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Emmy Riordan - Thursday, October 6, 2022 - 11:21

PRESS RELEASE:

2022 Digital Religion Research Award winner is Dr. Giulia Evolvi for her article:
Religion and the internet: Digital religion, (hyper)mediated spaces, and materiality
The Network for New Media, Religion and Digital Culture Studies (NMRDC) is happy to announce Dr. Giulia Evolvi as the winner of the 2022 Digital Religion Research Award.

Dr. Evolvi is a Lecturer in Media and Communication at Erasmus University. She will be receiving this
year’s award based on her contribution in her article “Religion and the internet: digital religion,
(hyper)mediated spaces, and materiality,” published in the Journal for Religion, Society and Politics in
2021. This work was described as conceptually coherent, creative, and theoretically important. Dr.
Evolvi’s research expands the current scholarly conversation within Digital Religion studies by
combining conceptual approaches to the study of space, materiality, and hybridity to the study of
digital religion. This work helps advance conversations within the field through her presentation of an
innovative theory of hypermediated religious spaces that highlights the importance of engaging
notions of materiality and space when seeking to theorize about the influence of Digital Religion within
cultural spaces.

Dr. Evolvi is the fourth recipient of the recently established Digital Religion Research Award which
recognizes the work of scholars whose research and publications promote and expand the field of
Digital Religion studies. This area of scholarship explores how religious groups and practices intersect
and engage with digital media in ways that influences online and offline expressions of religion.
Decisions about the Award are made by members of the Advisory Board of the Network for New
Media, Religion and Digital Culture Studies. These individuals evaluate submissions based on how well
a scholar’s work expands the current knowledge within the research area and sophisticatedly applies
the approaches and concepts developed by Dr. Heidi A. Campbell, who is the founder of the Network
as well as a pioneer in the field of Digital Religion studies.

Dr. Evolvi will give the annual Digital Religion Research Award Lecture on November 3 rd , 2022, in an
online Zoom webinar sponsored by the Network for New Media, Religion and Digital Culture Studies
(NMRDC). More information about registering for this event is available at:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScxERnT3dUhzGNLTAcYlZ8oDfWG8Vm9...

The NMRDC is the premier international research network for interdisciplinary scholars and students
who study how emerging technologies, religion, and digital cultures interact and intersect. For more
information about the Network, visit: www.digitalreligion.tamu.edu.
For more information about the annual Digital Religion Research Award and the NMRDC, please
contact Heidi A. Campbell at heidic@tamu.edu. Our award winner Giulia Evolvi can also be reached
for comments on her research via email: evolvi@eshcc.eur.nl.

A call for submissions for the 2023 Digital Religion Research Award will be released in late 2022.


Avery Alban - Wednesday, April 27, 2022 - 12:38

The Network for New Media, Religion and Digital Culture Studies announces the publication of its third Tech Trend paper entitled “The Digital Divide, Digital Reluctance and Its Impact on Pandemic Churches.” This is the third paper in a series of Tech Trend papers exploring finding from “Tech in Churches During Covid-19” project that is funded by the Lilly Endowment. Each papers explores in depth key research findings related to how churches in the American Mid-west experienced during the digital transition from traditional to online worship necessitated by the conditions of COVID-19 pandemic.

The goal of the “Tech in Churches” research project is to explore the relationship between religious congregations and technology, specifically during the time of the pandemic in 2020 and 2021. The data used in this Tech Trend paper come from focus groups with recipients of church technology grants that were provided by the Center for Congregations which supported over 2700 congregations across Indiana during the pandemic. Each Tech Trend papers explores key findings that were found in this data. This report is prepared by Heidi A. Campbell, Director of the project and Mandy M. Jordan, the project’s Senior Research Associate.

