PhD Fellowship new media in the Middle East and/or Asia

Here is the announcement for the PhD-position in new media (Asia/ME) at University of Oslo. For those interested you can find more information at the following link: http://www.admin.uio.no/opa/ledige-stillinger/2009/vitenskapelige/doctoralresearchfellowshipIKOS-2009-16827.html
The deadline for applications is December 15, 2009.

Internet believers: Pastors open online churches

This is definitely not new news...the growth of online churches, but it is in the AP headlines today. Check the story Internet believers: Pastors open online churches which profiles established and recent online versions of church such as Life-tv, Flamingo Road Church, and Central Christian Church.

CFP: Special Issue on Religion and the Internet: The Online-Offline Connection

Call for Papers for Special Issue of Information, Communication & Society on Religion and the Internet: The Online-Offline Connection

Guest Editors: Heidi Campbell & Mia Løvheim

Call Description:
In the initial waves of religion and internet research focus was often placed on how the internet would drastically change religious practice and ideology, due to growth of religious communities online and integration of religious rituals and practices into digital environments. Much attention was given to the novel uses and trends such as those seen in New Religious Movements online where once fringe or secretive religious groups were given a public platform making them more visible. Focus was also placed on how mainstream religions, such as Christianity and Islam, were appropriating to new media technologies or critiquing internet use and with a particular focus on the United states and Western Europe. As the internet has become increasingly embedded in the everyday lives of many researchers attention is now being drawn to the connection between online and offline religious practice, structures and belief. Furthermore, the rise of new software and models of internet communication, often referred to as Web 2.0, has created a heightened interest in issues of user lead content creation and web based social interaction. At the heart of these developments is an important issue, considering to what degree spiritual practices online are transformative or to what extent they reflect larger changes in religious culture and institutions offline. This special issue of Information, Communication and Society seeks to explore this area by considering what we think we know about the relationship between online and offline religion and what issues are still are in need of more detailed investigation.

Aims and Scope:
In particular this special issues aims to explore the relationship between online and offline forms of religious practice and community. Key questions include:

- What is truly unique about the performance of religion online?
- How is the practice and conception of religion online connected to offline practices, communities and institutions?
- In what ways does religion online reflect trends seen offline in religious culture and practice?
- How do these transformations connect with issues of globalization and glocalization?

Possible topics may include (but are not limited to):
- The interactions between online communities and offline religious institutions
- How participants in online religious activities frame their involvement in offline religious groups - Responses of offline religious authorities to religious manifestations and practices online from their community or tradition
- Religious organizations and/or denominations use of the internet, or debates regarding official policy towards and new media use
- Attempts of diasporic communities to connect with their faith tradition and sacred sites via the Internet
- Theoretical work that links research on contemporary religious practice to online religion, i.e. the relationship between internet use and everyday religion, the role of emotions in religious internet use
- How religious actors deal with questions of time, space and information management in online and offline society
- How Virtual worlds and computer games seek to present or re-present "sacred space"

Submission Details:
Please submit a 300-500 word abstract to the guest editors as an e-mail attachment to religiononline@yahoo.com no later than 10 February 2010. The four best abstracts will also be submitted as a panel for consideration at the International Media, Religion and Culture Conference to be held in Toronto, Canada (9-13 August 2010). Please include full contact information and a biographical note (up to 75 words) on each of the authors and indicate whether you wish to be considered for the MRC panel submission.

Authors of accepted abstracts will be notified by 6 March 2010 and will then be invited to submit a full paper to the guest editors. Final manuscripts should be no more than 8,000 words, including notes and references, conform to APA style, and submitted by 20 August 2010. Please note all papers will be subject to anonymous peer review following submission.

Important dates:
10 February 2010: Deadline for abstract submission
6 March 2010: Announcement of results and full paper invitations
9-13 August: MRC Conference
20 August 2010: Submission of full papers
October 2011: Publication of special issue

For Inquiries, abstracts, or submission of full papers should be addressed to:

Heidi Campbell
Assistant Professor of Communication
Department of Communication
Texas A&M University
Bolton 102, 4234 TAMU
College Station, TX 77843
Email: religiononine@yahoo.com or heidic@tamu.edu

CFP: Israeli Conference for the Study of Contemporary Spiritualities

The 1st Israeli Conference for the Study of Contemporary Spiritualities was held at the University of Haifa in March, 2009. Topics included spiritual development, contemporary Kabbala, East and West, spirituality in business, spiritual teachers, spirituality in psychotherapy, Shamanism, spirituality in the media, and more. The conference included about 70 presenters from varied fields of study, aroused wide interest, drew 350 participants, and won vast media coverage.

