Faculty of Theology · University of Bern

Digitalisation Project ChristianStory

Theology and Religious Education in the Digital Age

A digitalisation and public engagement project at the Faculty of Theology, University of Bern.

About the project ↓

Films & Resources ↗

Illustration: Schwarzfalter

01 / Project

Theology and religious education in a changing digital world

A project at the University of Bern

ChristianStory combines the communication of theological knowledge with research into religious and theological learning in the context of digital transformation. Based at the Faculty of Theology, University of Bern, the digitalisation project explores how animated films grounded in academic research and accompanying resources open up new approaches to Christian theology and history, and how they are used in different educational settings.

Digital platforms are changing access to knowledge and the ways it is communicated. Alongside schools and universities, new spaces for learning have emerged in which people learn independently, discuss content and assess its credibility. For theology, these developments raise questions about academic expertise, the digital public sphere and the relationship between individual and collaborative learning.

ChristianStory addresses these developments through two closely connected strands of work: developing visual educational media grounded in academic research, and investigating their reception, use and educational potential. By bringing together theological research, public engagement and empirical educational research, the project aims to advance digital approaches to communicating knowledge and deepen our understanding of religious education in the digital age.

02 / Research & Methods

Communicating knowledge through digital media and studying its reception

The project combines the production of theological educational media with a theoretically informed, empirical investigation of their use and reception. It examines how people access, perceive and make sense of theological content through digital media, both on digital platforms and in school and university teaching.

COMMUNICATING THEOLOGICAL RESEARCH

The animated films explore topics in Christian theology and history, drawing on historical sources and current scholarship. Academic content is adapted for audiovisual formats and developed through visual storytelling. Collaboration between researchers, scriptwriters and the production team combines scholarly rigour with an accessible and artistically distinctive presentation.

Accompanying scholarly dossiers explore the topics in greater depth and explain the sources, arguments and research perspectives behind the films. Supplementary teaching materials are being developed to support the use of the films in schools and universities and encourage further engagement with their content.

EMPIRICAL RESEARCH ON LEARNING AND RECEPTION

One strand of the research examines how the films are used on YouTube. Platform data and interactions are analysed to investigate reach, viewing behaviour and forms of engagement with theological content. Particular attention is paid to what these data can reveal about the reception and educational potential of the resources.

A second strand examines the use of the films and dossiers at selected upper secondary schools in the Canton of Bern and at the Faculty of Theology. Observations and surveys of school and university students explore, among other things, gains in knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of digital and aesthetic forms of communication. The findings are interpreted through perspectives from religious education and educational theory and will be presented in academic publications.

03 / Results

Making research visible.

ChristianStory’s animated films explore topics in Christian theology and history. Accompanying scholarly dossiers examine the content in greater depth and document sources and research perspectives. The films and dossiers are freely accessible and linked here. Academic publications from the Bern digitalisation project will be added to this section as they become available.