The Digital Divide, Digital Reluctance and Its Impact on Pandemic Churches explores how churches encountered and responded to key challenges related to the Digital Divide. This term refers to the gap in access and understanding to digital media technologies people can encounter. The Digital Divide is characterized by lack of accessibility to internet infrastructure, digital technologies and training in their use. Three key obstacles that create a pandemic church digital divide are explore in-depth include: 1) churches with limited internet accessibility, 2) generational divides, and 3) church leaders’ own digital reluctance.The digital divide that was present within many churches in this study predominately went unnoticed prior to the pandemic, but was quickly revealed when churches attempted to move their services online. This Tech Trend paper focuses on how these classic disparities were manifest in these congregations and their impact on attempts at doing church online. Also, besides complaints about lacking digital resources, church leaders also voiced a more intangible element of personal reluctance towards digital technology. For leaders, their own lack of experience and knowledge about technology use and literacy promoted an atmosphere of resistance towards the very equipment congregations needed to transition from an offline to online services. This was a theme initially discussed in our Tech Trend Paper #1, Needed but Lacking: Impact of Pastors’ Technology Background During the Pandemic. Here we explore how church leader’s digital reluctance shaped their views and response towards, digital media, impacted their church work and ways it was addressed and attempted to be overcome within congregations.

Overall, The Digital Divide, Digital Reluctance and Its Impact on Pandemic Churches explores two challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic brought forth for churches: a continuous struggle in access to the digital resources, and user resistance and hesitancy towards technology. The paper seeks to provide greater understanding of these how church leaders faced these specific obstacles and offer insights to how pastors encountered and engaged these aspects of the Digital Divide. These challenges remain important issues for churches to consider when embracing doing church online for the long-term.

This report can be found online at: https://oaktrust.library.tamu.edu/handle/1969.1/195938

Heidi A. Campbell is available for interviews related to this paper, and her research on churches, technology and digital culture. She can be contacted via email at heidic@tamu.edu or through the project’s senior research assistant, Sophia Osteen, at sophie.osteen@tamu.edu.


Avery Alban - Thursday, March 3, 2022 - 14:14

The Network for New Media, Religion and Digital Culture Studies (NMRDC; http://digitalreligion.tamu.edu) is pleased to announce the call for published works (an article or book chapter) for consideration for the annual Digital Religion Research Award. This award is to recognize outstanding research in the area of Digital Religion studies, which explores the intersection between religion, technology, and digital, networked cultures. Preference will be given to research engaging with the work of Heidi A Campbell, Director of the Network, who is considered a pioneer in the field of Digital Religion Studies. As a Professor of Communication at Texas A&M University, Campbell has written numerous articles and books exploring religious communities use of the Internet, as well as key theoretical works in the study of digital religion. The Award Committee is made up of members of the Advisory Board of the NMRDC Network.

To be considered for this award, submissions may explore themes related to the practice and understanding of religion in online and offline spaces, rhetoric of digital
technology, ethical implications of network or mobile technologies, religious engagement with emerging media and how forces of the secular and religious interact in digital cultures. Interdisciplinary works are encouraged, as well as those addressing at least two of the following fields: Area Studies, Communication, Ethics, Game Studies, Gender Studies, Information Science, Internet studies, Philosophy of Technology, Media Studies, Religious Studies, Sociology of Religion and/or Technology, and Theology.

Submissions will be evaluated based on the quality of their: (1) advancement of knowledge in the area Digital Religion Studies, (2) application of Campbell’s approaches and concepts, (3) originality and creativity of research topic, and (4) clear organization and presentation of overall argument.

Awardees will receive an honorarium, plaque, and be invited to give an online guest lecture where the award will be given.

Only single authored works are accepted. Applications and articles may only be submitted for award consideration once. Published materials submitted must have appeared in print between January 2020 to January 2022 to receive this year’s award.

Please send a PDF or electronic copy of the article/chapter to digitalreligion@tamu.edu along with a 1-2 page letter, addressed to the committee, which provides an abstract of the work to be considered and a narrative that explains how your article meets the stated evaluation criteria. All submissions are due by June 1, 2022.


