Media and Religion

2026/2027

Учебный год

ENG

Обучение ведется на английском языке

3

Кредиты

Кто читает:

Институт медиа

Статус:

Курс по выбору

Когда читается:

1-й курс, 4 модуль

Course Syllabus

Abstract

This course is designed to introduce the complexity of religious life in general and importance of the correct covering of this very sensitive object. Essential part of the course is focused on particular issues of contemporary Russian society, secularization and de-secularization processes (Casanova, Taylor, Hoover), mass media role in discovering and neutralizing the tensions between religious groups and society. The critical perspective is focused both on religion and media as a social institutions in the theoretical frame of dialogue and consensus in the public sphere (Habermas).

Learning Objectives

• To get acquainted with historical and theoretical aspects of relations between religion and mass media
• To consider the processes of secularization and desecularization, specifics of Russian religious life and activities of religious institutions
• To study legal and ethical norms and principles of coverage of religious life in mass media
• To master skills of analysis of religious sphere and religious segment of mass consciousness

Expected Learning Outcomes

• differentiate historical and theoretical aspects of the relations between religion and media;
• follow legal and ethical norms and principles of covering religious life in media;
• obtain sufficient skills for oral presentations and class discussions;
• conduct a research in the field of "religion-media" relations (case-study, content-analysis, comparative study);
• write an analytical essay on the contemporary religion situation in Russia.

Course Contents

• Theoretical foundations for the study of media and religion.
• Mediatization of religion: the concept and its operationalization
• Religion, faith, identity in Russian mass communication
• Legal aspects of coverage of religious life in Russian media
• Ethical aspects of interaction between media and religion
• Religious ethos and journalistic ethics
• Religious initiatives to regulate the Russian media
• Structural-semantic and functional aspects of Russian media texts about religion
• Genre features of coverage of religious life in the Russian media
• Linguistic and functional specificity of Russian media texts on religious topics
• Dysfunctional manifestations in the coverage of religious life in the Russian media
• Media-religious communication crises and ways to overcome them
• Humor in media texts about religion as a conflict factor
• Formation and expression of religious identity on the Internet
• Religious topics in social networks
• Optimization of interaction between religion and media: teleological foundations and normative models
• Basic principles for constructing a normative model of interaction between religion and the media in the space of public dialogue

Assessment Elements

• Analyzing views of religious leaders / religious leader’s blog
• Discussing research on religious journalism
• Theoretically and empirically grounded final project
• Attendance of classes & Activity during the course

Interim Assessment

• 2026/2027 4th module
  0.4 * Theoretically and empirically grounded final project + 0.2 * Attendance of classes & Activity during the course + 0.2 * Analyzing views of religious leaders / religious leader’s blog + 0.2 * Discussing research on religious journalism

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

• The Routledge encyclopedia of religion, communication, and media, , 2010

Recommended Additional Bibliography

• Eldridge, J. (2003). Mediating Religion: Conversations in Media, Religion and Culture (Book). Studies in World Christianity, 9(1), 127–128. https://doi.org/10.3366/swc.2003.9.1.127