Mapping Religious Transformation in Boston’s Hidden Sacred Spaces

FAIN: MT-263908-19

Brandeis University (Waltham, MA 02453-2728)
Wendy Cadge (Project Director: June 2018 to present)

A mobile application, a website, and related radio programs that explore religious life in Boston through sacred spaces of public buildings.

“Mapping Religious Transformation in Boston’s Hidden Sacred Spaces” is a location based mobile application that provides an entry point for exploring how religious life in the United States is changing. It provides close readings of hidden chapels, meditation spaces, and prayer rooms that people in Boston pass daily but few stop to closely consider. In partnership with WBUR and Walking Cinema, the project focuses on three spaces in Boston: one in the port, one in a hospital, and one on a university campus. They tell the story of each, illustrating the effects of immigration, religious diversity, and the architecture of the sacred that underlie American religious change since 1950. Distinguished humanities scholars contextualize and make the project’s themes accessible. The project will create three fifteen-minute video pieces that include immersive audio and augmented reality for a mobile application; three corresponding radio pieces that will air on WBUR; and a website.

Associated Products