How does violence become so normalized that we no longer recognize it as violence? Who has the power to determine what constitutes acceptable behavior, whose voices are heard, and whose suffering is silenced? And what roles do culture, religion, and social institutions play in these processes? These questions are at the heart of the course Who Killed God in Her? – Gender-Based Violence (GBV), offered during the 2026/27 winter semester at FER School (Feminism and Religion).

The course approaches gender-based violence as a complex social, cultural, and religious phenomenon that cannot be understood solely through individual incidents of violence. Drawing on interdisciplinary and feminist theoretical approaches, it brings together secular and religious perspectives to critically examine the patterns through which violence is justified, normalized, concealed, or perpetuated within families, communities, and social institutions.

The introductory lecture was delivered by Dr. Jelena Ćeriman, who explored the cultural normalization of gender-based violence. The lecture focused on the interconnectedness of social norms, traditional gender roles, and everyday practices through which various forms of violence are presented as natural, private, or inevitable. Particular emphasis was placed on recognizing that violence is sustained not only through physical coercion but also through language, expectations, silence, social pressures, and beliefs that justify inequality between women and men.

In the following lecture, Prof. Dr. Zilka Spahić Šiljak examined different concepts of power, highlighting the importance of understanding power as one of the key elements underlying gender-based violence. Feminist theories demonstrate that power is not simply an individual’s ability to control another person; it is also embedded in social institutions, norms, knowledge, and discourses that determine what is considered legitimate, natural, and acceptable. Understanding the distinctions between power over, power to, power with, and power within makes it possible to examine not only mechanisms of domination but also the potential for resistance, empowerment, and social transformation.

The course will continue by addressing topics such as domestic violence, sexual violence during wartime, femicide, religious perspectives on violence, different forms of spiritual abuse, and psychotherapeutic approaches to supporting survivors of violence.

A particularly valuable aspect of the course is its integration of feminist critiques of social power relations with a critical examination of religious interpretations and practices. Religion can serve as a source of dignity, solidarity, justice, and protection against violence. However, certain religious interpretations can also be used to justify women’s subordination, control, and silencing. It is therefore essential to distinguish the fundamental ethical teachings of religious traditions from patriarchal interpretations that present inequality as natural or divinely ordained.

The course also provides space for reflection on different forms of violence, including physical, psychological, sexual, economic, symbolic, and spiritual violence, as well as the ways in which these forms intersect and reinforce one another. Particular attention is devoted to recognizing patterns that prevent victims and survivors of violence from speaking out, seeking support, and exercising their rights.

By combining theoretical knowledge, critical analysis, and dialogue, the course Who Killed God in Her? seeks to encourage participants to question deeply rooted assumptions about gender, authority, and violence, while developing their capacity to recognize and challenge various forms of discrimination and violence.

The educational mission of FER School is grounded in the belief that transforming violent social patterns begins with critically recognizing and questioning them. Challenging the cultural normalization of violence and unequal power relations is therefore not merely an academic endeavor, but also an important step toward building a society in which human dignity, equality, and freedom from violence are upheld as fundamental and non-negotiable values.

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Who decides how women and men are represented in the media? Why are certain gender and religious representations continually reproduced? How do film, popular culture, and digital platforms shape our understanding of gender, religion, and social relations? And can algorithms and artificial intelligence be neutral when they are developed in societies marked by inequality?

These questions lie at the heart of the course Gender, Religion, Media and AI, offered during the 2026/27 winter semester at FER School (Feminism and Religion). The course provides an interdisciplinary approach to understanding how the media, cultural narratives, religious symbols, and digital technologies contribute to shaping gender identities and social power relations.

The introductory lecture was delivered by Prof. Dr. Jasmina Husanović, who opened a space for critical reflection on the interconnectedness of gender, religion, culture, and media representations. The lecture focused on how representations of women and men are constructed through different forms of cultural and media content, how social norms are established, and how popular culture can both reinforce and challenge dominant gender stereotypes.

In the following lecture, Prof. Dr. Suzana Peran continued the discussion on the relationship between gender, religion, and the media, placing particular emphasis on the importance of critically interpreting media content. The media are not neutral channels of information but spaces in which meanings are produced and communicated, social values are shaped, and boundaries are established between what is presented as normal, desirable, or unacceptable. Analyzing media representations of women, men, and religious identities therefore requires careful examination of language, visual messages, stereotypes, and power relations.

Throughout the course, participants will explore a range of topics connecting gender, religion, film, popular culture, advertising, and digital technologies. Particular attention will be devoted to how women are represented through contrasting images of saints and sinners, desirable and undesirable women, as well as how religious symbols and traditional gender patterns are employed in film and media narratives.

