About the Journal

Vol. 14 (2019) is out - Special Issue on the Dynamics of Religion, Media, and Community

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Vol. 13 (2018) is out!

We are pleased to announce that issue 13 (2018) of "Online - Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet" has been officially released. 

Despite the somewhat "ominous" issue number we are convinced, that you will find the included articles most interesting and we are very thankful to our authors for their patience, diligence and hard work!

Inside, you will find insightful contributions on the topics of religion on the internet (by Maria Sharapan and Franz Winter), religion and gaming (By Benjamin Jozef Banasik, Heidi Rautalahti and Michaela Šimonová) and religion and virtual reality (by Stefan Piasecki).

The editors of Online wish you an enjoyable read and relaxing holidays.

See you next year!

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Call for Papers - Volume 13 (August / September 2018)

The editors of Online – Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet (http://www.online.uni-hd.de/) invite researchers of all disciplines to hand in articles on their research dealing with religions on the internet and other digital environments for the next regular issue 13 (2018) – due for publication in September / October 2018. We are looking forward to receiving the title and a short abstract of planned articles until 15th of July.

"Online" is an international open-access, peer-reviewed academic journal published by the Institute of Religious Studies at the University of Heidelberg (Germany). The journal is committed to promoting and (theoretically and methodically) advancing scientific research at the interface between religion and the internet and digital media.

The editors welcome submissions from all academic disciplines and perspectives (e.g. Religious Studies, Game Studies, Social Studies, Cultural Studies, Media Studies, Theology, Anthropology, etc.) focusing on general and specific issues of religion and digital media, e.g. religion in videogames. Additionally, we encourage authors to review (new) books dealing with subjects relevant to the journal’s scopes.

Authors are expected to present their research in terms of relevant theoretical and / or methodological discussions and to be of interest to a wide, but mainly academic audience in a manner intelligible not only to specialists. Online HJRI is looking forward to submissions and inquiries of any kind.

Further information:

• Guidelines for Authors (PDF)
  
• Call for Papers (PDF)

Important dates and deadlines for issue 13 (2018)
(subject to change)

• March 1^st: submission of title and abstract

• April 1^st: notification on the acceptance of your proposal by the editors.

• June 1^st: submission deadline for full article.

• July 1^st: Deadline for comments, requests of revisions by the editors (if necessary).

• August 1^st: Submission deadline for revised articles.

• August / September: Publication of the online journal

Please send your abstract and / or further inquiries to the following e-mail address: online.religion@zegk.uni-heidelberg.de.

Brand new: Religion to Go! - Religion in Mobile InternetEnvironments, Mobile Apps, Augmented Realities and the In-Betweens

We`ve set off to explore the field of religion within mobile internet environments, mobile application, augmented realities and everything in between – and the retroactive effects of the new mobility on our notion of religion and religious practice. - And present you a variety of aspects and topics, starting with "Judaism to go" by Christiane Altmann, "Pókemon Go - How Religious Can an Augmented Reality Hunt Be?" by Sonja Gabriel, "Learning with tablets in a Church" by Mari Huotari and Essi Ikonen, "Mobile Liturgy" by Joshua L. Man, RELab digital - A Project on Religious Education in a Mediatized World" by Ilona Nord and Jens Palkowitsch-Kühl and finally "Pope Francis in Cairo" by Theo Zijderveld. Enjoy!

View statistics for Online - Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet (all volumes, all issues).

Call for Papers - Volume 12 (Oktober/November 2017)

Religion to Go! - Religion in Mobile Internet Environments, Mobile Apps, Augmented Realities and the In-Betweens

In recent years, the use of mobile phones has been increasing significantly across the world. Some statistics state, that in 2013, 73% of internet users accessed the internet via a mobile phone or tablet computer. These numbers are expected to rise up to 90% in 2017, when more than 4.5 billion people own at least one mobile device.

But modern smartphones are much more than just a means of communication. Equipped with location and motion sensors, Bluetooth and wifi, the devices are capable of collecting data such as location, time or surrounding environment without requiring user intervention and thus providing context aware services which are actively exploited and made use of by a vast variety and number of applications.

We are taking our phone with us everywhere anytime. And we are using it in nearly every situation of our daily life. – Including religion and religious practice.

The new special issue of online – Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet (www.online.uni-hd.de/) 12 /2017 „Religion to go!“ (due for publication in October/November 2017) sets off to explore the field of religion within mobile internet environments, mobile application, augmented realities and everything in between – and the retroactive effects of the new mobility on our notion of religion and religious practice.

