Department of Religion Professor receives NEH Digital Humanities Grant

What if you could learn about the practices of different religions by attending them without having to leave your home? That idea lays at the core of “Seeing What Takes Place,” a grant project led by John Soboslai of the department of Religion, which was recently funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The grant will support a meeting at Montclair State between scholars of various religious traditions and experts in extended reality (XR) and digital humanities to discuss how to create a set of immersive, interactive videos of religious services and practices. By incorporating XR, users will potentially be able to use their smartphones to be virtually present at rites like Jewish Shabbat services, Hindu puja rituals, Muslim daily prayers, and more.

In addition, grant participants will explore means of using interactive elements that would allow users to explore the meanings behind the practices and hear about their history and development from scholars and practitioners. The exploratory session will consider how to represent the diversity of religious forms, navigate cultural / religious distinctions, and determine best practices for developing relationships with religious communities.

The meeting is set to be held this coming June.