Conference on Digital Religion at Monte Verità

Just returned (about a week ago) from a splendid conference in Monte Verità, Switzerland. The event was hosted by the University of Zurich's University Research Priority Program (URPP) on "Digital Religion(s)". A most impressive initiative (see their blog here) which houses 12 leading research projects  with their respected PI team leaders and advanced students, all of which are headed by Professor Thomas Schlag. The event lasted 5 days and brought together scholars from multiple disciplines such as sociology, communications, religious studies and theology to explore different aspects of this emergent field. To learn more on the conference check out the Twitter hashtag: #Monte2022 

New Publication: Smartphone Religious Networking: Negotiating Contested Identities within a Pious Community over WhatsApp

Just published a new paper with my former student, Nakhi Mishol-Shauli, on the ways Haredi publics negotiate their identities through the use of public WhatsApp groups. The paper can be read here for free (no paywall)

Participating in The Sacred: Deities, Domains, And Digital Communities

Dear Readers,

I am happy to share an upcoming event on digital religion that I am of its conveners and chairs to take place at the European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA) which is to take place in Belfast, Ireland. The topic received much attention with many wonderful submissions. This has led us to extend the event to include two panels in the conference.

1st panel session and participants can be viewed here

2nd panel session and participants can be viewed here

New Publication - Legitimation of New Media for Religious Youth - in Memory of Yaakov Don

 

I'm glad to share that I have a new publication. The study focuses on Rabbis who constitute the educational elite among the Zionist Religious community in Israel, and their approach towards new media.

This publication is very special to me, not only for its content, but as my co-author, Yaakov Don, was a student of mine that was tragically killed in a terrorist attack several years ago. Yaakov left a rich database which I used for this study and the paper is dedicated to his memory. He is survived by four wonderful kids, Aviad, Yedidya, Maor & Rachel and his inspiring widow, Sara Don. Sara has assisted in gathering supplemental information which supported the manuscript's publication in its review stages. I thank her, and my doctoral student, Akiva Berger, who knew Yaakov very well and supported this study from its start.

The full paper is available for free (open access) here

Organizing Israel's conference for Doctoral Students focused on the Sociology and Anthropology of Education

 Dear Blog Readers,

For a while I have been engaged in organizing the Annual conference for Doctoral Students focusing on the Sociology and Anthropology of Education to take place on October 6, 2021. The conference is led by four primary universities in Israel: University of Haifa, Tel Aviv University, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Ben Gurion University of the Negev. It brings forth cutting edge studies of the young cadre of scholars in the field. This year the event is hosted by the Faculty of Education at the University of Haifa and the program for Education, Society and Culture which I chair. 

The conference offers the following panels:

• Education under the COVID Crisis
• Alternative Education and knowledge
• Religion and Identity
• Identity, Class and Political Socialization
• Educational Spaces: Beyond Classroom Walls
• Ethnicity, Periphery and Gender

For more information on the program, presenter names/abstracts, enrollment and more, please visit the Conference Website. 

CFP: Digital Youth and Religion

 Dear Readers,

I want to share with you a call for papers on a special edition that I am guest editing for Religions. Please feel free to share this with others that may be of interest

Religion and Inclusive Science Communication - Online Round Tables

 

Dear Readers,

I wanted to share with you an upcoming event I am organizing and co-hosting with colleagues of the University of Haifa and the Technion. The project initiators are: Professor Ayelet Baram-Tsabari of the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, and Professor Yariv Tsfati, of the Department of Communications and Journalism at the University of Haifa. In addition, leading participants and organizers include Dr. Lea Taragin-Zeller (Technion), Nakhi Mishol Shauli (University of Haifa) and Yael Rosenblum.

The event is based on our project on the ultra Orthodox Jewry and their modes of communicating science. We have invited international and local speakers, scholars and practitioners invested in mediating scientific concepts in everyday life. I am posting the flyer that we are distributing here and invite all interested parties to join in on the event. 

To register, please click here