Methods Fellow Workshop:Digital Interreligious Encounters in Urban Contexts (DIEUX)

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Applications for this workshop have now closed.

As religious services and communities have shifted online so too have scholars of religion. But at what cost? These sessions raise some of the epistemological and ethical issues of doing fieldwork in a digital environment from an inclusive anthropological perspective with a close-up on a particular case study in each session.

The first session considers conducting virtual ethnography, what is gained and what is lost, with a focus on ethnography with Orthodox Jewish populations; the second session assesses digital surveys of religious communities and their attitudes e.g. what the 'bean-counters' might miss (and strategies not to) and finally in the third session we problematize the ethical tensions in online studies of community media with a particular focus on French Muslim media, already heavily surveilled.

The sessions are intended to develop researcher knowledge and explore cross-cutting issues that concern a broad spectrum of humanities and social science-based scholarship serving as;

• a forum for the critical discussion of digital methods and epistemologies,

• a place to learn more about specific case studies particularly in the UK and France, and

• an assembly of early research minds in the throes of a related or relevant project themselves who wish to share and learn from one another

This programme is open to graduate students and staff at the University of Cambridge. PhD students and Early Career Researchers have priority for the scheme, but applications from MPhil students are welcome to apply.

Number of sessions: 3

Seminars will consist of 20-25 minutes of tutor-led input and 20-25 minutes of case study investigation with a guest speaker and 20-25 minutes of discussion, covering key topics. This suite of sessions will include significant opportunities to discuss research projects (pre, doctoral, and post) in a supportive environment. In the designated drop-in office hours (Feb 24, 1 March, 4 March, 10-11am), the tutor will be available to discuss comments, questions and projects. Some minimal, simple and hopefully enjoyable exercises will be required outside of the sessions.

• Session 1 (1.5hrs) Monday February 22 @2pm: Virtual ethnography with Orthodox communities: benefits & challenges (guest speaker Ben Kasstan)

• Session 2 (1.5hrs) Thursday February 25 @2pm: Digital surveys & attitudes towards the religious Other: focus on Sarcelles on the Parisian periphery (guest speakers Nonna Mayer and Vincent Tiberj)

• Session 3 (1.5hrs) Tuesday March 2 @2pm: On-line discourse analysis: the ethics of conducting research on Muslim community media in France (guest speaker Hanane Karimi)