The abundance of varied phenomena which reflect contemporary spiritualities worldwide and especially in Israel, is highly impressive. These phenomena draw increasing academic attention by a large number of researchers from various disciplines including, Religious studies, Philosophy, Judaism, Anthropology, Psychology, Social work, Sociology, and Political sciences.
A comparative and interdisciplinary consideration of the different facets of contemporary spiritualities can contribute to the understanding of these phenomena. This is the rationale for the 2nd Israeli Conference for the Study of Contemporary Spiritualities. We invite researchers and graduate students from different disciplines to submit proposals for papers or panels. The conference will include lectures both in Hebrew and in English.

Proposals for lectures should include: Name, academic status (Graduate Student, Assistant professor, etc.), academic institution (or a different affiliation), E-mail address, abstract (350-500 words) and a list of 10 references.

Proposals for Panels should include: Name, academic affiliation, 3-4 abstracts of lectures according to the format above, panel's rationale (50-100 words) and a proposed chair

Deadline for Submissions November 20, 2009 . Responses will be sent via E-mail until January 10, 2010. Send submissions via Email to: spirituality@construct.haifa.ac.il for Pninit Russo-Netzer, Conference Coordinator. Address inquiries to this email too.

Cyberspirituality and the Spirit of Things

According to Rachel Kohn from Australian ABC radio, "Spiritual surfing on the internet is bigger than Ben Hur and it's changing the way religion is created, delivered and experienced". Kohn on her weekly radio show The Spirit of Things explores Cyberspirituality with yours truly and
Julie Hamilton founder and editor-in-chief of Omigoddess!. In our interview we explored debates over the authenticity of religious community online and case studies from my forthcoming book about the similarities and difference in Jewish, Muslim and Christian uses of the internet. Let me know what you think about my observations.

WWJMB or What would Jesus Micro-Blog?

In recent discussions of religion in a Web 2.0 era (a term which btw gets my knickers in a twist, but that's another blog post...) speculations has been raised about the impact of Facebook and Twitters as modes of spreading religious content. In Finding religious community online in a Web 2.0 era journalist Joshunda Sanders for the Austin Statesman suggests that the current generation of Social media are becoming important tools for publicize church events to broader audiences and helping solidify prayer support. While interesting individual examples can be found I do wonder what the long range impact of these technologies, esp. on religious cultures. Microblogging has become a much talked about phenomenon and framed as a potential new news medium. However a recent study from professors at Rutgers have found that tweeting is really "all about me". Their analysis of Twitter found 80% of users we "me-formers", and rather than sharing information were all about providing personal status update. This is further fodder that the Internet is contributing to rise in networked individualism. I wonder if this trend is also mirrored among religious microbloggers. Interestingly Sanders also recently blogged about a study from professors at Gordon College that found Facebook might be bad for young Christians in that the compulsive me focus of Facebook might be a distraction to religious discipline. Interesting thoughts.

If there are others out there researching these issues let me know.

Christian Century: Navigating New Media

I just got a head's up via Stewart Hoover FB status that The Christian Century published an article last month on: Navigating the new media. The article focuses on reflecting on the impact of new media on the production and circulation of news with some notable opinions shared by Mark Silk, Martin Marty and Stephen Prothero whose book American Jesus I recently read and found very provocative. I encourage you to check it out.

An evening with Heidi Campbell in OZ

I am taking a little trip across the pond, as it were, to Australia for the weekend to visit friends and colleagues. In honor of my first visit to OZ my mate Paul Teusner has organized a get together in Melbourne and I hear there is still space at the table so to speak if you are interested (but he needs to know by Friday). Below is what he wrote in the official invites he sent out:

Dr Campbell is an Assistant Professor at Texas A&M University and one of the world's leading scholars in religion and online media. Her research has taken her from inner urban life in Glasgow through mainstream churches in Auckland to where religion, history and politics collide in Israel. Heidi's teaching and research centres on the social shaping of technology,rhetoric of new media, and themes related to the intersection of media, religion and culture, with a special interest in the internet and mobil ephones. She has written a book Exploring Religious Community Online: We are one in the network looking at how members of online religious communities connect their online and offline social-religious networks.

