I wrote this paper for my Religion, Theology, and New Media class. We were asked to write on a topic of our choice, and to analyze that topic from both religious and media perspectives. Since this course is research-focused, we also had to conduct research to support a hypothesis. I chose to research how religious fasting rituals are practiced and approached in modern day society, one that is seeing a rise in eating disorders due to media influence. In this paper I share some of the personal stories and reflections my followers submitted and found them incredibly insightful.

The Influence of Religious Fasting in a Media-Dominant Society

 

I wrote this paper for my Intro to Digital Technology and Emerging Media Class. Our prompt was to choose one topic from our class discussions and expand on it further. I was intrigued by our conversations on wearable technology and fitness trackers, and how these numbers communicated a sense of self to the user. We called this the “quantified self”. This paper argues that fitness trackers neglect the subjectivity of health and instead push a “one-size-fits-all” mentality. I suggest that wearable technology complicates efforts to live intuitively and can trigger unhealthy, addictive behavior.

Wearable Fitness Technology: An Unhealthy Obsession with Health