Avery Alban - Wednesday, February 16, 2022 - 10:14

The Network for New Media, Religion and Digital Culture Studies and the Tech in Churches During COVID-19 project announces their second Tech Trend Paper, entitled Embracing Pastoral Entrepreneurship during the Pandemic: Traits needed to be an Effective Digital Pastor. This paper identifies and discusses five key traits pastors found essential to running a successful online ministry. It also examines how pastors implemented these changes.

Tech Trend papers provide a concise but in-depth analysis of important themes raised in the Tech in Churches During COVID-19 research project, a study funded by the Lilly Endowment which investigates how churches have adopted and adapted to technology during the global pandemic. This Tech Trend paper draws conclusions from the analysis of 50 Tech Talk sessions with 478 congregational leaders from Indiana, hosted by the Center for Congregations in 2020 and 2021. This specific research considers the tech challenges and problem-solving strategies church leaders employed when implementing digital media. Specifically, the report analyzes how the churches engaged with technology and the difficulties encountered during the pandemic.

The primary goal of the Tech in Churches During COVID-19 research project is to explore and analyze the evolving relationship between technology and religious congregations during a pandemic that is still impacting churches in many parts of the world. This study analyzes data from the Center for Congregations in Indianapolis, Indiana, collected through their “Connect Through Tech” grant program. These grants supported more than 2700 congregations across the state of Indiana during the pandemic, enabling them to purchase digital equipment and other technological resources to facilitate their transition from traditional offline to digital worship services and ministries during times of social distancing and lockdowns.

Embracing Pastoral Entrepreneurship during the Pandemic: Traits needed to be an Effective Digital Pastor is available online, at: https://doi.org/10.21423/digitalpastortraits

For more information about the Tech in Churches During COVID-19 project see: https://www.techinchurches.org/

Heidi A Campbell is available for interviews related to this report and her research on churches, technology, and digital culture. She can be contacted via email at heidic@tamu.edu or through the project’s Senior Researcher, sophie.osteen@tamu.edu.


Avery Alban - Wednesday, December 29, 2021 - 12:01

The Network for New Media, Religion and Digital Culture Studies (NMRDC) would like to announce a new publication: The Digital Religion Yearbook 2021.

The Digital Religion Yearbook is an e-publication produced with the goal of highlighting important contributions, emerging scholars, and innovative research in the growing field of Digital Religion Studies. The Network hopes that this annual publication will become a valuable resource for scholars and students working in this area by drawing attention to a select group of important works that are contributing and helping advance the study of Digital Religion.

In this inaugural publication, the yearbook introduces the core sections and explains the themes to be covered in each edition, for readers to understand the purpose behind the sections. Each edition will include an annual essay by a leading scholar in the field. The first essay is written by Heidi A. Campbell, the NMRDC’s Director, and provides a narrative overview of the development of Digital Religion Studies, some key moments, and important research projects contributing to this area of scholarship.

Next, the Digital Religion Yearbook spotlights the top ten research articles published that year in Digital Religion, based on the recommendations of members from the NMRDC advisory board as well as other leading scholars. Each article includes an extended abstract and citation that enables readers to learn and explore the work. Then in the “Scholars to Watch” section, up-and-coming researchers in the field along with their current projects are spotlighted. The aim is to draw attention to new voices entering this field and the next generation of emerging scholars. Each year, a different set of scholars will be included based on a specific theme, selected by the Network. This year’s featured scholars were chosen based on their abstract submitted to the International Society of Media, Religion & Culture Studies 2021 conference, which unfortunately had to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Finally, each yearbook will draw attention to what it considers the top undergraduate thesis and doctoral dissertation in Digital Religion Studies. Each entry will include an extended abstract as well as some personal thoughts from the student scholars. This year’s selected undergraduate thesis is Esmé Lily Katherine Partridge’s “Digital spirituality: Technological re-enchantment in 2021/1? An exploration of witchcraft and reality shifting on TikTok as (post-modern spiritualties existing in Wouter Hanegraaff’s ‘mirror of secular thought.’” And this year’s featured PhD dissertation that was completed in 2021 is John Borchert’s “Immanent technologies: Posthuman digital religion in America.”

