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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 (http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/rics) 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 [log in to unmask] 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,
http://journalism.ryerson.ca/cms/websites/CMRC2010/index.aspx). 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
(http://journalism.ryerson.ca/cms/websites/CMRC2010/index.aspx) 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: [log in to unmask] or [log in to unmask]
phone: 1-979-847-9474


============================================
Heidi Campbell, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Communication
Texas A&M University
College Station TX 77843-4234
(email) [log in to unmask]
(web) http://comm.tamu.edu/people/profiles/campbell.html
============================================


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