More than 80 speakers and presenters from 23 countries will be part of the Media and Religion: the Global View conference at the University of Colorado Boulder Jan. 9-12.
颁鲍-叠辞耻濒诲别谤鈥檚 (CMRC) will host the conference. All plenary sessions at the event are free and open to the public and will be held at the University Memorial Center, Eaton Humanities and Old Main Chapel on campus.
鈥淐onference attendees will be able to explore how religion and spirituality are mediated across global networks,鈥� said Nabil Echchaibi, assistant professor of journalism and mass communication and associate director of the CMRC. 鈥淐onference themes will include how religious identities are shaped and negotiated through a complex and creative use of the media in an increasingly global context.鈥�
Scholars and experts at the conference will discuss topics ranging from religious community building in the domestic sphere to activism and social change in the religious context, and perceptions of death and post-mortality in digital games and gamer-generated content on YouTube.
Among the speakers will be Jane Little, who will give a keynote address on 鈥淭he Coverage of Religion and its Discontents鈥� on Jan. 9 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Old Main Chapel. Little originated the religion beat at BBC World Service as well as her current role of religion editor for Public Radio International鈥檚 The World program.
Jason Anthony, a senior editor at Time Inc., will be one of several panelists at the plenary session, 鈥淩eligion and Digital Media: Scholarship, Journalism and the Spaces in Between,鈥� on Jan. 11 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in room 250 of Eaton Humanities.
Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu will speak at a plenary session on Jan. 10 from 9 to 10:30 a.m. in the University Memorial Center, room 235. As a professor at Trinity Theological Seminary in Accra, Ghana, Asamoah-Gyadu鈥檚 teaching areas include non-western Christianity; Pentecostalism; religion, theology and media in Africa; and new religious movements in Africa.
Magali do Nascimento Cunha will speak at a plenary session on Jan. 10 from 6:15 to 7:45 p.m. in the University Memorial Center, room 235. She is a professor at the Methodist University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, who researches media and religion; religion and society; cultural studies and practical theology.
This will be the fifth in a series of international and interdisciplinary conferences presented by the CMRC, bringing together scholars, experts and the campus community to examine emerging issues in media and religion.
The Media and Religion conference is supported by the Henry Luce Foundation; CU-Boulder Journalism and Mass Communication; the University of Colorado President鈥檚 Fund for the Arts and Humanities; the Department of Religious Studies; the Multicultural Mosaic Foundation; 颁鲍-叠辞耻濒诲别谤鈥檚 Center for Asian Studies; and 颁鲍-叠辞耻濒诲别谤鈥檚 College of Media, Communication and Information initiative.
The conference Twitter hashtag is #cmrc2014. For more information about the Center for Media, Religion and Culture visit . For more information about the conference, including a complete schedule, visit .
Jane Little. (Courtesy the Center for Media, Religion and Culture)
