One Web Day

As the subtitle to my book proclaims, "we are one in the network" and you too can join in the harmony & connection affored by the web on "One Web Day". Organizer hope to encourage people to think of themselves as responsible for the internet, and to take good and visible actions on Sept. 22 that (1) celebrate the positive impact of the internet on the world and (2) shed light on the problems of access and information flow. For more info check out this video at youtube.

Exploring New Media Worlds (CFP)

Exploring New Media Worlds:

Changing Technologies, Industries, Cultures, and Audiences
in Global and Historical Context

An international conference hosted by
Texas A&M University, February 29 to March 2, 2008

Integrating fields of study in a time of change; setting a new agenda for media studies.

Papers and proposals are invited on any aspect of the conference themes, offering reports of new research, position-taking conceptual essays, discussions of media and telecommunication policy, and both international and historical comparisons on changing technologies, industries, cultures, and audiences.

The program will include keynote speakers, roundtable discussions, thematic panels, prominent scholars as respondents, and time for interaction. A wide selection of papers from the conference will be published. Travel grants are available for student members of the National Communication Association (see our webpage for more information).

Send papers or proposals (abstracts or annotated outlines) with a 50 word professional biography by email attachment to mediaworlds@tamu.edu. Panel proposals are also acceptable. Deadline: November 20, 2007.

For more information see https://libarts.tamu.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://comm.tamu.edu/mediaworlds
email mediaworlds@libarts.tamu.edu or Rothenbuhler@tamu.edu.

Keynote speakers:
Larry Grossberg; Steve Jones; Vinny Mosco; and Ellen Seiter.

Confirmed participants:
Carole Blair, Sandra Braman, Celeste Condit, Bruce Gronbeck, Andrea Press, Ronald Rice, Paddy Scannell, Joseph Turow, Angharad Valdivia.

And the Texas A&M faculty:
Patrick Burkart, Heidi Campbell, Antonio La Pastina, Srivi Ramasubramanian, Eric Rothenbuhler, Michael Stephenson, Randy Sumpter, and Ian Weber plus strong faculty groups in Rhetoric and Public Affairs, Health Communication, and Organizational Communication.

The Exploring New Media Worlds conference is hosted and co-sponsored by the Department of Communication, the College of Liberal Arts, the Glasscock Center for Humanities Research, and the Program in Presidential Rhetoric, Texas A&M University, with support from the National Communication Association.

GodBlogCon 2007

The 3rd annual GodBlogCon is coming up in Nov 8-9, 2007, to be held in Las Vegas held in conjunction with the Blog World Expo. The conference got it's start in 2005 at Biola University in CA, and recieved media attention as the first-ever Christian blogging conference. Thsi year's confrence promises sessions on "New Media Ministry to the Myspace- Facebook Generation" and "Developing a Pod & Vidcast Ministry". I can't make the conference myself because of my teaching schedule but sounds like a great opportunity to explore the thinking and motivations behind using new media for Christian outreach.

6th International Conference on Media, Religion and Culture

The conference web site for the 6th International Conference on Media, Religion and Culture is up and running. So if you are interested in interacting with other scholars from around the world on issues related to the intersection of media and religion, and also fancy a visit to São Paulo in August 2008, check out the details for Dialogues in Diversity.

Al-Quran for Your iPod

In my continuing search for the interesting intersections between religion and the Ipod, came across this video on you tube which shows interesting demonstration of "First and Only Completely Readable 'Arabic' version of Al-Quran for your iPod" provided by theonlyword.com. The download is complete with vocal reading, chanting of the chosen portion of the koran. Here we see the digitized word married with classic sung recitation made portable and readily available to Muslims on the move.

Grad Conference CFP:In Medias Religiones

In Medias Religiones
A Conference on Religion, Media, and Material Culture
Saturday, 02 February 2008
Duke University & UNC-Chapel Hill

Call for Papers
From oral history to sacred writing on papyrus to internet evangelism, religion has been tied closely with media that convey itsmessage. What roles do specific media play in religious activities?What roles do specific religions play in media? Who producesreligious media and what are their cultural affects? This undergraduate and graduate student conference explores how a varietyof media and religious formations interact. We investigate religionas a material process by tracing how religious subjectivities aremediated by culturally-specific objects, images, and artifacts.

