Editorials
Vol. 9 No. 2 (2023): Here Be Dragons. East Asian Film and Religion
After completing his agricultural studies at a college, Wessely earned a degree as a Master Craftsman and Engineer in Agriculture. He pursued further studies in Catholic Theology at Graz, earning his Magister Theologiae (Mag. theol.) in 1991, and later his Doctorate in Theology (specializing in Fundamental Theology) with a thesis on Mythological Structures in the Entertainment Industry, published by Lang in Frankfurt in 1995. In 2004, he successfully completed his habilitation in Fundamental Theology, with a thesis titled "Gekommen, um zu dienen," published by Pustet in Regensburg in 2005.
From 2014 until the dissolution of the institute in 2019, he served as the chairman of the Institute for Fundamental Theology at Karl-Franzens-University Graz.
Yukihiko Yoshida, Keio University, Tama Art University. Expert in media studies, aesthetics and art history. Producer and coordinator of the 100. anniversary of Japan-Lithuania relations and Birth of Jonas Meka Festival (Embassy of Lithunia, Tokyo 2022); Committee member of Tokyo Documentary Film Festival and the Documentary Film Magazine NEONEO. Involved in the Prix Ars Electronica (2005–2009). Committee member of the Dance Critics Society of Japan. Author of numerous reviews and articles and for The Routledge Encyclopedia of Modernism.
Franz Winter, University of Graz, Professor of Religious Studies. Among his major areas of interest are the history of contact between Europe and Asia from antiquity to modern times, history of East Asian religions, Buddhism, Islam, Western Esotericism, religion and the media. Recent publications include the Handbook of East Asian New Religious Movements (co-edited with Lukas Pokorny; Brill 2018), as well as various contributions in academic journals, such as Numen, Religion, or Zeitschrift für Religionswissenschaft.
Editorial of the JRFM issue "Here Be Dragons. (East) Asian Film and Religion".