Lived Religion in the Digital Age 2018-2019 Research Fellowships
Lived Religion in the Digital Age (LRDA) is new research initiative at Saint Louis University that works with local and regional religious communities, museums, parks, schools, and other civic organizations to develop deeply-considered, multisensory inventories of lived religion. We define the “digital age” as a historical periodization that has conditioned new lived experiences and new modes of understanding the past. Utilizing historical, archival, ethnographic, and digital research methods, LRDA promotes sustained conversation across disciplines, professions, and communities to develop richer understandings of religion (broadly defined to include people, practices, objects, spaces, and ethical, normative, and theological commitments) in place and to develop research models better situated to understand the translation of lived, local experiences into digital products. We are partnering with SLU’s Ong Center for Digital Humanities to build a publicly accessible interactive database of religious life and practice.
We invite scholars trained in religion, theology, anthropology, sociology, history, digital humanities, political science, urban studies, American studies, communication, museum studies, fine and performing arts, and other related fields to participate in these efforts through competitive research fellowships. Awards will be made available to colleagues of all ranks and faculty status, independent scholars, advanced graduate students, and other professionals whose work contributes to a multidisciplinary study of local, lived religion in the digital age. Research Fellows will be expected to contribute to the project’s interactive database during their funding period (short-term or within the award year) and may be invited to present their work to the project’s annual academic symposium. For projects funded between January 1 and December 31, 2019, we are especially interested in those that map local religion in creative, responsive, and collaborative ways (for projects beginning in 2020, we anticipate focusing on the theme of “performing religion”). Priority this cycle will be given to projects relating to religion in St. Louis, but projects relating to any locality in the United States are encouraged. No prior digital humanities experience is required.