A Public Lecture by Professor Xenia Zeiler of the University of Helsinki to Be Delivered at Vilnius University on the Occasion of One of the Largest Conferences of Religious Studies

The 20th conference of the European Association for the Study of Religions ‘Religions and Technologies’, organised by Vilnius University together with the Lithuanian Society for the Study of Religions, will be held on 4–8 September 2023 in Vilnius. At the conference, scholars from Lithuania, the European Union, the USA, South Africa, Japan, and other countries will share their knowledge and experience about ongoing and/or previous research, achievements and issues in science, the relationship between religion and technology, understanding religion through the prism of social technologies, religious studies in the digital age, and many other topics.

A public lecture will be delivered

Vilnius University is organising a public lecture during the conference to be delivered on Thursday, 7 September, 18:30–19:30, in Room 210 (Printing House Courtyard, Šv. Jono g. 4) by one of the main speakers at the conference, Xenia Zeiler, Professor of South Asian Studies at the University of Helsinki. The topic of the lecture is digital Hinduism. The lecture will be moderated by Assoc. Prof. Dr Deimantas Valančiūnas from the Faculty of Philosophy of Vilnius University. The event will be conducted in English.

Religious and digital media studies have been flourishing for about twenty years now, and they continue to expand. The public lecture will present research on one of the phenomena that has emerged in Hindu communities – “Digital Hinduism”.

Digital media is being used by a growing number of Hindu institutions, groups, and individuals, and they are transforming various Hindu practices accordingly. For example, since 2005, virtual trips to holy places or online rituals of pūjā or darśan have become popular among Hindu adherents in both India and the Indian diaspora. Moreover, research exploring the interaction of digital media and Hinduism on social networks (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter), chat and messaging apps (e.g. WhatsApp), or video games is becoming increasingly more frequent. The lecture will be dedicated to discussing the development of the latest research on digital Hinduism.

Prof X. Zeiler’s research is concerned with the interaction of digital media, culture and society in India and global Indian communities. Her research focuses on video games in India and other countries, digital religions, and global Hinduism. She also explores and teaches topics related to digital cultural heritage and popular culture, focusing on the Indian context.

The first time Lithuania has organised the conference

The conferences of the European Association for the Study of Religions have been held annually since 2001. This year’s conference is being held in Lithuania for the first time. The Association community decided that the conference should be organised in Lithuania due to the scientific activity, high quality of work produced, and the progress of the Lithuanian Society for the Study of Religions, as well as the prestige of Vilnius University in the international academic community. The event will present research on the history of global and Lithuanian religion and contemporary religiosity based on the latest theoretical perspectives; it will contribute to the promotion of religious science and studies, the development of research and studies of non-confessional religions, the promotion of the academic integrity of these studies, as well as to the establishment of an open society in Lithuania. The organisation of the conference is directly related to the integration of Lithuanian religious studies into the national and international scientific space, the dissemination of research results, and strengthening the creation and share of the knowledge of religious studies in Lithuanian and European societies.