Theology of Popular Culture
RELI 498
Spring 2008 not offered
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This course will explore various theological and religious meanings that are carried in popular culture and specifically in phenomena that are not ordinarily thought of as religious. Through reading several "theologians of culture," we will examine contemporary novels, films, music, television, and tourism with the intent of developing ways to discern transcendent longings, anxieties, and visions of good and evil that operate below the surface of our common cultural life in the United States. |
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Essential Capabilities:
None |
| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS RELI |
| Course Format: Lecture / Discussion | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: None |
Major Readings:
Martha Bayles, HOLE IN OUR SOUL
Douglas Coupland, LIFE AFTER GOD
Mircea Eliade, MYTH AND REALITY
Thomas Hibbs, SHOWS ABOUT NOTHING
Dominic Strinati, AN INTRODUCTION TO THEORIES OF POPULAR CULTURE
Paul Tillich, DYNAMICS OF FAITH
James Twitchell, LEAD US INTO TEMPTATION: THE TRIUMPH OF AMERICAN MATERIALISM
Theodor Adorno, "On the Fetish-Character in Music and the Regression of Listening"
Walter Bengamin, "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction"
John Fiske, "Commodities and Culture"
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Examinations and Assignments:
Weekly readings; two shorter essays on readings; one research paper. |
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