Another important topic will be gender representations in Yugoslav cinema, offering opportunities to critically examine social transformations, cultural expectations, and the ways in which female and male identities were constructed within different historical and ideological contexts.

A dedicated part of the course will focus on artificial intelligence and the algorithmic shaping of social reality. Digital platforms and artificial intelligence systems are not free from gender and other social biases. Algorithms are developed using data that often reflect existing inequalities, meaning they can reproduce stereotypes and discriminatory patterns. This raises important questions about the accountability of technology companies, algorithmic transparency, and the possibility of developing digital technologies that respect human dignity, equality, and diversity.

Feminist approaches to media and artificial intelligence allow technological issues to be understood not merely as technical matters but also as ethical, political, and social questions. Who has the power to produce knowledge? Whose experiences remain invisible? Who decides which information becomes accessible and which voices are marginalized? These questions are particularly important at a time when digital technologies increasingly shape public spaces, education, and everyday life.

Through lectures and discussions, the course Gender, Religion, Media and AI aims to empower participants to critically interpret media messages, recognize gender and religious stereotypes, and engage responsibly with emerging technologies.

The educational mission of FER School extends beyond the transmission of knowledge to developing the ability to recognize and question the patterns that shape our understanding of the world. In this sense, critical analysis of media and artificial intelligence becomes an essential part of feminist education and efforts to build more equitable, responsible, and inclusive social relations.

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Although God is understood in monotheistic religions as a transcendent being who exists beyond human categories of sex and gender, religious language, symbols, and representations of God are often shaped by masculine imagery and metaphors. Why is God predominantly represented in masculine terms, and how do such representations influence the distribution of power, authority, and social roles between women and men? Can we speak about God beyond binary gender categories, and what can feminist theology and different religious traditions teach us about these questions?

The introductory lecture was delivered by Prof. Dr. Tina Beattie, who presented key issues concerning the relationship between gender and religion, highlighting the importance of feminist approaches in critically re-examining religious traditions, theological interpretations, and social norms.

The subsequent lectures will be delivered by Prof. Dr. Zilka Spahić Šiljak, Prof. Dr. Elana Stokzman, Prof. Dr. Selina Palms, Prof. Dr. Anja Zalta, Prof. Dr. Nadja Furlan, and Elma Softić-Kaunitz, MSc. Drawing on diverse religious and feminist perspectives, the lecturers will examine the gender dimensions of theological discourse about God, feminine and masculine metaphors of the divine, the relationship between religious symbolism and social power, and possibilities for rethinking gender within religious traditions.

Particular attention will be devoted to how theological representations become social norms, specifically how certain gender roles come to be presented as natural, unchangeable, or divinely ordained. Feminist theology therefore questions not only how we speak about God but also the implications of such language for human dignity, equality, and freedom.

The course provides a space for interdisciplinary and interreligious dialogue, encouraging participants to critically reflect on inherited interpretations and recognize the emancipatory potential within religious traditions.

For the question of whether God has a gender is not merely a theological one. It is also a question of who has the authority to represent God, speak in God’s name, and determine the place of women and men in society.

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The introductory lecture was delivered by Prof. Dr. Zlatiborka Popov-Momčinović, who presented key theoretical approaches to peacebuilding and raised questions about how gender relations, religious identities, and social structures contribute to the emergence of conflicts, as well as the possibilities for overcoming them. Particular attention was devoted to understanding peace as a long-term process that requires not only the cessation of violence but also the building of trust, social justice, equality, and inclusive social relations.

Throughout the course, participants will explore various dimensions of peacebuilding, including nonviolent communication, critical analysis of nationalism, feminist approaches to peacebuilding, and the contributions of monotheistic religions to peace processes. Special emphasis will be placed on feminist perspectives that challenge traditional concepts of security and peace and highlight the importance of women’s experiences, agency, and leadership in conflict prevention, reconciliation, and community rebuilding.

One of the key topics of the course will be the relationship between religion, violence, and peace. Participants will examine how religious traditions can be instrumentalized to justify divisions and exclusion, while also exploring their ethical resources for nonviolence, solidarity, dialogue, and reconciliation.

In addition to theoretical and critical approaches, the course incorporates a practical dimension of peacebuilding by introducing participants to indicators for monitoring and evaluating peacebuilding activities. This component aims to connect academic understandings of peacebuilding with concrete methods for tracking change and assessing the impact of peace initiatives.