Finally, each annual yearbook will include a section highlight the research and publications produced by the NMRDC research team. The purpose is to spotlight the work done that year and to demonstrate the ways that research is impacting the field of Digital Religion.

The Digital Religion Yearbook 2021 is available online at https://doi.org/10.21423/digitalreligionyearbook2021.

Heidi A. Campbell is available for interviews related to this yearbook and her research on Digital Religion studies. She can be contacted via email at heidic@tamu.edu. If you are interested in your work being included in next year’s version, please contact her Lead Research Assistant, sophie.osteen@tamu.edu.


Avery Alban - Thursday, December 16, 2021 - 11:47

The Network for New Media, Religion and Digital Culture Studies announces the publication of its first Tech Trend Paper, entitled “Needed but Lacking: Impact of Pastors’ Technology Background During the Pandemic.” Tech Trend papers provide a concise but in-depth analysis of key themes raised in the Tech in Churches During COVID-19 research project. Needed but Lacking identifies specific areas of technological knowledge and experience related to digital media that church leaders needed to understand to successfully transition to online worship services during the pandemic.

This Tech Trend paper draws its conclusions from the analysis of 50 Tech Talk sessions with 478 congregational leaders hosted by the Center for Congregations in 2020 and 2021, exploring their tech challenges and problem-solving strategies when implementing digital media. The paper explores three key takeaways from the Tech Talks about how pastors will adapt to online streaming: (1) pastors need to learn the basics of how to use media equipment, (2) pastors should have a general understanding of how the internet works and its effects on churches, and (3) pastors need to know how to problem-solve technological problems as they arise. Overall, it provides insight into the ways that the average church in America has been significantly impacted by changes necessitated by the pandemic. It also points to specific knowledge areas that church leaders need to learn to better implement and maintain their church community through technology during times of crisis.

Needed but Lacking offers a response to the report “When Pastors Put on the ‘Tech Hat’: How Churches Digitized during COVID-19” released by the Tech in Churches During COVID-19 research project in November 2021. The primary goal of this research project is to explore and analyze the evolving relationship between technology and religious congregations during a pandemic that is still impacting churches in many parts of the world. This study analyzes data from the Center for Congregations in Indianapolis, Indiana, collected through their “Connect Through Tech” grant program. These grants supported more than 2700 congregations across the state of Indiana during the pandemic, enabling them to purchase digital equipment and other technological resources to facilitate their transition from traditional offline to digital worship services and ministries during times of social distancing and lockdowns.

Needed but Lacking: Impact of Pastors’ Technology Background During the Pandemic, the first Tech Trend paper, is available online at: https://oaktrust.library.tamu.edu/handle/1969.1/195017

For more information about the Tech in Churches During COVID-19 project see: https://www.techinchurches.org/

Heidi A Campbell is available for interviews related to this report, and her research on churches, technology, and digital culture. She can be contacted via email at heidic@tamu.edu or through the project’s Senior Researcher, sophie.osteen@tamu.edu.


Avery Alban - Friday, November 19, 2021 - 10:47

The Network for New Media, Religion and Digital Culture Studies announces the publication of its first report entitled “When Pastors Put on the ‘Tech Hat’: How Churches Digitized during COVID-19” investigating the ways that churches utilized technology, how decisions were made, and sources of challenge that resulted. This report is part of a larger research project exploring churches’ decision-making processes regarding technology during the pandemic called “Tech in Churches during COVID-19,” which is funded by the Lilly Endowment. The report is prepared by Heidi A. Campbell and Sophia Osteen and covers how churches navigated the shift online and the accompanying challenges, questions, and consequences.

The primary goal of the Tech in Churches research project is to explore and analyze the evolving relationship between technology and religious congregations during the COVID-19 pandemic that is still impacting churches in many parts of the world. This report is the first of three reports that analyzes data from the Center for Congregations in Indianapolis, Indiana, and their “Connect Through Tech” grant program. These grants supported more than 2700 congregations across the state of Indiana during the pandemic, enabling them to purchase digital equipment and other technological resources to facilitate their transition from traditional offline to digital worship services and ministries during times of social distancing and lockdowns.

