On completion of this course, the student will be able to:

1. Summarise, compare and critically discuss relationship of religion and media.

2. Critically analyse using appropriate concepts the representation of religion in different media forms.

3. Examine the influence of digital media on public discourse on religion.

4. Develop skills in presentation and discussion in a group context topics on relationship of religion and media.

Cohen, Y. & Soukup, A. (2023). The Handbook on Religion and Communication. Wiley & Sons. 

Connoly, D. & Mason, D. (2018). Reporting on Religion. Religion news association. 

Hoover, S. M., (2025). Religion in the Media Age. Routledge.

Cohen, Y., & Hetsroni, A. (2019). Monotheism and television: a comparative content analysis of religion in prime-time programming in the USA, Israel, and Turkey. Atlantic Journal of Communication, 28(2), 103–114.

Demarest,L., Godefroidt, A., Langer, A. (2020). Understanding News Coverage of Religious-based Violence: Empirical and Theoretical Insights from Media Representations of Boko Haram in Nigeria, Journal of Communication, 70 (4), 548–573.

Evolvi, G.  (2021, February 23). Religion, New Media, and Digital Culture. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion. 

Febrian, H. (2024). Visualizing Authority: Rise of the Religious Influencers on the Instagram. Social Media +Society, 10(4). https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051241286850

Laferrara, V., Fernández, M. C., & Israel Turim, V. (2024). Confession and Confusion: Misinformation about Religion in the Journalistic Sphere. Societies, 14(6), 84. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc14060084

Myers, S., Syrdal, H. A., Mahto, R., Sen, S. (2023). Social religion: A cross-platform examination of the impact of religious influencer message cues on engagement – The Christian context. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 191, 122442.

Smith, B. G., Hallows, D., Vail, M., Burnett, A., & Porter, C. (2021). Social media conversion: lessons from faith-based social media influencers for public relations. Journal of Public Relations Research, 33(4), 231–249. 

Regular class attendance (attendance at least 70% of classes)

Obtaining a minimum of 35% points (out of a total of 100 points) during classes (mid-term exam, seminar presentation)

Two mid-term exams; final exam 

Teaching activities (70% of the grade) 

• Mid-term exam 1 – 25% 

• Mid-term exam 2 – 25% 

• seminar work - 20% 

Final exam  – 30% of the grade