PRESS RELEASE: 2022 Digital Religion Research Award winner is Dr. Giulia Evolvi for her article: Religion and the internet: Digital religion, (hyper)mediated spaces, and materiality

PRESS RELEASE:

2022 Digital Religion Research Award winner is Dr. Giulia Evolvi for her article:
Religion and the internet: Digital religion, (hyper)mediated spaces, and materiality
The Network for New Media, Religion and Digital Culture Studies (NMRDC) is happy to announce Dr. Giulia Evolvi as the winner of the 2022 Digital Religion Research Award.

Dr. Evolvi is a Lecturer in Media and Communication at Erasmus University. She will be receiving this
year’s award based on her contribution in her article “Religion and the internet: digital religion,
(hyper)mediated spaces, and materiality,” published in the Journal for Religion, Society and Politics in
2021. This work was described as conceptually coherent, creative, and theoretically important. Dr.
Evolvi’s research expands the current scholarly conversation within Digital Religion studies by
combining conceptual approaches to the study of space, materiality, and hybridity to the study of
digital religion. This work helps advance conversations within the field through her presentation of an
innovative theory of hypermediated religious spaces that highlights the importance of engaging
notions of materiality and space when seeking to theorize about the influence of Digital Religion within
cultural spaces.

Dr. Evolvi is the fourth recipient of the recently established Digital Religion Research Award which
recognizes the work of scholars whose research and publications promote and expand the field of
Digital Religion studies. This area of scholarship explores how religious groups and practices intersect
and engage with digital media in ways that influences online and offline expressions of religion.
Decisions about the Award are made by members of the Advisory Board of the Network for New
Media, Religion and Digital Culture Studies. These individuals evaluate submissions based on how well
a scholar’s work expands the current knowledge within the research area and sophisticatedly applies
the approaches and concepts developed by Dr. Heidi A. Campbell, who is the founder of the Network
as well as a pioneer in the field of Digital Religion studies.

Dr. Evolvi will give the annual Digital Religion Research Award Lecture on November 3 rd , 2022, in an
online Zoom webinar sponsored by the Network for New Media, Religion and Digital Culture Studies
(NMRDC). More information about registering for this event is available at:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScxERnT3dUhzGNLTAcYlZ8oDfWG8Vm9...

The NMRDC is the premier international research network for interdisciplinary scholars and students
who study how emerging technologies, religion, and digital cultures interact and intersect. For more
information about the Network, visit: www.digitalreligion.tamu.edu.
For more information about the annual Digital Religion Research Award and the NMRDC, please
contact Heidi A. Campbell at heidic@tamu.edu. Our award winner Giulia Evolvi can also be reached
for comments on her research via email: evolvi@eshcc.eur.nl.

A call for submissions for the 2023 Digital Religion Research Award will be released in late 2022.