Dr phil. Bojan Godina becomes Professor

Shortly before the end of the 2024/25 academic year, the Rector of Friedensau Adventist University (Theologische Hochschule Friedensau), Prof. Dr phil. Roland E. Fischer, on 4 June 2025 presented his colleague Dr phil. Bojan Godina the certificate of appointment as Professor of Media and Religious Education. In his short speech, the Rector pointed out that the professorship for Media and Religious Education was the first time an interdisciplinary professorship had been established and that the Friedensau Adventist University sees a particular research interest in this area. Prof Bojan Godina is no stranger to Friedensau: He has been teaching at the university since 2005.

Bojan Godina was born in Slovenj Gradec (now Slovenia) in 1963. His academic career began in 1985 with theological studies at the Faculty of Theology in Marusevec, which he continued in 1988 at the Theologisches Seminar Marienhöhe, where he successfully graduated in 1990. He later studied theology for a year at the Freien Theologischen Hochschule in Giessen. From 1998 to 2000, he studied general psychotherapy and counselling at the University Institute for Practical Psychology (IPP) in Freudenstadt. In 2000, he began studying ‘Soziale Verhaltenswissenschaften’ (Social Behavioural Sciences) at Friedensau Adventist University, which he completed in 2002 with a Master's degree. He completed his doctorate at the University of Heidelberg from 2004 to 2007 at the Fakultät für Verhaltenswissenschaften und empirische Kulturwissenschaften (Faculty of Behavioural Sciences and Empirical Cultural Studies) on the subject of ‘The invisible religion of subliminal marketing in the media’, for which he was awarded a doctorate.

He gained practical experience as a pastor of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Gießen (1990 to 1994), in Mainz (1994 to 2000), at the School Centre Marienhöhe in Darmstadt (2000 to 2007) and in the Altmark district (2016 to 2018). From 2007 to 2010, he was Head of Department for Church Development in the Süddeutschen Verband. From 2008 to 2015, he headed the Institute for Culturally Relevant Communication and Value Formation (Institut für kulturrelevante Kommunikation und Wertebildung, IKU), an affiliated institute of Friedensau Adventist University. He has taught media ethics at the SAE Stuttgart Media Institute; psychology, psychotraumatology, anthropology and ethics at the Advent Kindergarten Institute in Limbach-Oberfrohna and Dresden since 2015; psychology and practical theology at Bogenhofen Castle Seminary since 2017; psychology, nature education and pastoral care at the School of Education Bogenhofen | Middle East University Lebanon since 2018 and practical theology and psychology in the English-language theology master's programme at the Friedensau Adventist University since 2022. Bojan Godina developed the multi-award-winning media prevention project ‘Medienscout’ and the ‘Value-orientated media education’.

Bojan Godina is an ordained pastor of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He passes on his research findings and experience as a pastor, autonomy trainer and supervisor throughout Germany and internationally. He is married to Katy – both have a grown-up daughter. They live in Passau, where the couple run a psychological counselling practice.