Her current research is an investigation of Jewish, Muslim & Christian communities 'historic perceptions and contemporary use of media technologies, forthcoming as a text When Religion Meets New Media.For those who have any interest in how online technology is shaping how people are seeing and interacting with the world, or want to know how creative uses of new technologies are making new opportunities for people to connect, grow and learn, this is a chance to have questions explored.

Heidi is also keen to hear stories of Australians who have tried out religion on the Internet, whether the experience is good or bad or somewhere in between. Come along and share with her what the 21st century Australian spirit sounds and smells like.

Date: Monday 12 October 2009. 7pm.

Venue: Pireaus Blues Restaurant, 310 Brunswick St Fitzroy (Melbourne).Sit-down dinner, a la carte (Main prices from $15 to $30).

RSVP: Friday 9 October to paul@teusner.org

Religion and New Media Google Group

I was just invited to join a Religion and New Media Google Group a few days ago. I encourage you to check it out this endeavor to create an international group for the study of religion and new media. There was a plug today on it for my blog and even a link to info on my forthcoming book, for which this blog was named, that I myself did not know about yet.

Parsis use new technology to keep religion alive

A friend sent me a link to this article how India's Parsis are turning to new media in order to keep their ancient Zoroastrian religion alive. This compliments some of the reading I have been doing the past 2 weeks about how ethnic enclaves employ media to solidify and maintain their religious identities in a diffused network society.

If you are interested in this topic I recommend also checking out:

P.H. Cheong & J.P.H. Poon (2009) Weaving Webs of Faith: Examining Internet Use and Religious Communication Among Chinese Protestant Transmigrants, Journal of International & Intercultural Communication, 2(3), pp. 189-207.

Twitteleh: Twitter for your Jewish Mother

If Twitter is wearing on you why not try Twitteleh: Twitter for your Jewish Mother....enjoy this parody video!

Religion in Video Games

A research colleague sent me a request sources for a literature review on religion in Video Games. While I have started to do a little research in this area myself I am at a loss to recommend specific resources. There just doesn't seem to be much published on the topic yet?!

So far I have come up with an older article on the Theology of PacMan and an article on Religious education and the challenge of computer games. Also there is book forthcoming entitled Halos & Avatars: Playing (Video) Games with God to be published by Westminster John Knox, 2010) which to my knowledge will be the first collection of articles on religion and video games (though I am open to correction if someone else knows of another on the subject). The book looks at variety of issues related to theological and psychological issues of gaming for religious culture. I have also contributed a chapter offering a narrative analysis of different genre's of islamogaming.

So if others out there know of articles, chapters or books on Religion and Video Games I would love to hear about it!

There is NO virtual ecclesia (?)

Stephen Garner just gave me a heads up on a provocative article entitled: There is NO virtual ecclesia. In it Bob Hyatt, an emerging church pastor from Oregon argues that failed claims that televangelism would create an electronic church that could reach the masses applies to much of the hype surrounding online church experiment.

While he argues some interesting and valid points about the limits of mediated church experiences and that online communities can not fully replace embodied care and interaction he seems to assume that offline churches always provide the social accountability and garner the spiritual investment of its members. He claims the virtual ecclesia is lacking because it is missing: the sacrament, discipline and accountability, service and equipping. However from my 13 years of research I would say that while it is not a given, that these aspects can be and are being integrated into many religious communities online. It is what people bring to the table and their level of creativity and investment online or offline that makes a gathering true ecclesia or not. The article is definitely worth a read and would like to hear others thoughts.

Also check out Shane Hipps interview at the National Pastor's Convention in San Diego (Feb 2009) discussing his views of "virtual community" and opinions on Second Life Church.

Cowan's Reflections on Sacred Space and Sacred Visiion

Douglas Cowan at University of Waterloo and author of Cyberhendge:Modern Pagans of the Internet and co-editor of Religion Online has been interviewed by Theofantastique on his forthcoming book on myths in popular science fiction. While not primarily focused on new media he offers some interesting insights on cultural constructions of space and the sacred in a media-ted world. Check out the \interview here and his thoughts on transcendence.

Digital Faith

I spent the morning at Auckland University for a half day conference on Digital Faith. It was a good mix of discussion and interaction on practical and theoretical issues related to doing religion online (and an added plus were the fabulous scones during the tea break!) Another highlight was getting to meet the first presenter, Mark Brown of the NZ Bible Society, f2f after interacting with him for over 2 years online.

