Michael Hong
Research Mentor(s): Rebecca Wollenberg
Mentor Department: Frankel Center for Judaic Studies
Authors: Rebecca Wollenberg, Michael Hong, Remington Lawson
Session: Session 3 (11:00am – 11:50am)
Presentation Type: Poster 13
Abstract
The Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have been represented historically and in popular media as separate, contradictory religious faiths that are at odds. This is strongly influenced by a history of war and social exclusion between the people of these faiths. However, this essentialist view discounts the practitioners of Abrahamic religions who have interacted and cooperated with each other across time. This project hopes to reach the public through an accessible website showcasing research on how the Abrahamic religions have been in dialogue. To accomplish this, the project utilized market research—an analysis of 36 religious and spirituality websites to understand the components of an effective site. From the analysis of various websites featuring articles, forums, and general information featuring the Abrahamic faiths, an outline of a website consisting of aggregate research was produced. Data collected from online traffic of popular religious websites was used to provide a reference for what makes a religious website both physically and intellectually appealing for potential users, ranging from scholarly texts as well as outlines of the religions themselves to provide a more accessible means of religious information. The outline provides a broad range of popular religious topics ranging from the afterlife to what defines a ‘good’ person. This is to provide a way to compare the respective nuances or even similarities of each of the Abrahamic faiths central to the research project. In addition, the outline gives a brief overview of what the religious website will potentially feature as referenced from the data collected from prior stages of research. This outline will serve as the foundation on which an informative, immersive, and engaging website will be developed to popularize often overlooked aspects of the Abrahamic religions and allow for future research and website development.
