معرفی
Stef Aupers serves as Professor of Media Culture at KU Leuven's Institute for Media Studies within the Faculty of Social Sciences. His research centers on cultural sociology of media, examining meaning production, representation, and consumption in contemporary digital cultures with particular focus on conspiracy theories, game studies, and religious mediatization.
His primary research domains include:
- Conspiracy Theory Discourse in Digital Spaces
- Digital Game Culture and Social Dynamics
- Religion-Media Intersections
- Popular Culture Analysis
- Mediatization of Modern Myth
Analysis of his 2021-2025 publications reveals consistent exploration of how conspiracy theorists construct worldviews through digital platforms, the commodification of religion in gaming ecosystems, and socio-technical exclusion mechanisms. His work demonstrates methodological sophistication in analyzing YouTube/Reddit communities, audiovisual rhetoric, and epistemological boundary work between mainstream and alternative knowledge systems.
Aupers actively contributes as keynote speaker, conference organizer, and academic journal reviewer, with expertise spanning media analysis, conspiracy culture interpretation, and science-religion discourse. His research provides critical frameworks for understanding contemporary digital culture's most contentious phenomena through cultural sociological lenses.