We invite 100-word abstracts for 20-minute papers on any topic dealing with religion & media.
Please submit abstracts toinmediasreligiones@gmail.com by 01 November 2007.

Questions? Please visit www.unc.edu/~jdelam/inmediasreligiones/

Jewish Ipod: ShasPod

Picking up on search my recent theme of religious culturing of the Ipod I came across the Shaspod. Launched in 2005 the ShasPod comes pre-loaded 20GBs of Talmudic lessons and teachings. That is about 7.5 years worth of daf yomi (the practice of reading and studying one page of the Talmud a day) for the technologically "with it" religious Jew. This was the brainchild of Rabbi Dovid Grossman of Los Angels who also has a web site providing audio and visual dowloads of the video texts via his web site DafYomi.com. Version 1.o is currently sold out but it is said that 2.0 will soon be forthcoming.

Conference Call for Papers:Media, Spiritualities and Social Change

Conference Call for Papers
Media, Spiritualities and Social Change
June 4-7, 2008
Center for Media, Religion and Culture, School of Journalism and Mass Communication University of Colorado, Boulder;

This interdisciplinary conference seeks proposals for papers and panels exploring the ways in which media culture, civic engagement and spiritualities intersect to form practices, discourses and the material expressions of social change. In an era of globalization, the media age has introduced a new set of conditions and opportunities for the nature, practice and integration of spirituality and civic engagement. Increasingly, the concept of "spirituality" has become recontextualized, reinserted and reimagined within discourses about social and environmental change. Integral to this project are the media, which provide salient values and symbols to a synthesis of public and private identities, practices and beliefs. New spiritual sensibilities articulate with new imaginaries of the civic sphere through media culture. Key questions are how and where values, practices and beliefs are articulated as spiritual and socially transformational.

In the interest of bridging theory and practice, we welcome submissions from scholars, activists, NGOs and health, business, and media professionals who wish to engage in an intellectual discussion about the engines of social change and its expressions through media culture and spiritual life. Papers and panels may employ any of a number of perspectives, issues and methodologies including but not limited to the following:

… Economics; conscious capitalism; late capitalism
… Environmental, sustainable or "green" practices, products and beliefs
… Ethics; morality; truth; philosophy; religion and spirituality
… Media culture; media technologies and applications; media institutions/policy
… Popular culture; cultural studies; material culture
… Society; community; citizenship; public-private partnerships
… Activism; social justice; social movements; positive politics; philanthropy
… Globalization; public sphere; civil society; governance and control
… "New"/alternative spiritualities
… Gender; race; age; class; identities
… Methodologies and theory
… Ideology; power; discourse

Abstracts and panel proposals due: Dec. 1, 2007 to:
Dr. Monica Emerich, Monica.emerich@colorado.edu.
By mail: Monica Emerich, Center for Media, Religion and Culture, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Colorado, 1511 University Ave., 478 UCB, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0478.

This conference is co-sponsored and presented in association with Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado; The Reynolds School of Journalism and Center for Advanced Media Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno; and The Fred W. Smith Ethics Seminar Series with the financial support of the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, Las Vegas, NV, USA.

A Jewish Google

My friend Oren (who recently wrapped up an interesting PhD at Hebrew University in Youth and the Internet) gave me a heads up to a new Jewish search engine known as jgog. While it looks similar to the Hebrew version of Google it is a unique Jewish focused search engine started by Israeli programmer Jossi Mor Josef. There has been some discussion online about the filtering mechanism in place in the software allowing some "unorthodox" words or searches to be blocked or re-defined, however most of these articles are in German and Hebrew. So if anyone runs across some more info in English on this site I would love to hear about it.

