Religion and Media Workshop: Theorizing the Glitch

Media and technology can enhance our lives, but are just as often subject to fracture, breakdown, and glitches. Yet, these disruptions are not simply indications of failure; rather, they offer opportunities to reframe our understandings of media, technology and religion. Indeed, glitches are often theorized through queer and feminist studies lenses that represent forms of alternative knowing and living. As digital religion and religious practices continue to grow and conversations about large language models continue to proliferate, we need to think about the ways in which religions converge with glitches. In this year’s workshop, we will theorize “the glitch” in studies of religion and media through a combination of roundtable discussions, shared readings, and presentations.