent patron saint for his ideal: to promote Europe-wide contacts in order to facilitate international cooperation and develop mutual understanding of the different contexts in which European Protestants theologize.
Two-yearly conference
The task of COMENIUS is first of all to organize a two-yearly conference, alternately in the Netherlands/Belgium or one of the participating Central/Eastern European countries. We then determine the themes for these conferences by mutual agreement. This is done in a kind of board consisting of delegates from all participating institutions. COMENIUS is facilitated by the PThU, which is represented on the committee through Prof. Dr. H. de Roest. (chairman; Groningen branch) and Joyce Rondaij MA (treasurer; Amsterdam branch). Secretary of COMENIUS is Dr. Katja Tolstaja (VU Amsterdam). The languages of communication during the conferences are primarily English and German. The last conference took place in 2022 in Pápa, Hungary, with the theme “Imago Dei.”
The next conference is May 14-17, 2025 in Cluj / Kolzsvár, Romania. The theme is: Theology in Context: Sources, Beliefs, and Practices. For more information and to send a proposal see: https://tuu.nl/en/news/comenius-conference-2025/.