The course Gender, Religion and Peacebuilding contributes to the educational mission of FER School by creating space for critical reflection on religion, gender, and society through an interdisciplinary and feminist approach. It also seeks to empower participants to actively contribute to building more just, nonviolent, and inclusive communities.

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Addressing this year’s generation of graduates, she reflected on completing her own studies in 2001 and on the belief that earning a degree also meant finding answers. The experience that followed, however, taught her something different: “A diploma does not give you the answers. It helps you ask better questions.”

The journey that began with the ERMA programme took her through academia and civil society, work on gender equality, peacebuilding, interreligious dialogue, and education in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the region, and internationally. Throughout all those years, she emphasized, one conviction has remained unchanged: knowledge matters only when we translate it into practice. Human rights, dignity, equality, and peace remain only powerful words unless they become part of our institutions, classrooms, communities, and everyday relationships.

She spoke in particular about the slowness of institutions and their tendency to postpone change until some imagined “right moment.” Yet the experience of social engagement shows that such an ideal moment rarely arrives on its own. Sometimes, our task is to create it – to speak when silence is easier, to question what is accepted as normal, and to cross boundaries that others tell us should remain closed.

Creating such spaces is especially important in divided societies. It means bringing to the same table people who believe they have nothing to say to one another. Some of the most important processes in her own work, Spahić Šiljak emphasized, began precisely through such encounters.

Democracy and peace are not abstract ideas – they begin with encounters. They begin when we sit with people who are different from us, listen to them seriously, disagree without turning the other person into an enemy, and have the courage to question not only others, but also ourselves.

At the end of her address, she highlighted three messages for the new generation of ERMA graduates: to remain intellectually restless and curious, not to confuse cynicism with intelligence, and to create space for others through their work.

She also reminded the audience that leadership does not always mean being the most visible person in the room. Sometimes leadership means creating a space in which someone else discovers that they have a voice.

She concluded her address with a message that also captures twenty-five years of experience since completing the ERMA programme:

“Use your knowledge. Protect your curiosity. Cross boundaries. Create space for others. And keep enough humour to survive the process,” concluded Prof. Dr. Zilka Spahić Šiljak.

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Spiritual abuse was defined as the misuse of religious authority, sacred texts, religious norms, rituals, or relationships of trust in order to control, intimidate, shame, subordinate, or restrict another person’s moral and spiritual autonomy. One of the key messages of the lecture was that the problem is not religion itself. On the contrary, for people experiencing violence, faith can be a source of strength, meaning, hope, resistance, and healing. The problem begins when religious interpretation becomes a tool for legitimizing unequal relations of power.

Spiritual abuse therefore cannot be reduced simply to the question of incorrect interpretations of sacred texts. At its core is the question of power: who has the right to speak, who interprets, whose voice is considered authoritative, and what happens when a human interpretation is presented as unquestionable divine will.

The difference is simple, yet crucial. In an authoritarian relationship, someone may say: “I want you to obey me.” In a spiritually abusive relationship, the same message may be reformulated as: “God wants you to obey me.”

With this shift in language comes a shift in power. A human demand is no longer presented as a personal position, interest, family norm, or social expectation, but as a demand coming from God. In this way, resisting a person can be portrayed as disobedience to God, while questioning authority can be framed as a moral or religious transgression. This erasure of the boundary between divine authority and human interpretation is one of the central epistemological problems of spiritual abuse.

Islamic feminist hermeneutics insists on maintaining this distinction clearly: God is not the same as our understanding of God, sacred text is not the same as its interpretation, and religion is not the same as the social relations of power established in its name. Such an approach also requires a serious re-examination of authority. No individual, regardless of education, position, religious knowledge, or reputation within a community, has the right to present their own interpretation as the only possible one and equate it with God’s will.

Particularly troubling are situations in which concepts such as obedience, patience, sacrifice, shame, honor, or family duty are used to keep a person in a humiliating or abusive relationship. Religious language can then become a means through which violence is concealed, normalized, or even presented as a moral obligation.

For this reason, spiritual abuse is not only a theological issue. It is also a question of dignity, freedom of conscience, interpretive authority, and responsibility toward another human being.

One of the central messages of the lecture can be summarized as follows:

It is not enough to ask what a religious text says. We must also ask who is interpreting it, from what position of power, in whose interest, and what consequences that interpretation produces in the lives of others. It is precisely here that Islamic feminist hermeneutics offers an important corrective: it does not reject faith because of its misuse, but draws on the ethical foundations of Islam itself to challenge domination, monopolies over interpretation, and every attempt to sacralize human power. In this way, religion can once again become a space of liberation, responsibility, and dignity, rather than an instrument of control.

