Immersive Religion: Harnessing Extended Reality in Teaching about Religious Practices

Our Teaching Tactics presentation will demonstrate some of the interactive features and in-class applications of Immersive Religion, a web-based, extended reality (XR) enabled digital resource offering annotated experiences of religious practices. We will also provide a sample lesson plan that models active, experiential classroom learning using Immersive Religion and examples of how these tools can be adapted to participants’ own courses.

The recent expansion of XR technology by Apple and Meta offers novel opportunities for religious studies instruction. In 2022, a workshop sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities brought together scholars of diverse religious traditions with immersive media creators and digital humanists to outline ways to embrace these new media technologies towards teaching religious studies. Since then, Immersive Religion has partnered with religious communities to create engaging and interactive virtual experiences of religious practices for use in college and high school classrooms.

360-degree footage captured at live religious services is integrated with explanations and analysis and offered through a web platform that allows for 2d engagement through web browsers (where users can "drag" the screen to explore the scene) and virtual reality experiences using either head-mounted displays (e.g. the Meta Quest, Apple Vision Pro, or HTC Vive) or Google cardboard viewers available at a fraction of the cost. However students engage with the experiences, they are presented with an opportunity to experience spaces and practices first-hand with explanations from those who perform the services.

Features of Immersive Religion include:

• 360-degree footage of live religious practices infused with translations, transliterations, and informational graphics
• Explanatory interviews with religious professionals and scholars
• Interactive 3d models of sacred items
• Virtual tours of sacred spaces with informational hotspots
• Integrated transcripts and other comprehension aids

Our proposed "Teaching Tactics" presentation will unveil the Immersive Religion website and make it available to attendees, as well as demonstrating a lesson that integrates the resource into a World Religions survey course. By pairing XR resources with guided instruction into the wider traditions, instructors can bring students into spaces they would otherwise not have the opportunity to explore while active practices are underway. Attendees will leave our presentation with access to digital resources and assignment lesson plans to integrate into their own classrooms.

In addition, the Immersive Religion project intends to create opportunities for student-driven creation, melding humanities education with developing skills in new media technology. Students can be guided in communicating with local religious communities near their own campuses, researching and filming rites, and processing 360-degree video footage into XR experiences. In addition, developing and holding informative interviews with scholars and religious professionals provides experience and insight into cross-cultural communication towards greater understanding and empathy. 

A website outlining the 2022 workshop discussions and outcomes--including a white paper delineating the methodological and logistical considerations of the project's future--can be found at https://www.immersivereligion.org/.

A trailer for Immersive Religion can be accessed through this link: https://youtu.be/ZZrnlFNV50E