News
- Online Inform Seminar – Tuesday 12 July 17:30-19:30 BST
New Media and New Religiosity – Possibilities and Pitfalls?
How has technology changed how we understand and perceive the world? New Religious Movements have taken a variety of approaches to new media, sometimes being ‘early adopters of technology’ and using the media to great effect. Some social movements, which are based almost entirely in online social networking spaces, have been identified as ‘cultic groups’ and ‘new religions’ in themselves.
What role does the visual have on contemporary religious identification and practice? What can we learn about new media and new religiosity from studying the imagery they employ? How does the imagery in virtual forums relate to embodied and material experiences, protests, activism and ‘real world’ choices?
- It is with great sadness that we learned of the death of Professor James Beckford (1942-2022) after a short illness. Jim was an important force in the life of Inform, joining the Board of Governors in 1991, two years after it had opened, and was actively involved in the regular governance of Inform until his retirement from the Board in September 2018.
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