Religion in Quarantine: Press Release and Abstract

The project is compiled by Dr. Heidi A. Campbell, professor of communication at Texas A&M University and director of the Network for New Media, Religion and Digital Culture Studies. Being in Germany at the beginning of pandemic, she watched firsthand how the COVID-19 virus caused rapid social and cultural shifts amongst various religious groups in the country. This raised her attention to how digital media became the default platform for mediated religious worship and the potential implications of these sudden shifts for people’s practice and understanding of religion. Religion in Quarantine is separated into two sections. The first offers snapshots of how scholars reflected on their personal religious journeys and adapting to new emerging forms of religious practice during these times of sheltering-in-place. The second section features essays by faculty and student researchers reflecting on the ways the pandemic has impacted how they do and view their own research on religious groups on a variety of themes.

Campbell’s goal for Religion in Quarantine is to bring attention to the unique research done by scholars at Texas A&M University who are actively reflecting on the shape of religion at this time. The work also intends to highlight the insights these scholars can offer to broader conversation on how these shifts will influence the future of religion in America. As she states in the book’s introduction, these essays “…engage with emerging debates and dialogues of how religious groups are adapting, especially to the current limitations created by physical distancing and the move from offline to online expressions of religion.” Together, this compilation of essays speaks “…to what we might learn from religious responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and how this might help better us understand cultural-religious changes emerging that are re-shaping the future of religion.”

This edited collection is offered as a free eBook available in PDF, ePub, and a mobile-friendly version. The PDF version of Religion in Quarantine is available as of May 20, 2020 online. The ePub version will be released online on May 27, 2020. All versions can be downloaded freely via the OakTrust Repository, hosted by Texas A&M University Libraries.

Heidi A Campbell is available for interviews related to this book and her research on Digital Religion studies. She can be contacted via email at heidic@tamu.edu.

Abstract:

Religion in Quarantine: The Future of Religion in a Post-Pandemic World, is an eBook collection of essays written by religious studies faculty and graduates students from Texas A&M University. The first section of essays are narratives from different professors on their own spiritual journeys during the pandemic lockdown. These are very personal reflections where scholars reflect on their experiences of and connection with a specific religious community both as practitioners and scholars. The second-half essays feature reflections from faculty on recent research projects and how that work has been influenced by the pandemic. Here, faculty focused on how current conditions and trends observed in religion’s negotiation with the culture of COVID-19 have caused them to critically reflect on their own religious studies-focused research. Investigating a variety of religious traditions--including Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Hinduism--each essay considers what future of religion might look like in light of the changes facilitated by the current COVID-19 pandemic and the potential challenges this may raise for different religious communities.