Heinz Scheifinger
Assistant Professor
- Email: Heinz.Scheifinger@zu.ac.ae
- Telephone: +9712 5993272
- Address: Abu Dhabi - Khalifa City, FF2-1-012
Introduction
After gaining my PhD in Sociology from the University of Warwick, I held postdoctoral positions at the University of Aberdeen, UK, and at the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore. Subsequently, I held faculty positions at Universiti Brunei Darussalam, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia, and Keimyung University, South Korea. I have also had visiting positions at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore and at Asian University of Women, Bangladesh.
Qualifications:
2006: PhD in Sociology – University of Warwick, UK
1999: MA in Sociology – University of Essex, UK
1996: BA (First Class Honours) in Sociology – University of Reading, UK
Informal Interests
Chess
Research and Professional Activities
Research interests:
Sociology of Religion; Religion and Digital Media; Hinduism (especially contemporary Hinduism); Globalisation; Internet Studies; New Technology and Society; Social Media Use; Diasporas/Transnationalism; Religion (especially Hinduism) and Covid-19.
Teaching Areas
2021 – ‘Senior Seminar: Modernity and its Challenges’, fourth-year undergraduate course.
2021, 2020, 2019 & 2018 – ‘Comparative Intellectual Traditions’, third-year undergraduate course.
2020 – ‘Introduction to Culture and Society’, second-year undergraduate course.
2020 & 2019 – ‘Comparative Sociology’, third-year undergraduate course.
2019 & 2018 – ‘Critical Thinking’, third-year undergraduate course.
Scheifinger, H. (forthcoming, 2022) ‘The Covid-19 Pandemic and Hinduism’, in Jacobsen, K.A., Basu, H., Malinar, A. and Narayanan, V. (eds.), Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism (Volume VII), Brill: Leiden.
Scheifinger, H. (forthcoming, 2022) ‘Digital Hinduism’, in Jacobsen, K.A., Basu, H., Malinar, A. and Narayanan, V. (eds.), Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism (Volume VII), Brill: Leiden.
Scheifinger, H. (2020) ‘Reflections on Digital Hinduism: Sacred Images, Dominant Hindu Narratives and the Generational Digital Divide’, in Zeiler, X. (ed.), Digital Hinduism, London and New York: Routledge, 251-260.
Scheifinger, H. (2019) ‘Online Hinduism’, in Brekke, T. (ed.), The Oxford History of Hinduism: Modern Hinduism, Oxford University Press: Oxford, 162-178.
Scheifinger, H. (2018) ‘The Significance of Non-Participatory Digital Religion: The Saiva Siddhanta Church and the Development of a Global Hinduism’, in Balaji, M. (ed.), Digital Hinduism: Dharma and Discourse in the Age of New Media, Lexington: Lanham, 3-23.
Scheifinger, H. (2016) ‘Studying Digital Hinduism’, in Cheruvallil-Contractor, S. and Shakkour, S. (eds.), Digital Methodologies in the Sociology of Religion, Bloomsbury Academic: London, 71-81.
Scheifinger, H. (2015) ‘New Technology and Change in the Hindu Tradition: The Internet in Historical Perspective’, in Keul, I. (ed.), Asian Religions, Technology and Science, Routledge: London, 153-168.
Scheifinger, H. (2014) ‘Online Connections, Online Yatras: The Role of the Internet in the Creation and Maintenance of Links between Advaita Vedanta Gurus in India and their Devotees in the Diaspora’, in Sahoo, A.K. and de Kruijf, J.G. (eds.), Indian Transnationalism Online: New Perspectives on Diaspora, Ashgate: Farnham, 103-119.
Scheifinger, H. (2013) ‘Hindu Worship Online and Offline’, in Campbell, H. (ed.), Digital Religion – Understanding Religious Practice in New Media Worlds, Routledge: London, 121-127.
Scheifinger, H. (2012) ‘Conceptualizing Hinduism’, in Sahoo, A.K., Baas, M. and Faist, T. (eds.), Indian Diaspora and Transnationalism, Rawat Publications: Jaipur, 252-270.
Scheifinger, H. (2012) ‘Hinduism and Hyper-Reality’, in Possamai, A. (ed.), Handbook of Hyper-Real Religions, Brill: Leiden, 299-318.
Scheifinger, H. (2012) ‘Internet’, in Jacobsen, K.A., Basu, H., Malinar, A. and Narayanan, V. (eds.), Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism (Volume IV), Brill: Leiden, 700-706.
Scheifinger, H. (2010) ‘Internet Threats to Hindu Authority: Puja Ordering Websites and the Kalighat Temple’, Asian Journal of Social Science 38 (4): 636-656.
Scheifinger, H. (2010) ‘Om-line Hinduism: World Wide Gods on the Web’, Australian Religion Studies Review 23 (3): 325-345.
Scheifinger, H. (2010) ‘Hindu Embodiment and the Internet’, Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet 4 (1): 196-219.
Scheifinger, H. (2009) ‘The Jagannath Temple and Online Darshan’, Journal of Contemporary Religion 24 (3): 277-290.
Scheifinger, H. (2008) ‘Hinduism and Cyberspace’, Religion 38 (3): 233-249.
Scheifinger, H. (2008) ‘Researching Religion on the WWW: Identifying an Object of Study for Hinduism’, Methodological Innovations Online 2 (3): 30-49.
Working paper:
Scheifinger, H. (2009) ‘Conceptualising Hinduism’, ARI Working Paper 110: 3-17.
Book reviews:
Scheifinger, H. (2016) ‘Webcam’ by Miller, D. & Sinanan, J., Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 22 (3): 752-753.
Scheifinger, H. (2016) ‘Buddhism, the Internet, and Digital Media: The Pixel in the Lotus’ by Grieve, G.P. & Veidlinger, D., Journal of Contemporary Religion 31 (1): 151-153.
