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Press Release
The Marie Curie ITN proposal "Mediating Islam in the Digital Age" (MIDA) has been awarded
An international consortium of research institutes, universities, and non-academic partners in six European countries was awarded a research grant from the Department for Research and Innovation of the European Commission in June 2018.
Hamburg, 1 August 2018 – MIDA is coordinated by the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in Paris. The consortium includes 12 beneficiaries and 13 partner organisations. The German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) is one of them.
The MIDA-project rests on the premise that digitisation and technological innovation do have a tremendous impact on Islam, the effects of which are diverse and ubiquitous, and that they are reminiscent of technical revolutions in the past such as print technology. The rapid changes that are already occurring are generating a sense of loss of control and instability among the general public, politicians, journalists, academics, and, not least, among Muslims themselves. The spread of modern digital media and new technologies of communication, production, and dissemination are prompting researchers and social actors, Muslims and non-Muslims alike, to make sense of and understand these developments.
MIDA assesses these developments in all their dimensions by formulating three major questions: How does digitisation (1) shape Islam (i.e. beliefs, practices, societies, political organisations, social institutions, and outlooks); (2) modify the relations Muslims have with their past; and (3) modify and reorganise scholarship and research on Islam?
Among the beneficiaries, three institutions are in Germany:
Press Contacts: Dr. Jens Heibach GIGA Institute for Middle East Studies Phone: +49 (0)40 - 428 25-715 Email: jens.heibach@giga-hamburg.de
Verena Schweiger Head of Communications Department Phone: +49 (0)40 - 428 25-770 Email: presse@giga-hamburg.de
About the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) / Leibniz-Institut für Globale und Regionale Studien The German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) is an independent social science research institute based in Hamburg, Germany, and a member of the Leibniz Association. Its mission is to analyse political, social, and economic developments in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East, as well as global issues. The GIGA stands for an approach that is global in content, reach, and structure. It combines in-depth area expertise with comparative, interdisciplinary, and multi-level analysis, generating insights that are relevant from an academic and a real-world perspective. www.giga-hamburg.de