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The goal is to critically dismantle the roots of gender stereotypes and foster the development of egalitarian gender models grounded in both academic research and religious teachings. Through feminist anthropology, historical critique, hermeneutics of suspicion, and gender-sensitive linguistics, participants will engage with classical and contemporary texts in philosophy, theology, history, sociology, and related disciplines. 

OPEN TO ALL 

Students and individuals with higher education from all fields. 

FALL SEMESTER  12 October 2025 – 21 January 2027  •  Four courses offered in English 

LEARNING FORMAT & CERTIFICATION 

Lectures and weekly readings will be available to participants on the Moodle platform.  

Participants who regularly attend and complete a final academic paper will receive 4 ECTS credits per course and a certificate from the University of Sarajevo listing the course content. 

APPLICATION DEADLINE  01 October 2026 

Notification of admission:  06 October 2026 

Course fees (English):  FREE OF CHARGE 

APPLICATION FORM: 
Online application form 

MORE INFORMATION 

FER School website: https://ferschool.org/en/home/ 

E-mail: ferskola.tpo@gmail.com 

ORGANIZED BY 

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In her lecture, Prof. Dr. Zilka Spahić Šiljak focused on the entanglement of gender, religion and politics in Bosnia and Herzegovina, arguing that gender is one of the principal terrains upon which religious authority, ethnonational belonging and political power are negotiated. As she emphasized, gender controversies are rarely only about gender. They often become symbolic struggles over the family, morality, national identity, collective memory, religious belonging and the future of society. Prof. Spahić Šiljak explained that gender, religion and politics in Bosnia and Herzegovina cannot be adequately understood as three separate domains that occasionally influence one another. Rather, they are historically and institutionally intertwined. Political power is frequently legitimized through religious and ethnonational narratives, while religious authority is often strengthened through its proximity to national identity and political institutions. Gender norms, in this context, provide a powerful language through which ideas about family, collective survival, morality, citizenship and national belonging are expressed and defended. She highlighted that Bosnia and Herzegovina demonstrates the destructive consequences of entangling religion, nationalism and patriarchal power. These entanglements often reinforce exclusionary politics, limit women’s rights and freedoms, and reduce complex social questions to identity-based conflicts. At the same time, Prof. Spahić Šiljak stressed that other forms of entanglement are possible and necessary: between faith and justice, feminism and peacebuilding, memory and responsibility, religious belonging and democratic freedom, as well as between difference and solidarity.

Dr. Jadranka Rebeka Anić spoke about the development and impact of anti-gender movements in Croatia. She analyzed how anti-gender narratives have gained visibility through political mobilization, religious rhetoric, media campaigns and civil society initiatives that present gender equality, feminism and LGBTQ+ rights as threats to the family, children, national identity and religious tradition. In her presentation, Dr. Anić emphasized that anti-gender discourse often functions by producing moral panic and framing gender as an imported ideology, rather than recognizing gender equality as a democratic and human rights issue. She also pointed to the ways in which anti-gender actors in Croatia have mobilized around education, reproductive rights, sexual education, the Istanbul Convention and public debates on family and marriage. These campaigns, she noted, are not isolated events, but part of broader transnational anti-gender politics present across Europe. At the same time, Dr. Anić underlined the importance of feminist theology, critical scholarship, interreligious dialogue and civic education in responding to such narratives with knowledge, ethical responsibility and solidarity.

The participation of Prof. Spahić Šiljak and Dr. Anić contributed to a deeper understanding of how gender debates in Southeast Europe reveal broader struggles over democracy, religion, identity and social justice. Their lectures showed that the intersections of gender, religion and politics are not marginal issues, but central to understanding contemporary challenges faced by societies in the Balkans and beyond.

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Within the Lifelong Learning academic program at the University of Sarajevo, the FER School offered two courses in English: Gender, Religion and Peacebuilding and Gender, Religion and GBV, as well as two courses in BCS languages: Gender, Religion and Media and The History of Feminism in the East and West. Among the participants were students from Germany, the Netherlands, Venezuela, Jamaica, South Africa, and the Balkan region.

At the non-academic level, the FER School offered five courses in the summer semester in BCS languages: Who Killed God in Her?, What Gender Is God?, Is Woman Human?, My Wife, If You’ll Pardon the Expression, and Who Plays and How: AI and Social Media. More than 70 participants completed these five courses, which shows that these topics are both timely and important.

Through lectures, discussions, and joint work, the participants had the opportunity to critically reflect on contemporary social challenges, as well as on the role of religious and feminist approaches in building more just and inclusive communities.

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