Casa Árabe takes part in the project Mediating Islam in the Digital Age (MIDA) 

Casa Árabe will be taking part in the European Union Research and Innovation Framework Program (Horizon2020), Marie Sklodowska Curie - Innovative Training Networks (ITN) action, as part of the project “Mediating Islam in the Digital Age” (MIDA), coordinated by Maribel Fierro (of the Institute of Languages and Cultures of the Mediterranean and Near East, ILC), Araceli González (Milá y Fontanals Institution, IMF) and Mayte Penelas (of the School of Arab Studies, EEA).

An international consortium of university research institutes and non-academic partners from six European countries will be taking part in the European research project of the Department of Research and Innovation of the European Commission 2018, within the framework of the project called “Mediating Islam in the Digital Age” (MIDA). Coordinated by the “Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique” (CNRS) in Paris, the consortium includes twelve beneficiaries and thirteen associated organizations, amongst which is the “Institute of Languages and Cultures of the Mediterranean and Near East,” the Milá y Fontanals Institution (IMF) and the School of Arab Studies (EEA) of the Spanish National Scientific Research Council (CSIC), the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, the University of Barcelona and the University of Granada.

The project, coordinated by Maribel Fierro (ILC), Araceli González (FMI) and Mayte Penelas (EEA), is included within the Innovative Training Networks (ITN) action, the goal of which is to use an international network of public and private centers to train a new generation of creative and innovative researchers who are able to transform knowledge and ideas into products and services which benefit the European Union socially and economically.

More specifically, the MIDA project is based on the premise that digitalization and technological innovation are having a major impact on Islam, with wide-ranging effects everywhere, reminiscent of the technical revolutions of the past (as was the case with printing technology). The fast changes which are taking place are creating a sensation of losing control and instability among the public at large, politicians, journalists, scholars and, of no less importance, Muslims themselves. The spreading of modern digital media and new technologies for communication, production and dissemination are spurring researchers and social role-players, both Muslims and non-Muslims, to give meaning to these developments in an attempt to understand them.

MIDA will be evaluating these developments in all their dimensions through three main questions:
(1) How does digitalization shape Islam? (for example, through beliefs, practices, societies, political organizations, social institutions and perspectives);
(2) How are Muslims relationships with their past changed?, and
(3) How are studies and research on Islam modified and reorganized?

Further information at:
Marie Curie ITN
Institute of Languages and Cultures of the Mediterranean and Near East (ILC)
Institución Milá y Fontanals (IMF) 
School of Arab Studies (EEA)