Project description
Finding faith in virtual worlds
Religion is finding expression in digital spaces. In turn, this is establishing questions about how faith is embodied in virtual worlds. Traditional studies have examined avatars as identity tools, but few have explored their role in religious practice. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the DRIVEN project will investigate how avatars enable spiritual expression in immersive environments. Focusing on Christianity and Neopaganism, DRIVEN examines how users perform rituals, build identity, and engage ethically through digital embodiment. Blending philosophy, media studies, and anthropology, the project uses interviews and observation in games and social VR to uncover how faith is lived online. In doing so, it redefines how religious experience, authenticity, and representation evolve.
Objective
DRIVEN analyzes the process of avatar embodiment and its role in the expression and practice of religion in immersive virtual environments. Considering religion as an embodied experience, this project aims to provide a fresh understanding of digital embodiment, its potentialities for the
construction of religious identity, and how avatar-driven rituals enable religion's material dimension to be ethically manifested online. This will be done by combining phenomenological and posthuman philosophies, media and religious studies, cultural anthropology, and gender perspectives with a) thematic interviews and b) participant observation with unstructured interviews. Recent studies have proposed avatars as extended virtual representations allowing creative manifestations of identity or as devices of digital embodiment capable of affecting the user’s physical offline condition; however, none of them have contemplated religion as a research context. Also, scholars on digital religion have provided valuable insights on the material potentialities of digital media for the development of ‘lived’ religion (mainly after COVID-19), but none of these studies have included virtual avatars in immersive environments. DRIVEN will explore and analyze users’ avatars in selected digital games and social VR platforms where avatar presence and agency are most marked. The project will focus on Christianity and Neopaganism, two religious identities that make it possible to observe how users respond to the digital space in different ways according to their religious backgrounds. By exploring the avatar, the avatar-user relationships, and religious performances driven by avatars, DRIVEN will shed new light on the nature of digital religious practices and how the study of virtual avatars can bring alternative developments on aspects like experiential authenticity, religious freedom, disability, and gender representation, as well as the creation of ethical VR spaces for religious pursuits.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- social sciences sociology anthropology
- natural sciences computer and information sciences software software applications virtual reality
- humanities philosophy, ethics and religion religions christianity
- humanities philosophy, ethics and religion philosophy
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
08022 Barcelona
Spain
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.