“When Pastors Put on the ‘Tech Hat’” presents findings from 50 Tech Talk sessions with 478 congregational leaders hosted by the Center for Congregations in 2020 and 2021, as part of the grant program. These sessions provided a space for church leaders to not only discuss their technology use during the pandemic, but also reflect on the implications of choices made about the implementation of digital media. Report One centers on responses to questions emerging from these discussions, specifically discussing: (1) who are making technological decisions in churches, (2) what challenges congregations have faced in implementing digital technology, (3) what issues the transition to online and digital culture has raised for pastors, (4) any success stories about church technology use worth noting, and (5) whether digital forms of worship are a short-term or long-term strategy for post-pandemic congregations.This report offers a voice especially to small and rural congregations regarding their experiences of having to move online with few resources and often little to no digital experience, while working with technologically- hesitant or resistant congregations. It also provides insight into how digital media use impact both church worship services and the ways congregations understand what it means to be the “Church.”

Overall, this report demonstrates that churches were resilient and willing to innovate while making the required shift online. Although they encountered various challenges, this digital transition offered them valuable insights and altered the ways churches view connection, community, and even sometimes, the Church. The Tech in Churches project reveals how pastors responded when faced with making the decisions related to technology within their congregations while negotiating the challenges, unexpected opportunities, and ways of envisioning future implications of this significant digital shift.

The report is available online at: https://bit.ly/churchesdigitalized
For more information about the research project see: https://www.techinchurches.org/

Heidi A. Campbell is available for interviews related to this report, and her research on churches, technology and digital culture. She can be contacted via email at heidic@tamu.edu or through the project’s Senior Researcher, sophie.osteen@tamu.edu.


Avery Alban - Friday, October 15, 2021 - 15:05

The Network for New Media, Religion and Digital Culture Studies (NMRDC) is excited to host the 2021 Digital Religion Research Award Lecture on zoom with Dr. Beth Singler from the University of Cambridge (UK), the winner of this year’s Digital Religion Research Award.

Dr Singler’s lecture is entitled, “fAIth: Believing in AI and AI in Belief”, drawing on her award-winning ethnographic research, exploring both online and offline discourses about Artificial Intelligence and how they intersect with themes related to Digital Religion. Specifically, her lecture will explore historical and contemporary religious roots as they relate to current development with AI and robots.

Dr. Singler will give the annual Digital Religion Research Award Lecture on November 10, 2021 at 9:30am CDT/2:30 pm GMT in an online Zoom webinar sponsored by the NMRDC. This event is free and open to the public, but registration is required.

Click this link to register for the event: https://forms.gle/V6h7MooSjCgBoy7P7

For more information about the annual Digital Religion Research Award and the NMRDC, please contact Heidi A. Campbell at heidic@tamu.edu Our award winner Beth Singler can also be reached for comments on her research via email: bvw20@cam.ac.uk.


Avery Alban - Tuesday, September 21, 2021 - 11:28

2021 Digital Religion Research Award winner is Dr. Beth Singler for her article: The AI Creation Meme: A Case Study of the New Visibility of Religion in Artificial Intelligence Discourse

The Network for New Media, Religion and Digital Culture Studies (NMRDC) is thrilled to announce Dr.Beth Singler as the winner of the 2021 Digital Religion Research Award.

Dr. Singler is the Junior Research Fellow in Artificial Intelligence and Director of Studies, Theology,Religion, and the Philosophy of Religion at Homerton College, University of Cambridge, England. Her article explores and demonstrates the ways that religious continuities and resonances emerge out of artificial intelligence in the modern era. Dr. Singler’s research expands the current scholarly conversation within Digital Religion studies to post-digital technologies by considering how AI narratives and religion interact now, and how they will in the future. This work is especially unique in that it advances knowledge about how religion is expressed in a field that is often framed by nonreligious or atheist discourses.

