Mikael Rothstein (born 8 May 1961) is an

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. Overview In the '' North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is ...

of religious history at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan a ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

. Rothstein earned his PhD in 1993 and became a

Lector Lector is Latin for one who reads, whether aloud or not. In modern languages it takes various forms, as either a development or a loan, such as french: lecteur, en, lector, pl, lektor and russian: лектор. It has various specialized uses. ...

at the University of Copenhagen in 2001.Bente Clausen
"Kompromisløs forsker med bløde sider"
''

Kristeligt Dagblad ''Kristeligt Dagblad'' is a Danish newspaper in Copenhagen, Denmark. History and profile ''Kristeligt Dagblad'' was established in 1896. It was an initiative of the Lutheran Inner Mission created to oppose radicalism and atheism. The paper is ...

'', May 7, 2011 . He has been on the board of the Danish Association for the History of Religions (DAHR) and the editorial boards of the publications ''Renner Studies on New Religions'' (Aarhus University Press) and ''Nye Religioner'' (Gyldendal).Institut for Religionshistorie
Rothstein has been called one of Denmark's top researchers in

new religious movements A new religious movement (NRM), also known as alternative spirituality or a new religion, is a religious or spiritual group that has modern origins and is peripheral to its society's dominant religious culture. NRMs can be novel in origin or t ...

,Jens-André Herbener
"Interview med religionshistoriker Mikael Rothstein"
''Politiken'', October 10, 2012 . and has been credited with making them a topic of scholarship. Another area of scholarly interest is

indigenous religions Indigenous religions is a category used in the study of religion to demarcate the religious belief systems of communities described as being " indigenous". This category is often juxtaposed against others such as the " world religions" and "new ...

; he was the first researcher to describe the Penan people of

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and e ...

. Among books he has written or co-edited are: ''Belief Transformations: Some Aspects of the Relation between Science and Religion in Transcendental Meditation (TM) and the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)'' (1996), ''Secular Theories on Religion: Current Perspectives'' (2000) (co-author with Tim Jensen), ''New Age Religion and Globalization'' (2002), ''New Religions in a Postmodern World'' (2003) (co-editor with Reender Kranenborg) and ''The Cambridge Companion to New Religious Movements'' (2012) (co-editor with Olav Hammer). Rothstein has been involved in some conflicts in the media. In 2007 he was criticized after defending

Ungdomshuset Ungdomshuset (literally "the Youth House") was the popular name of the building formally named Folkets Hus ("House of the People") located on Jagtvej 69 in Nørrebro, Copenhagen, which functioned as an underground scene venue for music and rendez ...

. In 2011 he was one of those criticizing the rephrasing of the mission of Denmark's state-owned broadcasting service, DR, to include promoting

Christian values Christian values historically refers to values derived from the teachings of Jesus Christ. The term has various applications and meanings, and specific definitions can vary widely between denominations, geographical locations and different schools ...

, which he called "a way of making us all hostages to a nationalist Christian project".Samuel Doveri Vesterbye
"Danish Radio embraces 'Christian values' in new contract"
''

Hürriyet Daily News The ''Hürriyet Daily News'', formerly ''Hürriyet Daily News and Economic Review'' and ''Turkish Daily News'', is the oldest current English-language daily in Turkey, founded in 1961. The paper was bought by the Doğan Media Group in 2001 and ...

'', February 13, 2011. He has called

Lars Hedegaard Lars Hedegaard (born 19 September 1942) is a Danish people, Danish journalist and author. He established the Danish Free Press Society in 2004, which was turned into the International Free Press Society in 2009. Career Originally a high school t ...

"an assailant" ( da, en voldsmand), leading to criticism from other free speech advocates. He has been described in a Christian periodical as "uncompromising nda wonderful, intelligent man who is both warm, caring and generous with praise for both colleagues and students" and by another commentator in the same publication as demonstrating "one-sided bile" and "hatred" in his utterances concerning Christianity. An opinion article in another newspaper likewise portrayed him as a hater of religion.Claes Kastholm Hansen
"Religionshistorikerens selvhad"
''

Berlingske ''Berlingske'', previously known as ''Berlingske Tidende'' (, ''Berling's Times''), is a Danish national daily newspaper based in Copenhagen. It is considered a newspaper of record for Denmark. First published on 3 January 1749, ''Berlingske'' ...

'', January 3, 2015 . Rothstein and his wife, Mie, have two children. His brother, Klaus Rothstein, is a well known TV journalist.

References

External links

Mikael Rothstein
at University of Copenhagen

DR P1, October 16, 2006 (audio) {{DEFAULTSORT:Rothstein, Mikael 20th-century Danish historians 21st-century Danish historians Danish male writers University of Copenhagen faculty Researchers of new religious movements and cults 1961 births Living people University of Copenhagen alumni Danish Ashkenazi Jews