Publications
In numerous essays, book chapters and books, I deal with the topic of of media and religion from an interdisciplinary perspective. The thematic focus is on film and religion, migration, weddings, funeral culture, ethics and documentary film, religion in reality shows and audience research.
Further information:
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2152-9128
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Marie-Therese-Maeder
Academic Teaching with Short Films in Religion and Ethics, no. 2/2022
Editors and authors: Stefanie Knauss / Marie-Therese Mäder (eds.) 144 p. – ISSN 2414-0201 (print) and 2617-3697 (online)
The JRFM issue is dedicated to the topic of how short films can be used sensibly in teaching.
Short films are useful teaching partners because their brevity allows them to be watched and discussed in one lesson. Their often dense form allows for openness and surprise and promotes a targeted focus. In the five contributions and one response, the authors reflect on their own experiences of teaching short films in the subjects of ethics and religious studies.
Uncertain Destinies and Destinations. Audiovisual Perspectives on Migration and Religion
Media shape how we perceive migration, displacement, and religion by producing powerful images and narratives. Some offer moving insights into the lives of people forced to leave everything behind, while others use the topic to generate sensational headlines and dramatic visuals. Such portrayals not only influence public opinion but also raise ethical questions about how images of migration are produced and received. They invite reflection on the role of religion in these audiovisual narratives. This volume explores migration and religion from an interdisciplinary perspective, focusing on audiovisual representations in films, documentaries, television, short films, and press photography.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Theoretical and Methodological Challenges in Media Ethics and Religion, no. 1/2022
Today, global political, social, religious, and economic developments are represented and reconstructed through television, the Internet, and in social media. Media production and consumption involve choices that can be critically examined—especially through the lens of media ethics.
When religion enters the picture, key questions emerge: How do individuals and groups use media to express, challenge, or legitimize moral values? And how do media shape the public understanding of religion and morality? Media ethics addresses these questions, offering vital insights into religion and its role in public life. The articles in this issue explore various intersections of media ethics and religion, highlighting the topic’s significance in both academic and broader societal contexts.
https://jrfm.eu/index.php/ojs_jrfm/issue/view/15
Mormon Lifestyles
Communicating Religion and Ethics in Documentary Media
Documentary media fundamentally shape the public perception of religion. Religious belonging is often portrayed in the media as an expression of a particular lifestyle. Focusing on globally widespread Mormonism, this book explores how documentary media—also within digital and ethical contexts—engage with religion using specific methods and for various purposes, thereby helping to define what religion means.
https://www.nomos-shop.de/nomos/titel/mormon-lifestyles-id-98721/
Highgate Cemetery
Image Practices in Past and Present
Set within a Victorian garden landscape, the famous Highgate Cemetery in London has inspired people’s imaginations for over 180 years. Accompanied by an introduction to the cemetery’s history and significance, various authors from different fields of expertise explore the practices and socio-religious ideas associated with this unique place.
https://www.nomos-shop.de/nomos/titel/highgate-cemetery-id-86858/
Visible Religion
An Introduction to the Study of Religion (German)
This book offers an introduction to the study of religion from a communication theory perspective, with a particular focus on visual media and their role in shaping and transmitting religious symbol systems. It combines historical research positions with key theories and methodological approaches for exploring the interplay between religion and (audio-)visual media in both historical and contemporary contexts. The study of religion's overview and its potential contributions to the analysis of visuality is enriched with examples from European religious history and the present day.
https://www-degruyter-com.ezproxy.uzh.ch/document/doi/10.1515/9783110536706/html
„Who, being loved, is poor?“ Material and Media Dimensions of Weddings
This special issue explores the media and religious staging of weddings. In the cultural West, our understanding of the wedding event is shaped by novels, images, and films. We expect to see the bride in white because that’s how brides appear on television and in movies. We adopt these staged representations of wedding rituals and develop ideas of what a “real” or “good” wedding should look like—both normative concepts—based on publicly celebrated and fictional weddings portrayed in film and online media.
https://jrfm.eu/index.php/ojs_jrfm/issue/view/7
Leid-Bilder (Images of Suffering)
The Passion Story in Culture (German)
As a central narrative of the Gospels, the Passion story has sparked diverse and remarkable responses not only within church traditions but also far beyond them. Its reception spans a wide cultural spectrum – from painting to Passion plays, from Good Friday processions to the works of Bach, from church readings to socially critical cinema. Especially in the interplay between film and religion, which has shaped film history from its beginnings, the Passion holds a key role. The range includes dramas, comedies, and musicals. Historically, Passion films span from silent films to lavish historical epics and experimental auteur cinema. From an interdisciplinary perspective and with a focus on selected films, the contributions in this volume explore the cultural significance of Passion narratives in cinema.
https://www.schueren-verlag.de/programm/titel/565-leid-bilder.html
Thinking Methods in Media and Religion
Inspired by a 2014 workshop at the University of Zurich, this inaugural issue of the Journal for Religion, Film and Media (JRFM) focuses on methodology. The field of media and religion features diverse approaches, shaped by sources, research questions, and cultural contexts. This issue highlights three communication models: meaning-making as overlapping spaces, a gender lens on media and religion, and their interaction in contemporary art. Each section includes a lead article and two responses, offering critical reflections on non-linear, multi-causal relationships between media and religion.
https://jrfm.eu/index.php/ojs_jrfm/issue/view/1
The Journey as Search of Orientation
An Exploration of the Relationship Between Film and Religion (German)
Using the motif of the journey in contemporary arthouse cinema, this study explores the relationship between film and religion. The protagonists often undergo existential processes of orientation and transformation on their journeys, with religion and religious references playing a central role.
https://www.schueren-verlag.de/programm/titel/332-die-reise-als-suche-nach-orientierung.html
EN 
DE_DE