August 5-8, 2025 Boston College

14th Biennial ISMRC Conference

Religion and Media in the Age of Polycrisis

  • Paper Presentations

    View a detailed schedule of the conference.

    Participants should prepare a 15-minute presentation. Participants should bring their own computers to show slides. The projector connection is HDMI, but we will have adapters if needed. 

    Traveling to Boston College: More info

    Field trip sign-up form, complete by July 28.

  • Schedule

    Tuesday, August 5, daytime: Doctoral Student Pre-Conference Workshop.

    Tuesday, August 5, evening: opening reception, BC Art Museum

    Wednesday, August 6: conference panel presentations and keynotes.

    Thursday, August 7: conference panel presentations and keynotes. Evening banquet dinner.

    Friday, August 8, morning: conference panel presentations and keynotes.

    Friday, August 8, afternoon: site visits.

  • Keynote speakers

    “In the Wilderness of the Digital Limit Situation”  

    Amanda Lagerkvist, Professor at Department of Informatics and Media, Uppsala University, Sweden

    Wed, August 6,9:00 am, Devlin 008

    “Second Sight: W. E. B. Du Bois and a Religio-Racial Theory of Woke AI”

    Margarita Guillory, Associate Professor of Religion and African American Studies at Boston University

    Wed, August 6, 5:00 pm, Devlin 008

    "Is Everything a Cult?"

    Mara Einstein, Professor of Media Studies, Queens College, CUNY

    Thur, August 7, 4:30 pm, Devlin 008

Housing Options

Boston College residence halls

Single occupancy rooms: $112 per night

Double occupancy rooms: $56 per bed per night

Linen packages: $25 per bed, one-time fee for each person

No minors (under 18) allowed

Reservations made through conference registration.

Courtyard by Marriott

40 Webster St, Brookline, MA 02446 | Accessible to campus via the Green Line T.

$289 for king bed with sofa, plus taxes 11.7%

Reservation link

The Arcadian

1200 Beacon St, Brookline, MA 02446 | Accessible to campus via the Green Line T.

$260 a night

Includes free breakfast and wifi

Hotel website

Boston Hotel

40 Mt Hood Rd, Boston, MA 02135 | Accessible to campus via the Green Line T.

$199 for a room with one bed (up to 2 guests), plus taxes 14.95%

$219 for a room with 2 beds (up to 4 guests), plus taxes 14.95%

Includes buffet breakfast.

Reservation link

 

AC Hotel

395 Chestnut Hill Ave, Boston, MA 02135 | Walking distance to campus or accessible via BC campus shuttle.

Around $380-420 a night

Hotel website

Traveling to Boston College

Boston Logan International Airport is located about 15 minutes from downtown Boston. The Blue Line train and Silver Line bus offer regular service from the airport to downtown. The trains and buses accept credit card tap payments. More information on schedules and tickets can be found on the website for the MBTA.

If traveling by train, the Amtrak Acela and Northeast Regional trains arrive at South Station. More information on the Amtrak website.

Boston College is located on the border between the Brighton neighborhood of Boston and the Chestnut Hill neighborhood of Newton. It is accessible by public transit. The Green Line of the T has 3 branches that travel near campus. The B branch of the Green Line has a stop at Boston College’s campus. The C line has a stop at Cleveland Circle, and the D line has a stop at Reservoir Station. Cleveland Circle and Reservoir stops are close to each other and are serviced by a BC shuttle bus, which will bring participants to main campus.

We will run a special BC Shuttle bus from the Reservoir Stop to BC College Rd on campus (10 minute ride). This shuttle will run on a continuous loop from Reservoir to campus during the following times:

August 6: 8am-9:30am and 5-7pm

August 7: 8am-9:30am and 6-9pm

August 8: 8am-9:30am

Restaurants, cafes and resources right by the Boston College train stop:

  • Dunkin coffee, donuts, breakfast sandwiches

  • El Pelon Taqueria: tacos and Mexican food

  • Playa Bowls: smooties, fruit, yogurt bowls

  • Crazy Dough’s Pizza

  • Flat Breads Cafe: sandwiches

  • White Mountain Creamery: ice cream

  • Richdale Food Shop: convenience store

  • UPS store: copying, shipping resources

The area around the Cleveland Circle train stop has several restaurants to grab a sandwich, slice of pizza, or a meal, plus coffee shops, a CVS pharmacy, and a 7/11 convenience store.

Site Visits

Part of the ISMRC tradition is to have an optional site visit or field trip as part of the conference. These trips usually focus on the religious and media history of the conference location. Participants will have a choice of the following three trips during the Boston conference:

Trip 1: African American Religious History and Downtown Boston

Trip 2: Catholic Boston and Boston College Campus

Trip 3: Walden Pond and Transcendentalism

View more information about the trips and sign-up on this form.