Spreading academic works sometimes goes beyond just writing articles.
Therefore, even if I do not particularly love my voice, I decided to get my work out there in different formats (also, sometimes I don’t have money/time to go to conferences, or global pandemics happen, so I do video presentations). Here some links to my recent works, as videos (in English and Italian) or podcasts.
Videos in English
I have always admired the work of the scholars in the Network for New Media, Religion and Digital Culture Studies (NMRDC), so it was an honour for me to win the 2022 Digital Religion Research Award. Since it would not be practical for me to travel to Texas, I gave an online talk about the article which won the award.
“The Church Never Closed”: Digital Religion, Space, and Materiality
This is my very first international keynote speech, for the ESA RN-34 Sociology of Religion conference that was going to happen in Groningen before COVID happened, as I explain here. In the presentation, I explain why the study of digital religion needs to take into account space and materiality to account for today’s digital practices
The Mediterranean Border: Migration and Populism in Matteo Salvini’s Islamophobic Tweets
This is a presentation done the Imagined Borders, Epistemic Freedoms at the University of Colorado Boulder, organized by my favorite CMRC people. Looking at far-right Islamophobic and anti-migrant tweets, I reflect on the fact that the Mediterranean Sea has historically be considered as a place of encounters and communication, and only recently became a “border” that allegedly protects Europe for the Muslim and the migrant “other”
Islamophobia on Twitter: Antagonistic Anti-Muslim Narratives About Brexit and Migration
This presentation took place at the American Academy of Religion Conference in San Diego. I present my work on Islamophobia through two case studies, showing how Twitter can, in some cases, create a fertile environment for hate speech. More in detail here
Religion and (hyper)mediated Spaces
I delivered this presentation at the Autumn School “Approaching Religion at the intersection of culture, society, language, and politics” at University of Mashhad, Iran. I took this as an occasion to talk about the theory of hypermediation using the example of anti-gender groups in Italy and France. More here
Tensions Between Traditional Authority and New Authority in Religion
In 2019, I invited Heidi Campbell to give a talk on the Internet and religious authority at Ruhr University, in Bochum. She gave an incredible presentation about the notion of Religious Digital Creatives. Some months later, I was thrilled to read a draft of her book on the topic and discuss it over a nice meal in Washington DC. And then, in 2020, I gave a talk about one of the book’s chapters. Book title is Digital Creatives and the Rethinking of Religious Authority (edited by Routledge), and videos about the presentation are available on the YouTube Channel Digital Religion Production
Gender, Sexuality, and Embodiment Online and Offline: Affect and Materiality
I had the opportunity to organize a panel with two great scholars, Dr Ladan Rahbari and Dr Myra Bosman, for the Dag van Sociologie 2021, which is the yearly conference of the Dutch and Flemish Sociology Association. I am biased because I organized the panel, but the papers on sexuality, gender, religion, and digital media are all very good. The video includes the presentations of Shangwei Wu on Chinese’s gay man use of dating apps, of Nika Looman on ageing transgender women use of dating apps, and of Myra Bosman on bodily pleasure in heterosexual relations. I present with Lale Mahmudova the paper “Likes, comments, and follow requests-the Instagram user experiences of young Muslim women in the Netherlands”
Video in Italiano
Here are some videos about my research in Italian. For English speakers: these are very cool videos, so sorry you don’t speak Italian 😦
Digital Gods: Politica, Religione, Media nella società di massa
Questa presentazione riflette sul ruolo della religione nella disinformazione, nelle fake news, nelle teorie del complotto. Una chiaccherata con il giornalista Alberto Giuffré e i professori Michele Olzi, Roberto Revello e Paolo Bellini dell’Università Insubria, parte della Milano Digital Week. Disponibile anche un articolo sul Corriere della Sera.
Autenticità, materialità e religione digitale: preghiere online e funzioni virtuali
Questa presentazione in Italiano viene dal seminario Il Dio virtuale: la Chiesa ai tempi della COVID-19/ Der virtuelle Gott Kirche im (Post-)Corona-Zeitalter organizzato dal centro di ricerca EURAC a Bolzano con la collaborazione della Diocesi di Bolzano Bressanone. Il seminario era in italiano e tedesco (con traduzione simultanea), e il mio intervento è stato in italiano perché non volevo martoriare le orecchie dei miei ascoltatori con il mio tedesco. L’invito è arrivato da una delle organizzatrici, Giulia Isetti, e qui si possono trovare tutti i video della conferenza.
Giulia Evolvi – Internet, religione, materialità: teorie e pratiche della religione digitale
Sono stata recentemente invitata a presentare la mia ricerca per il seminario premanente “I Santi Internauti,” un progetto che si occupa di studiare la santità online (e vi consiglio di seguirlo su Facebook, perché molto interessante). Ho dovuto candidamente ammettere di non sapere nulla di santi. Però ho parlato di religione digitale, delle teorie della mediazione, della mediatizzazione, del religious-social shaping of technology, e del quadro dell’iper-mediazione. Ho anche presentato un esempio di religione digitale durante il lockdown. Qui il video completo con anche le domande e la discussione.
Podcasts
“The religion and media expert” the IIA’s Podcast
I have been contacted to discuss fake news in relation to my work on Islamophobia and online hate speech at the University of Birmingham in March 2020. Spoiler alert: COVID happened and this exciting opportunity was canceled. However, organizer Charlotte Galpin invited me for a very interesting conversation for the podcast of the Institute of International Affairs of the University of Iceland, as part of a network of scholars that look at these topics. I enjoyed doing the podcast a lot (plus, they called me “the religion and media expert” which definitely made my happy), and I also warmly recommend the other episodes.
Ep 96 “Blogging my Religion” and media with Dr. Giulia Evolvi
I had a great time talking with Greg about my book, my work, and my research interest. This also lead to a trip to the Niagara Falls, but that’s another story. I also recommend everybody interesting in religion to listen to The Classical Ideas Podcast. More information on the podcast here
Giulia Evolvi 