Course Syllabus

“Religion today is much more a public, commodified, therapeutic and personalized set of practices than it has been in the past.  At the same time, the media … are collectively coming to constitute a realm where important projects of ‘The self’ take place – projects that include spiritual, transcendent, and deeply meaningful ‘work.’ … religion and media are increasingly converging … on a common turf: the everyday world of lived experience.” S. Hoover

“I suspect that [the de-institutionalization of religion] is not a de-institutionalization at all, but a re-institutionalization of religious faith within the institutions of commercial mass media.” P. Horsfield

“Images … [are not] …ancillary illustrations to the ‘real’ nature of religion as theology, creed, sermon, or clergy. Instead, images and the manner in which they are used are primary forms of evidence – visual evidence; they are, materially speaking, religion at work.” D. Morgan

REQUIRED READING:

Mahan,  Jeffrey H., Media, Religion and Culture: An Introduction, (London:Routledge ,2014) 

There will be several additional readings posted below in Canvas at the weeks that we will read and discuss them. 

Purchase and read ONE of the following (to be discussed during Gathering Days). Sign up for the appropriate reading group at the Choose Your Additional Reading tab below:

•  Heidi A. Campbell & Stephen Garner,2016, Networked Theology: Negotiating Faith in Digital Culture, Waco: Baylor University Press, (A media scholar and a theologian analyze how we consume new media and technologies and discuss the impact on our social and religious lives.) ISBN 9780801049149 
• Craig Detweiler, 2013, iGods: How Technology Shapes our Spiritual and Social Lives, Grand Rapids: Brazos Books, (A study of human faith in technology. Using Apple, Amazon, Google, Facebook and other social media as examples the author, a professor at at Fuller Theological Seminary, seeks to understand and critique the implications of new technologies.  ISBN 9781587433443
• Peter Horsfield, 2015, From Jesus to the Internet: A History of Christianity and Media, West Sussex: Wiley Blackwell ( A systematic history of the relationship between Christianity and media, the book demonstrates the ways in which Christianity's beliefs, rituals, theology, institutional forms and organization, have been shaped by emerging media practices. ) ISBN 9781118447383

Instructor Information
Learning Goals
Requirements, Assignments, and Grades
Policies
Choose Your Additional Reading
Course Outline
Additional Resources

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