Yael Lazar, Graduate Assistant

Please note: Yael has left the "Religious Studies" group at Duke University; some info here might not be up to date.

As part of the Religion and Modernity track, my research questions the relationship between these two concepts and their efficacy for the study of contemporary Hinduism. In particular, I study the various ways in which Hindu practices and ideas are being mediated through digital and social media. My dissertation entitled “World Wide Devotion: Hinduism in the Digital Age” studies the numerous ways in which Hindu practices are being mediated and globally practiced through digital media. By drawing a map of contemporary digital Hinduism via illustrative case studies, I examine how media logic and use culture impact the nature, shape, and boundaries of contemporary Hinduism. These digital practices contribute to the globalization and universalization of Hinduism in various manners, and in multiple meanings of these terms, which will be unwrapped throughout my dissertation. My project asks how does religious practice change its contours by embracing digital media? How are digital platforms affected by the religious practices they mediate? How do these digital practices relate to their traditional counterparts, redefine sacred time and space, and shape religious experience and community making? 

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Keywords:

Digital media • Digital media--Religious aspects • Hinduism and culture • Mass media and culture • Social Media • Social media--Religious aspects