The Department of Communication at the Cyril and Methodius Theological Faculty, Palacký University Olomouc, hosted the fourth annual workshop Digital Religion IV, held on 20–21 November 2025 in Olomouc. The event took place under the theme “Belonging in the Time of Displacement”, reflecting current academic discussions on how religious and spiritual life is reshaped in the digital era in the context of social, cultural, political, and existential shifts.
Digital Religion IV
The workshop continued the faculty’s established tradition of bringing together scholars from across media studies, communication, religious studies, theology, sociology, linguistics, and related fields to examine the evolving dynamics of religion online. It explored how digital platforms create new spaces for community, identity building, and spiritual expression, while also raising questions of exclusion, polarisation, and conflict.
The programme featured contributions from scholars across Europe, including keynote speaker Marta Kołodziejska, who opened the event with a lecture on deep mediatization and its effects on religious institutions. Across panel sessions, researchers presented case studies from the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Iran, Germany, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, and beyond.
Across two days, participants presented research on topics including digital participation in religious communities, religious identity and borders in online communication, new forms of religious belonging and disaffiliation, religious discourse in digital media, the impact of algorithms and platforms on spiritual practices, and the negotiation of authority and representation in digital spaces.
The workshop also included opportunities for more informal scholarly exchange, allowing participants to discuss future collaborations and research directions.
Digital Religion IV once again demonstrated Palacký University’s role as a growing hub for international academic discussion on religion in the digital age, community formation, and the realities of displacement in contemporary society.
Conference webpage, its program and abstracts are available here:
https://www.ethicsinmedia.eu/digital-religion2025
https://www.ethicsinmedia.eu/digital-religion2025/kopie-2025-abstracts-digital-religion