Therefore we are calling for papers from all academic disciplines (e.g. Religious Studies, Theology, Game Studies, Social Sciences, Cultural Studies, Media Studies, Anthropology, etc.) dealing with aspects of this new, exciting (and as of now, scientifically not very much explored) area of religion online.

In addition to “traditional” / “conventional” academic papers, we are also setting up a section featuring introductions and/or reviews of mobile applications and best practice examples dealing with religious content and topics, including those applications created by religious groups and institutions (e.g. prayer apps, confession apps, etc).

Give us „religion to go“ – in the literal sense!
The journal’s language is English. For papers in other languages (e.g. German), please contact the editors.

Further information:

• Guidelines for Authors (PDF)
  
  
• Call for Papers (PDF)

Important dates and deadlines for issue 12 (2017)
(subject to change)

• April 1st: submission of title and abstract.
  

• May 1st: Notification on the acceptance of your proposal by the editors.

• July 1st: Submission deadline for full article.

• August 1st: Deadline for comments, requests of revisions by the editors (if necessary).

• September 15th: Submission deadline for revised articles.

• October / November 2017: Publication of the Online Journal

Please send your abstract and / or further inquiries to the following e-mail address: online.religion@zegk.uni-heidelberg.de.

The editors

Simone Heidbrink (Protestant Church in Baden / University of Heidelberg)
Tobias Knoll (University of Heidelberg)
Oliver Weidermann (Protestant Church in Baden)

Tadaaa! Vol. 11 (2016) is out!

After tackling a nearly grotesque heap of technical mishaps, we have finally managed to compile our brand new edition of Online - Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet.

The articles again cover a wide range of subjects and themes, starting with a case study of conflicts on Facebooks (Mona Abdel-Fadil), general considerations on researching religion in digital games (Frank G. Bosman), the importance of Web 2.0 for female jihadists (Claudia Carvalho), the use of Facebook in the context of a prophetic church in Botswana (Gabriel Faimau & Camden Behrens), a best-practice study of the augmented reality app "Aurasma" for religious education (Polykarpos Karamouzis & Michalis Keffalas), the use of religious terms on Wikipedia (Emad Mohamed), religious attitudes of travel bloggers (Tom van Nuenen & Suzanne van der Beek), religion as factor in age rating video games in Iran (Stefan Piasecki & Setareh Malekpour), Catholic online communication (Moisés Sbardelotto) and Catholic confessional apps (Sasha A.Q. Scott).

To all our readers: Enjoy! And have a Happy New Year 2017!

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Call for Papers - Volume 11 (December 2016)

The editors of Online – Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet (http://www.online.uni-hd.de/) invite researchers of all disciplines to hand in articles on their research dealing with religions on the internet and other digital environments (e.g. videogames) for the next regular issue 11 (2016) – due for publication in December 2016. We are looking forward to receiving the title and a short abstract of planned articles until 15th of July.

Online HJRI is an international open-access, peer-reviewed academic journal published by the Institute of Religious Studies at the University of Heidelberg (Germany). The journal is committed to promoting and (theoretically and methodically) advancing scientific research at the interface between religion and the internet and digital media.

The editors welcome submissions from all academic disciplines and perspectives (e.g. Religious Studies, Game Studies, Social Studies, Cultural Studies, Media Studies, Theology, Anthropology, etc.) focusing on general and specific issues of religion and digital media, e.g. religion in videogames. Additionally, we encourage authors to review (new) books dealing with subjects relevant to the journal’s scopes.

Authors are expected to present their research in terms of relevant theoretical and / or methodological discussions and to be of interest to a wide, but mainly academic audience in a manner intelligible not only to specialists. Online HJRI is looking forward to submissions and inquiries of any kind. Please contact online.religion@zegk.uni-heidelberg.de.

Further information:

• Guidelines for Authors (PDF)

Important dates and deadlines for issue 11 (2016)
(subject to change)

• July 15^th: submission of title and abstract

• August 1^st Notification on the acceptance of your proposal by the editors.

• September 15^th: Submission deadline for full article.

• October 15^th: Deadline for comments, requests of revisions by the editors (if necessary).

• November 15^th: Submission deadline for revised articles.

• December 2016: Publication of the Online Journal

Please send your abstract and / or further inquiries to the following e-mail address: online.religion@zegk.uni-heidelberg.de.

Religion in Digital Games RESPAWNED

With pride we announce our new special issue of online - Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet 10 (2016) on religion in digital games.