The Muslim IPod

I figured if there were Jewish Ipod applications, there must be a Muslim version as well and my suspicions were correct. The PenMan IQRA'A could very well be called the Muslim IPod. It is the latest in Muslim specific digital technology. Described as a Quran Digital book" it is part digital library part MP3 and video player. It comes a preloaded series of Muslim resources including a recording of the entire Quran, recorded Hadith translations, a Quilba (Mecca) indicator and other Muslim related resources. So you can keep on time to prayers, study the Quran and jam to your fav Muslim Hip Hop artist (BTW--I am currently listening to Outlandish) all with the help of a small hand held device.

Introducing the J Phone

You could skip the Jesus Phone and go for a JPhone (from Jewlarious.com). This definitely made me smile!

IPhone = Jesus Phone?!?

I've been doing some searching online for information on cell phones and religion and I came across an interesting trend...claims that the IPhone has been "dubbed the Jesus Phone by its more blindly faithful users". This metaphor was used by bloggers and then the media in news reports even before the phone was released in July. It evokes the image of Steve Jobs (the president of Apple) as Savior of all our technological needs and the IPhone as god. Some have argued that "Jesus Phone" users are like cult followers exhibiting religious like tendencies, i.e. the cult of Jesus Phone. In news reports religious language is often present, with reporters using phrase such as the "iPhone's divinity", "the messiah of all gadgets" and "the Messiah phone should find itself rich in disciples" are common and a few even provide images that suggest the the cult of mac who may "worship the Jesus phone". Even critiques of the IPhone use religious metaphor and images such as "shares many of the same handicaps that bedevil other U.S. cellular devices"

The IPod as Jesus Phone has arguably been fueled by the reviews and descriptions of the IPhone amongst the blogging community. One blogger has even set up a blog called IPhone Saviour dedicated to the culture and conversation emerging around the new phone using many religious images and heavily religious language. While the significance of this phenomenon is in need of further consideration, it does show the powerful currency religious imagery and language still hold in our media culture.

A Jewish IPod?

Check this out. You can buy the Chai Pod iPod T-shirt...and download IDaven (Jewish prayers for the IPod) and Jewish users can make their IPod experience "Qof-Dalet-Shin".

Update: On an unrelated note "JPod" is not the name for a Jewish IPod, but the name of a recent novel from Douglas Coupland.

The IPod "from a biblical perspective"

Stephen G in New Zealand has highlighted a new book relevant to my previous post. Produced by Scripture Union in the UK the book, "The IPod" written by Brian Draper seeks to "explores the impact of the iconic iPod from a biblical perspective, inviting readers to consider issues such as active and passive listening, music as commodity or communion, the fluidity of self expression and the art of silence". SU has a full series of bible studies books called Connect that aimed to encourage biblical reflection for young people on many facets of our contemporary media-techno culture including AI, Computer Animated Films and even Harry Potter. These are great examples of mixing reflection on technology with religious education

IPod Culture: Use it, Wear it, Brand It, Sacralize it

My university just announched the launch of the "Fightin' Texas Aggie Ipod", custom-engraved with the Texas A&M University logo. In the last year I have been noticing a lot of IPod related gear demonstrating how pervasive this little piece of technology is becoming in our culture. Marks & Spencers in the UK offers the Ipod suit, for the professionally tailoried tech geek amongst us so no unslightly wires or connector mess up one's dapper look. Of course there is the Nike/Ipod partnership producing running shoes that house a sensor in you shoe to help you monitor your distance and heart rate via you nano while you run. And is you want to "Tune in to God" you can clothe your Ipod in the appropriate religious cover. I am facinated by the fact that by trends in re-branding a popular brand to make them "our" own. But when it comes to religion and religious communities doing this what message does this send out? Are we tryine to sacralize, re-enchant or proselytize our technology? Does it infer that God has a master IPod? Or...what would Jesus have on his Ipod? (interesting...according to a Beleifnet poll 55% of people said JC would not even own one!)

