Panel: POST-DIGITAL RELIGIOUS EDUCATION: INSIGHTS FROM THE URPP «DIGITAL RELIGION(S)» EDUCATIONAL PROJECTS



79.3 - LOVE OF NEIGHBOR, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE - FOSTERING CRITICAL MEDIA REFLECTION THROUGH THEOLOGICAL NARRATIVES

AUTHORS:
Greuter F. (URPP Digital Religion(s), University of Zurich ~ Zurich ~ Switzerland)
Text:
Adolescents are growing up in times of profound uncertainty. Concerns about the climate crisis, fears of old-age poverty, wars, and increasing societal polarization are among the many issues that shape young people's lived realities. These conditions do not leave adolescents unaffected; rather, recent years have seen a marked increase in depression, anxiety disorders, and suicidal ideation among young people. An additional challenge arises from ongoing digitalization. While digital media offer opportunities for connectivity and access to information, they are also associated with risks such as data privacy concerns, the spread of fake news, and cyberbullying. It has become increasingly evident that merely acquiring technical competencies in the use of digital tools is insufficient. Instead, adolescents require both critical media reflection and the development of religious digital literacy, enabling self-determined, reflective, and ethically grounded engagement in digital environments. The study «Post-Digital Education and the Challenges of Artificial Intelligence» investigates the extent to which religious educational programs, drawing on theological narratives, can foster critical media reflection and religious digital literacy, thereby contributing to adolescents' orientation, meaning-making, and agency in digital spaces. This question is explored through a thematic focus on love of neighbor (Nächstenliebe), with initial empirical findings suggesting that this concept may function as a resource for adolescents in coping with digital challenges. The project is theoretically grounded in critical pedagogy, particularly in the work of Paulo Freire and Henry Giroux. Through a re-reading of critical pedagogy in light of digitalization, the study seeks to adapt this educational framework to the conditions of post-digitality and to make it fruitful for religious educational contexts.