Course Syllabus
“If the churches are to participate in the church, they must be creatively transformed through their openness to Christ. This means that they must accept ideas and practices against which they have been protecting themselves. But it does not mean that they should accept uncritically what is foreign to their traditions. … Creative transformation for the Christian community involves the heightening of criticism both of itself and of that which it finds outside itself.”
– John B. Cobb, Jr., and David Ray Griffin. Process Theology: An Introductory Exposition (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1976), 131
Reality television. Left Behind. Graphic novels. PowerPoint sermons. There is no denying that technological media are an inescapable part of almost every aspect of 21st century life. Religious communities (and individuals) often take an all-or-nothing approach to technology and popular culture: either there's no question that technological culture is to be used uncritically, or it's so dangerous that it ought to be rejected entirely. Discussions about so-called 'religion' take the same form: that religion (at least our religion) is obviously a beneficial part of society, or that it is so dangerous that it ought to be banned in all its various forms. This class will explore the complicated spaces in between.
The popular and academic field is filled with publications like The Gospel According to The Lord of the Rings, and the religious field filled with YouTube clips in sermons – but how are these publications and presentations to be understood? This class will not only be a survey of interesting manifestations of religion in pop culture, but we will also do some serious thinking about the role of religion and media in society. The class will also think together about the use of media in religious communities themselves - communities to which many of us will be contributing. We will work together to explore questions about the role of mass media in contemporary society and the further development of one’s own understanding of religion and particular theology. The selected texts below, as well as ongoing encounters in class and in journals with film, short stories, graphic novels, popular music, etc., will give some groundwork to this communal reflection. Your final position paper will use the studied theories of media criticism and definitions of religion to examine critically a media artifact of your choice. Combining a cultural/critical studies theoretical approach with primary media and secondary theology-about-media, this class will help all of us as future leaders to think before we press play.
Basic Attendance and Participation
Books for This Course
Common Text:
Cobb, Kelton. The Blackwell Guide to Theology and Popular Culture. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2005. ISBN 978-1405107020.
Presentation Texts:
One of the following – you may also suggest another book with permission of the instructor. Please DO NOT BUY YOUR PRESENTATION TEXT until you have discussed it with me by the first week of class.
Bruner, Kurt, and Jim Ware. Finding God in Lord of the Rings. Tyndale Momentum, 2006. ISBN 978-1414312798. or,
Clark, Lynn Schofield. From Angels to Aliens: Teenagers, the Media and the Supernatural. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. ISBN 978-0195300239. or,
Frykholm, Amy Johnson. Rapture Culture: Left Behind in Evangelical America. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. ISBN 0195335678. or,
McGrath, James, ed. Religion and Science Fiction. Wipf & Stock, 2011. ISBN 978-1608998869. or,
Prothero, Stephen. American Jesus: How the Son of God Became a National Icon. New York: Farrar, Strous, and Giroux, 2004. ISBN 978-0374529567.
Online Bookseller Options
http://library.iliff.edu/home/onlinebooksellers
Course Summary:
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