Online Sarcasim: Motivational Posters for the Emerging Chaos

Some of you may have (or have not) seen these....Motivational Posters for the Emerging [Church] [Conversation] Chaos circulating on the web. These in-your-face images are meant to challenge some of the current discourse happening around the Emerging Church. Two weeks ago now I was able to take part in a podcast & online conversation hosted by Tall SkinnyKiwi, aka "Happy Hour with Andrew Jones" at Shapevine, where I and EC-ites debated the reality or not of these images. So I thought I would pass them on, especially for my other research colleagues exploring Emerging Conversation online, it is also a great example of how the web can be used a s a tool for critique and response. Below is an image created by two of the people involve "Happy Hour" as their response the these images...

One more thing from NZ...the Church in Second Life

Today is my last day in NZ. It has been a great visit personally & research wise. I also learned this past week that the NZ Anglican Church has just set up an Anglican Cathedral of Second Life. I ran out of time to meet up with the virtual vicar/coordinator Mark Brown to learn more about the thinking and planning behind this but we have already arranged to meet up for an interview in Second Life in the near future. I knew someone would eventually do this, who knew it would be the kiwis!

Live in Auckland: Who's got the Power Online?

For anyone who is in the Auckland (NZ) and is interested I will be presenting some of my current research on how religious bloggers frame and present religious authority online in a seminar at 4pm on Wednesday, July 25 at the Bible College of New Zealand in the Henderson area. For more details drop me an email!

I am also giving the opening talk at the New Perspective in Science & Theology Conference at BCNZ this Friday entitled--The Technologized Other: Considering the Posthuman & Prophetic Technorealism.

And if you are in Christchurch, NZ you can check me out live on Saturday at a Special Seminar entitled: Building Christian Community: What the Internet can teach Offline Church.

Media and Religious Authority Colloquium

Today I participated in an interesting colloquium organized by Tim Bulkley on Media and Religious Authority at Carey Baptist College. It brought together researchers from New Zealand and Australia (via a skype connection) interested in exploring together how the media may shape or influence various aspects of religious authority. We shared our overlapping interests and potential projects that we might bring together in a joint project. I spoke about the findings from one of my current projects on how religious bloggers portray different aspects of religious authority online. Paul Teusner is exploring how Emerging Church bloggers responded to technorati or google blog authority ranking system. Ann Hardy is beginning to work Exclusive Brethren role in attempting influencing the NZ National Election and how religious groups may use media to influence the public sphere. Peter Horsfield is interested in the interaction of new media and religious authority in Australia. Stephen Garner is considering how religious authority is manifested in comic books & graphic novels. Tim Bulkley is interested in the role of textual authority in different religious environments and authority in the Biblio-blogger community online. I am looking forward to seeing how this collaboration develops.

ELaunch: Voices of the Virtual World

Announcing the official launch of Voices of the Virtual World.

This ebook explores the growing influence of technology on the global Christian church. In this premier volume, we hear from more than forty voices, including technologists and theologians, entrepreneurs and pastors… from a progressive Episcopalian techno-monk to a leading Mennonite professor… from a tech-savvy mobile missionary to a corporate anthropologist whom Worth Magazine calls "one of Wall Street's 25 Smartest Players." Voices is a far reaching exploration of spiritual journey contextualized within a culture of increasingly immersive technology.

ABOUT WIKIKLESIA: Conceived and established in May 2007, the Wikiklesia Project is an experiment in on-line collaborative publishing. The format is virtual, self-organizing, participatory - from purpose to publication in just a few weeks. All proceeds from the Wikiklesia Project will be contributed to the Not For Sale campaign.

“The Wikiklesia Project has garnered some of the savviest writers and bloggers around in a daring attempt to radically democratize knowledge ­ and in the process unleash theological reflection where it matters most: the public sphere. This is not just some new way to self publish; it is a new and exciting form of collaborative theologizing on critical topics that concern us all. Welcome to your future.”

- Alan Hirsch, Author of The Forgotten Ways as well as The Shaping of Things To Come (with Mike Frost) and Founding Director of Forge Mission Training Network

The e-book is on sale for $15 on Lulu.com. For more information check out Wikklesia.