As the "gamers" among our readers will be very well aware of, "respawn" is a constant occurence in most videogames. However, while in-game it usually is rather annoying (especially when mobs respawn while the player is still out cold) we - the editors of the "games" issues - very much welcome each and every "respawn" in the form of new articles from the exciting field of religions in digital games.

And so - again - without announcing it or circulating a call for papers we are able to provide another special edition, thanks to a lively "respawn" of great papers by highly innovative authors!

So please enjoy online's "respawn"! And send us your papers (on this and any other research on religion on the internet)! We do like "respawn" of this sort very much ...

Vol 10 (2016): Religion in Digital Games Respawned

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Vol. 09 (2015) is online!

The new edition of Online - Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet features a multitude of articles, ranging from the crowdfunding of a new church, shari'a in cyberspace, the pope on Twitter, the internet site of Ahmadiyya in Germany, online authority of the minority of the Kyais in Indonesia and attitutes towards women's participation in public prayer in Judaism and Islam as well as a book review of Cybertheolgy: Thinking Christianity in The Era of the Internet (Antonio Spadaro, 2014).

Enjoy! We are looking forward to each and any kind of feedback by our readers!

Moreover, we have again received many great papers on religion and digital games, which will (again!) be published in a separate issue in February 2016. - And we will soon host another special "games" issue. This time with a "proper" call for papers. Promise!

Vol 9 (2015)

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Special Issue 08 (2015): Le religieux sur Internet / Religion on the Web

The new edition of Online - Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet is a conference issue, covering the proceedings of the annual conference of the French Association for the Social Sciences of Religion (Association Française de Sciences sociales des Religions) held in February 2013.

The guest-editors of this issue Fabienne Duteil-Ogata, Isabelle Jonveaux, Lilane Kuczynski and Sophie Nizard, who were also in charge of the conference, present an interesting cross section of studies on religion in digital contexts done in France and French spoken countries.

If you always wanted to explore the state of digital religion research in France without reading French – here you go!

Call for Papers - Volume 09 (November 2015)

The editors of Online – Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet (http://www.online.uni-hd.de/) invite researchers of all disciplines to hand in articles on their research dealing with religions on the internet and other digital environments (e.g. videogames) for the next regular issue 09 (2015) – due for publication in November 2015. We are looking forward to receiving the title and a short abstract (max. 250 words) of planned articles until 1^st of June.

Online HJRI is an international open-access, peer-reviewed academic journal published by the Institute of Religious Studies at the University of Heidelberg (Germany). The journal is committed to promoting and (theoretically and methodically) advancing scientific research at the interface between religion and the internet and digital media.

The editors welcome submissions from all academic disciplines and perspectives (e.g. Religious Studies, Game Studies, Social Studies, Cultural Studies, Media Studies, Theology, Anthropology, etc.) focusing on general and specific issues of religion and digital media, e.g. religion in videogames. Additionally, we encourage authors to review (new) books dealing with subjects relevant to the journal’s scopes.

Authors are expected to present their research in terms of relevant theoretical and / or methodological discussions and to be of interest to a wide, but mainly academic audience in a manner intelligible not only to specialists. Online HJRI is looking forward to submissions and inquiries of any kind. Please contact online.religion@zegk.uni-heidelberg.de.

Further information:

• Call for Papers (PDF)
• Guidelines for Authors (PDF)

Important dates and deadlines for issue 09 (2015)
(subject to change)

• June 1st: submission of title and abstract
• June 15th: Notification on the acceptance of your proposal by the editors.
• August 1st: Submission deadline for full article.
• September 1st: Deadline for comments, requests of revisions by the editors (if necessary).
• October 1st: Submission deadline for revised articles.
• November 2015: Publication of the Online Journal

Please send your abstract and / or further inquiries to the following e-mail address: online.religion@zegk.uni-heidelberg.de.

New Mailing List!

Dear author / reader,

Due to popular request, we have set up a mailing list which always keeps you informed about news on the journal online - Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet (like call for papers, new editions, and any other interesting stuff that might come up). We want to invite you to subscribe by sending an e-mail (no subject) to the following address: listserv@listserv.uni-heidelberg.de.

The text must be as follows (case sensitive!):

SUBSCRIBE irw-online-journal [first name] [last name]

(Please replace the content in the square brackets with your personal data.)

In case you have any problems with the subscription process, please let us know (online.religion@zegk.uni-heidelberg.de). We can subscribe you manually. - Of course, you can still 'like' us on Facebook!

