The 18-month project focuses on 18 content creators who reach broad audiences on YouTube Türkiye and represent diverse religious perspectives. The research will examine the discursive and visual strategies through which these content creators interpret religious texts and contemporary issues, how they construct their digital authority, and how audiences respond to these forms of discourse. As part of the project, the videos will be analysed using multimodal qualitative discourse analysis, while 13,500 viewer comments will be evaluated through AI-assisted quantitative methods. The project thus aims to make an interdisciplinary contribution to the fields of sociology of religion, digital religion, digital humanities, and digital Islamic studies.
Led by Assistant Professor Mehmet Ali Başak, the project team includes Assistant Professor İhsan Kahveci and Associate Professor Tuba Erkoç Baydar of Ibn Haldun University, Associate Professor Mehmet Haberli of Bilecik Şeyh Edebali University, and Research Assistant Derya Eren Cengiz of Marmara University as researchers. Dr Akile Tekin of Bandırma Onyedi Eylül University and Dr Necmiye Durmuş of Ibn Haldun University are involved as postdoctoral researchers. Professor Kemal Ataman of Ibn Haldun University and Professor Gary R. Bunt of the University of Wales, United Kingdom—one of the internationally recognised pioneers in the field—contribute to the project as advisors. By bringing together researchers from different universities and an international advisor, the team further strengthens the project’s interdisciplinary character and academic impact.
By employing scientific methods to reveal how religious discourse is shaped on YouTube in the digital age and how new forms of religious authority emerge, the “Pulpit 5.0” project will further strengthen Ibn Haldun University’s expertise in digital humanities and digital religion research. We congratulate Assistant Professor Mehmet Ali Başak and the project team on this significant achievement and wish them continued success in their work.
