New Media and Religion: Observations on Research (Report‪)‬

1. Introduction What proper metaphor might we draw of an academic area of inquiry that has developed at an enormous speed, yet in a disorganized and somewhat messy manner? The study of new media and religion constitutes such an area. Scholars apply a variety of theories to construct different paradigms, many of which do help in orienting further studies. Culturally speaking, the study of new media and religion is taken up in the West, the East, the Middle East, and Africa. Because of the pluralistic nature of the origins of new media and religion, it is difficult to point to a specific discipline, a set of methodologies, or theoretical rationales as the prime influence.