This course concentrates on the study religion and religiosity in the digital world. It will address how digital media transforms the field of religion with respect to religious authority, identities, publics, and worldviews while adopting a specific focus on Muslim-majority societies and Muslim communities. The “digital turn” with the advent of the Internet, social media platforms, and online communication technologies has deepened the ways in which media shapes social interactions, perceptions, and behaviors in all aspects of life. “Digital religion studies” is a burgeoning academic field that scrutinizes religion, at the levels of both institutionalized domains and subjective understandings. This course will introduce the main theoretical perspectives, debates, and case studies in the field of digital religion studies. The specific focus of the course will be on how Islamic discourses, institutions, and Muslim identities assume new forms under the digital turn, both at national and trans-national scales, and within the migration framework.
Course themes
Digital media, religion, and Islam
Religious authority
Religious identities, gender, and morality
Digital publics, othering, and activism
Secularization and post-secularity under digital media
- Trainer/in: Jule Sommersberg
- Trainer/in: Ülker Sözen