Mark spoke on the topic of Monitor Mediated Ministry: Being the Church in the Digital Space which explored his own experience in using Second Life and Facebook to do church. He argued that often offline church focuses on an invitational of trying to get people into the pews while in the online context there is a shift to an incarnational strategy that focuses on bringing faith into to where people are at...in this case the internet.

Tim Bulkley spoke on Digital Audio and Reading the Bible Online and explored how digital and communication technology changes our engagement with text and information. He argued that digital culture changes our relationship with the Bible when it is presented in hypertext or especially new visual or oral mediums. He described his work with the PodBible project and his work developing Vernacular resources for church leaders so that new media technologies empower new methods of translation and engagement.

Yours truly spoke about the offline implications of online religious community as the rise of online community reflects changes in larger society's conception and practice of community. I also addressed how the internet challenges traditional institutions conceptions and practices of church as it offers alternative means of spiritual engagement and connection

Stephen Garner concluded the day talking about Who do you day I am? Digital authenticity, ethics and community. He spoke about the long tradition in Christianity of tension between spiritual and physical spaces and conceptions, and how the internet can highlight these supposed Gnostic tendency as it frees users from the constraints of the body. The result is a blurred space where question of what it means to be authentic online are debated. He raised some important ethical points summed up by a quoted from Ron Cole Turner: "Technology for all its good is constantly on the edge of sin, exploitation and greed, it is after human technology beset by our weakness".

So overall it was a great way to spend a morning in Auckland!

Reflections on Worship 2.0

It is amazing what one will find when one Google's oneself. Today I found a link to an article from Worship Leader Magazine entitled: Worship 2.0 Leaders that features a number of pastors, online entrepreneurs and academics talking about web based approaches to Christian worship. Amongst them is an interview from yours truly.

[Note: the transcript of my interview is a bit rough with some mistakes, but for the most-part communicate my intent.]

Calling all Kiwi's: Day Conference on Digital Faith

If there are any kiwis out there you might want to check out the upcoming Digital Faith conference at University of Auckland this coming Saturday. I will be there in a jet lagged state of mind having just arrived the day before for a semester in kiwiland.

The event will cover the questions:

-How do the Christian faith and the Internet impact upon each other?

- What place might the Bible have in our digital world?

Come and join us as our panel of expert speakers engage with these topics and others relating to issues of faith in the digital world.

Speakers:

Mark Brown CEO, Bible Society New Zealand & founder Anglican Cathedral in Second Life.

Stephen Garner Lecturer in Theology and Popular Culture, School of Theology, University of Auckland.

Heidi Campbell Assistant Professor, Dept. of Communication, Texas A&M University & author of Exploring Religious Community Online.

Tim Bulkeley Lecturer in Old Testament, Carey Baptist College & developer of the Amos Hypertext Commentary & podBible projects.

Saturday 5 September 2009 9am-12pm OGGB4 Lecture Theatre, Level 0, Owen G Glenn Building, Grafton Road, The University of Auckland Please register your attendance by Wednesday 2 September, with theologyadmin@auckland.ac.nz Cost $5 (morning tea provided)


FYI--I will be spending the semester as Distinguished Academic Visitor in NZ at the Vaughn Park Retreat Center. For more details click here.

Soul-Searching on Facebook

William Wan of the Washington Post has written an interesting article called Soul-Searching on Facebook which reviews how people feel about publishing their religious views and identities on the popular social networking site. It reveals some interesting insights into how young people feel about the presentation and negotiation of their religious selves online. Check it out.

Archbishop issues websites warning

UK Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols of the Catholic Church issued an official warning about the dangers of Facebook and Myspace especially regarding the impact of "transient relationships" on teens moral development. Check out the AP story I found at the Guardian online: Archbishop issues websites warning. Do you agree that SNS encourages a dehumanising of society?

Tweet Prayers to the Western Wall

According to the Arutz Sheva web site (an interesting site in itself if you want to gain greater insights into the Migzar/Religious Zionist online presence) posted an interesting article today called The Western Wall Enters the Twitter Age. An enterprising young Jew from Tel Aviv has taken it upon himself to post the tweeted prayers in the western wall. This extends already present services that allow you to email or sms prayers to the wall. For more info check out Alon's twitter page at: http://twitter.com/theKotel