RLG337H1

Religion in a Digital Age

This course examines how religion takes shape in the digital age, exploring how online worship, virtual communities, and social media transform religious authority and practice. It also considers how digital technologies—especially AI and surveillance systems—are employed by authoritarian states to monitor, categorize, and criminalize racialized religious minorities. Through global case studies, students learn how algorithms and digital infrastructures shape what counts as “religious,” “cult,” “radical,” or “threatening,” revealing the politics embedded in technological mediation. The course further addresses questions of ethics, representation, privacy, and security in the digital era: how visibility, data, and imagery construct or obscure particular religious and racial identities. Engaging with theories of mediation, embodiment, and power, students will critically assess how digital technologies not only mediate religion but also participate in broader systems of governance and control.