Drew University Theological School

Drew Theological School’s project, “Engaging the Intersections of Technology, Race, and Religion,” sought to increase institutional capacity for the integration of science and technology topics and to develop effective teaching and learning resources for ongoing use at Drew as well as adaptation to other contexts.

Campus events introduced the topics to the seminary community: Technology x People: A Black Posthuman Sociotechnical Framework and Technology, Religion, and Race: Progress and Its Racial Histories (click to view recordings). Two seminary courses explored the challenges and opportunities presented by the digital age. Drs. Kate Ott and Mark Miller incorporated content at the intersection of race, religion, and technology into Gospel Living and Social Transformation. This required course, which explores critical questions around witness, worship, and education in a global context, leveraged science engagement as an opportunity to raise student awareness about digital-social technologies – disparities, access inequality, data security, and social surveillance issues – as well as to hone student’s understanding of impression management as they curated their own digital media projects. Dr. Hyemin Na’s course, Digital Religions, represented an opportunity for students to further deepen their inquiry into the ways religious communities partake in and contribute to digital culture.

Drew Theological School is the Methodist-affiliated seminary of Drew University in Madison, New Jersey.