Dr. Singler is the third recipient of the recently established Digital Religion Research Award which recognizes the work of scholars whose research and publications promote and expand the field of Digital Religion studies. This area of scholarship explores how religious groups and practices intersect and engage with digital media in ways that influences online and offline expressions of religion. Decisions about the Award are made by members of the Advisory Board of the Network for New Media, Religion and Digital Culture Studies. These individuals evaluate submissions based on how well a scholar’s work expands the current knowledge within the research area and sophisticatedly applies
the approaches and concepts developed by Dr. Heidi A. Campbell, who is the founder of the Network as well as a pioneer in the field of Digital Religion studies.

Dr. Singler will give the annual Digital Religion Research Award Lecture on November 10, 2021 in an online Zoom webinar sponsored by the Network for New Media, Religion and Digital Culture Studies (NMRDC). More information is forthcoming.

The NMRDC is the premier international research network for interdisciplinary scholars and students who study how emerging technologies, religion, and digital cultures interact and intersect. For more information about the Network, visit: www.digitalreligion.tamu.edu

For more information about the annual Digital Religion Research Award and the NMRDC, please contact Heidi A. Campbell at heidic@tamu.edu. Our award winner Beth Singler can also be reached for comments on her research via email: a bvw20@cam.ac.uk

A call for submissions for the 2022 Digital Religion Research Award will be released in late November 2021.


Avery Alban - Wednesday, July 28, 2021 - 08:21

Xenia Zeiler is a professor of South Asain Studies at the University of Helsinki, Finland and on the Advisory Board for the Network. Her current research and teachings are situated at the intersection of digital media, culture and society, specifically as related to India and the global Indian community. Zeiler’s research foci are video games and gaming in India, digital Hinduism and global Hinduism. Along with that, she also researches and teaches aspects of Global Digital Humanities and popular culture, especially as related to India. As reflected in her top 5 list of most useful articles/books used for research, the research and teaching both require and benefit most from work on video game cultures, especially in global contexts and as related to religion, value formations and cultural heritage, and on global aspects of digital religion.

Xenia Zeiler also says she is particularly interested in social-constructivist mediatization theory that is regularly applied to her work. For instance, the article by Couldry and Hepp (2013) gives a fantastic introduction to and overview of both existing mediatization theories, the so-called institutionalist tradition and the social-constructivist traditions; it is a great resource for teaching!

A short intro to gamification: https://www2.helsinki.fi/fi/unitube/video/97ec9405-8da8-4cd5-bb7e-79d5a1...
This short video introduces to the concept of gamification, including brief information on the concept’s and term’s history and the relation of gamification and educational video games.

More and longer video lectures are currently produced by Xenia Zeiler, e.g. on mediatized religion in India, video games in India, and educational video games. Check them out!

Top 5 article/books

Campbell, H. and Grieve, G. P., eds., 2014. Playing with Religion in Digital Games. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
This book highlights the religious themes and symbols that can be found in a vast number of video games.

Campbell. H., 2013. Digital Religion. Understanding Religious Practice in New Media Worlds. London and New York: Routledge.
This Boko brings together the work of experts in the study of religion and new media to describe examples of new media engagement and case studies that illustrate themes in this field.

Couldry, Nick and Hepp, Andreas, 2013. Conceptualizing Mediatization: Contexts, Traditions, Arguments. Communication Theory 23. 10.1111/comt.12019.
This journal article provides context for the emergence of ‘‘mediatization’’ as a key theoretical concept for new media and communications research.

Heidi A. Campbell, Rachel Wagner, Shanny Luft, Rabia Gregory, Gregory Price Grieve, and Xenia Zeiler, 2015. Gaming Religionworlds: Why Religious Studies Should Pay Attention to Religion in Gaming. Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 2015, pp. 1–24. doi:10.1093/jaarel/lfv091
This journal article argues that religion plays a major role in gaming culture with an impact in popular culture.

Sisler, V., Radde-Antweiler, K. and Zeiler, X., eds., 2018. Methods for Studying Video Games and Religion. London/New York: Routledge.
The focus of this book is on the how and why video games shape religious beliefs as well as the research into the connection between digital media and religion in the 21st century.


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