Research Updates

Authors: Katja Koren Ošljak and Aleš Črnič

On 11. September 2024 the project team from Slovenia held public presentation of the results of the national part of the project. They organised a broader public-facing event on the topic of religion in the digital age in Ljubljana where the research work and results from the recent study of digitalisation of the religious communities in Slovenia have been presented.

The keynote speaker was Marcus Moberg, Åbo Akademi University, with an introductory lecture in the history, evolution and state of the digital religious studies.

The event continued with a round table on Religion and spirituality in the digital age, moderated by Aleš Črnič, Faculty of Social Sciences – University of Ljubljana. Speakers Marcus Moberg and Nadja Furlan Štante, Science and Research Centre Koper, were discussing the topic with the members of the Slovenian Study of Religions Association.

Highlight for the local audience was presentation of the netnographic and ethnographic research of the digitalisation of the three religious communities from Slovenia: The Catholic, Muslim, and Hare-Krishna. Katja Koren Ošljak, Faculty of Social Sciences – University of Ljubljana, presented a netnographic study on the mediatisation of religion and the digitalisation of religious authorities. Taja Fortuna, Faculty of Social Sciences – University of Ljubljana, and Aleš Črnič presented findings from the fieldwork and results of thematic analysis of the interviews on the digitalisation of Slovenian religious communities during the Covid-19 epidemic.

25 people attended the event, including representatives of all three communities studied, including Mufti and a member of the Slovenian Bishops' Conference. Besides, the event was covered by three radio journalists, and a TV journalist, all coming from the national public broadcasting service.