May 26, 2021 @1:30pm | Virtual Worship: Exploring Immersive Videos of Religious Practices
Posted in: Work in Progress
This workshop explores the potential of engaging extended or cross-reality platforms (XR) for use in studying religious ritual. Worship and ritual services are a central piece of religious life for many global traditions, however students rarely have the chance to witness those practices first-hand. Institutional site visits that are a common part of survey courses usually occur when empty to avoid disruptions. Present-day technology has the promise to change that, using 360° video to allow students to be ‘present’ at worship practices. Along with a team of religious studies scholars, anthropologists, and XR experts, Dr. John Soboslai in the department of Religion is drafting an NEH grant exploring the creation of a series of immersive videos of various worship rituals appropriate for use in higher educationclassrooms. The pedagogical potential of such videos is accompanied by risks around the representation of religious cultures, cultural voyeurism, and the ethics of students virtual participating in religious rituals. Moreover, how to incorporate learned explanations and encourage recognition of the connections between particular forms of practices and specific cultural communities—thereby avoiding essentializing vastly diverse traditions—requires care in approach. This presentation will introduce the project and its purpose, enumerate some of the salient concerns of the participants, and seek feedback on the potentials and pitfalls of engaging XR in humanities and social science classrooms.
Please contact Arnaud Kurze or Kate Temoney if you would like to join the workshop session.
Wednesday, May 26,2021 1:30-2:15 pm. Session held via zoom.