Volume 7 (2015): Religion in Digital Games Reloaded. Immersion into the Field

The research of religion(s) in digital games is still brand new. Therefore, all researchers immersing themselves into this fascinating field are pioneers of sorts. Luckily, more and more research is being done, works are being published, conferences are being held, and journals are being launched, altogether slowly but surely adding to the consolidation of the research field in the contexts of serious academia. Therefore, we are very proud to present the second special issue of online – Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet on the topic of “Religion in Digital Games Reloaded. Immersion into the Field”.

To be honest – we weren’t planning this issue nor was there any particular Call for Papers! But thanks to so many academics who sent in their high-quality papers dealing with the topic of digital games and gaming, the idea for a sequel was born. And here it is!

While the first special issue (which was launched nearly exactly one year ago) was dedicated to reveal the huge range of possible methodical and theoretical approaches to the field (not all of which are necessarily compatible with the basic self-conception of cultural studies as academic discipline), the current issue’s focus is on the interconnectivities and interplays of game-immanent content with actor-centered receptions and responses – the implications and consequences of which are being discussed in the papers which are included in this edition.

Vol 7 (2015)

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Vol 6 (2014) is out!

What is the connection between digital media religiosity, Online jihad on Facebook, Virtual Christianity, religious topics in fan fiction, Kopimism, trans-European adaptions on Neo-Orthodox Tibetan Buddhism, Jainism online, Muslim Women on YouTube and online religion in contemporary Georgia? - It's all subject to the new edition of online - Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet!

We proudly present the regular issue 6 (2914) of our journal featuring a broad range of articles on all different aspects of religion online.

Enjoy!

Vol 6 (2014)

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Call for Papers - Volume 06 (December 2014)

The editors of invite researchers of all disciplines to hand in articles on their research dealing with religions on the internet. For our regular next issue 06 (2014) due for publication in December 2014 we are looking forward to receiving the title and a short abstract (max. 250 words) of the planned article until 1st of July.

Online HJRI is an international open-access, peer-reviewed academic journal published by the Institute of Religious Studies at the University of Heidelberg (Germany). The journal is committed to promoting and (theoretically and methodically) advancing scientific research at the interface between religion and the internet.

The editors welcome submissions from all academic disciplines and perspectives (e.g. Religious Studies, Game Studies, Social Studies, Cultural Studies, Media Studies, Theology, Anthropology, etc.) focussing on general and specific issues of religion and new digital media, e.g. religion in video games. Additionally, we encourage authors to review (new) books dealing with subjects relevant to the journal’s scopes. Authors are expected to present their research in terms of relevant theoretical and / or methodological discussions and to be of interest to a wide, but mainly academic audience in a manner intelligible not only to specialists.

Further information:

• Call for Papers (PDF)
• Guidelines for Authors (PDF)

Important dates and deadlines for issue 06 (2014)
(subject to change)

• July 1st: submission of title and abstract
• July 15th: Notification on the acceptance of your proposal by the editors.
• September 1st: Submission deadline for full article.
• October 1st: Deadline for comments, requests of revisions by the editors (if necessary).
• November 1st: Submission deadline for revised articles.
• December 2014: Publication of the Online Journal

Please send your abstract and / or further inquiries to the following e-mail address: online.religion@zegk.uni-heidelberg.de.

Dear readers,

In a Ubisoft Forums' thread on "Religion in Assassin's Creed" a participant called TJByrum2 wrote the following passage starting the thread: "Assassin's Creed has lots of references to religion and the Gods. Well, even though I am not very religious myself, I just love to hear about it, see it, experience it." In order to celebrate the complete redesign of Online – Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet we decided to dedicate this first special issue to a subject which is both highly relevant and mostly neglected by Cultural and Religious Studies: “Religion in Digital Games“!

Our editorial team was able to assemble articles by authors from many different disciplines and we are proud to present you with a truly interdisciplinary and multiperspective compilation which hopefully will encourage further academic research on the topic. So I am very pleased to announce the new issue of our journal. And I am pretty sure this only will be the first of many equally scientifically challenging issues of our journal in the near future.

I wish you an enjoyable read!

Gregor Ahn (editor in chief)

Vol 5 (2014): Religion in Digital Games. Multiperspective and Interdisciplinary Approaches

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The journal is always keen to collect high quality scholarship on issues relating to religions on the Internet and welcomes submissions pertaining to all aspects of theses matters anytime to be published in a future issue! Submissions and queries should be send to the following address: online.religion@zegk.uni-heidelberg.de