IST2015-1OL-WI16 - Media, Religion & Culture

“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, 2014, Religion and Culture: An Introduction , London/NewYork: Routledge (Purchase)

Morgan, David, ed., 2008, Key Words in Religion, Media and Culture, New York: Routledge. ( Do not need to purchase . selected chapters posted on Canvas.)

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

• Erzen, Tanya, 2013, Fanpire: The Twightlight Saga and the Women Who Love it , Boston: Beacon Press. (An ethnographic study of the fans of the Twightlight series that enables a consideration of fan culture as a creative location for identity formation and expression.)
• Garrett, Greg, 2015, Entertaining Judgement: The Afterlife in Popular Imagination , 2015, Oxford: Oxford University Press. (Examines popular culture's exploration of death, the undead, angels, demons, heaven and hell from a Christian theological perspective.)
• Campbell, Heidi A., 2012, Understanding Religious Practice in New Media Worlds , New York: Routledge. (Examines the ways that different religions of the world are engaging new media such as cell phones, video games and blogging.)

Preparatory Tasks: Before the first week of class you need to 1) sign up on Canvas for the Week One Google Hangout, 2) carefully review the syllabus which appears at the tabs below and note any questions which can be discussed at the Hangout, and 3) Keep a media Log for 48 hours as described under requirements and grades. Please also select your Additional Reading book at the Choose Your Additional Reading tab, and order a copy of the book you chose..

Jeffrey H. Mahan, MDiv, PhD
Ralph E. and Norma E. Peck Chair in Religion & Public Communication

I am available to respond to individual questions in several ways:

Email: jmahan@iliff.edu or message me through Canvas - Feel free to email me.  I try to read and respond each day, though I will not typically respond over the weekend. 

Phone: 303-765-3192 (office)  If you do not reach me, please leave a message and I will get back to you when I am next in the office.  

Appointments: If you are going to be on campus  I would be happy to schedule a face-to-face conversation. Or we can set a time for a phone consultation. 

Learning Goals for BL2344: Media, Religion and Culture

Students will develop:

1. Familiarity with the broad theoretical conversations about persons, community, technology and the sacred that define the discourse about media, religion and culture.
2. Ability to reflect on the form and implications of religious practice, location and discourse in mass-mediated culture.
3. Skill in accessing and navigating religion on the web. And,
4. Facility in engaging in online learning, including the ability to contribute to online dialogue and discussion that respectfully explores difference and contributes to mutual understanding. 

The course addressed the following Degree Learning Goals

MDIV

2.2 identify and critically evaluate the symbolic systems and religious meanings at play in everyday events and interactions, institutional structures, and cultural artifacts

3.3 identify and articulate their constructive theological position on an issue, current event, or traditional Christian doctrinal category with clarity

3.5 engage in social analysis of contemporary religious traditions and institutions in order to assess current religious practices and to design meaningful practices of ministry within particular contexts

4.3 Demonstrate an awareness of the importance of social location (race, class, gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, ability/disability, etc.) for self-understanding and professional practice

MTS

1. Articulate the spiritual and social complexities of religious and cultural traditions related to the area of their specific focus/interest.

3. Relate learning from recognizable forms of theological discourse to contemporary issues and questions, particularly those relevant to the student’s own professional practices and personal life.

MA

4. Establish enough of a breadth of awareness of historic and contemporary thinkers within their particular discipline that they will be able to identify and choose good conversation partners within their field to engage their research question.

MAPSC

2. Students will identify and critically evaluate the ways in which their personal, religious, and cultural experience, along with their activities in pastoral and spiritual care, shape their theology, moral orientation, and vocational formation.

MASC

1. Students will engage in social, historical, and political analysis in order to identify key factors impacting situations in which social change is desired and potential contradictions within these settings that open up the possibility for change.

 Requirements and Grades

Assignments are described in each weekly module. There are repeated here so that you can see them in total.

1)  Preparatory Tasks need to be completed prior the first week of class.

  A) sign up for a Google Hangout discussion group for Week One

 B) Review the syllabus, identifying any questions  for discussion during the Google Hangout,

 C) Choose your additional reading and sign up on Canvas for that discussion group

 D) keep a 48 hour media log (as described below) for discussion during your opening Google Hangout session. Your log should note your exposure to all forms of media including: print, radio, television, digital games, social media, movies, and so. Think expansively about what constitutes media, and pay attention to both the media you choose and the media you can't avoid. You won't turn the log in, so keep it in any form that helps you keep track of your experience. 

2)    Instructor’s Reflections  (typically three-to-five minutes) will be post for discussion most weeks. They will address the themes in the readings or a related or supplemental topic at the links on the weekly Canvas list.

3)    Weekly reading assignments are posted on Canvas with reflection question about the readings, theoretical assumptions about media, religion and culture, and/or practical applications of the material.

4)    Class discussion: There are two forums through which we will dialogue about the readings, course themes, our learnings and other questions that emerge. There will be three synchronous Google Hangout discussion where small groups will meet for live discussion.  Other weeks we will discuss the readings by posting on the Canvas site as described below:

1. By Tuesday, at 11:59 PM post an entry (typically 200 to 400 words and never more than 500 words) responding to one of the posted questions.  Where there are two readings for week, post a shorter response (75 to 150) in response to one of the posted questions about the other reading. Choose your words carefully to make a succinct comment that adds to the conversation.
2. By Thursday, at 11:59 PM continue the conversation by posting two responses to your classmates’ posts and/or their response to your original postings. (one major response will typically be 75 to 150 words, the others might typically be 20 to 50 words)  I will occasionally add comments as well. 

Whether we are building a non-synchronous online written conversation, or engaged in synchronous small group discussion, the goal is for us to work as a community of learners to deepen our thinking about the questions, themes and theories, raised in the class. We will want to consider how they help us think about how people practice in the media/religion sphere and the possibilities and challenges new media raise for organized religion and the practices of ministry. Good questions are not easy to answer and we should be building an ongoing conversation over the course of the quarter. 

For each reading I have posed two clusters of thematic questions. Please don't think of them as a quiz where you must answer each of my questions to demonstrate that you have done the readings.  They are discussion starters, but they certainly don't identify all the important questions that we will want to discuss. 

A key evidence of a substantive contribution is that it adds something to the conversation. Don't repeat what others have already said or simply tell us that you agree or disagree with the author, instructor or classmate.  Tell us why, and tease out the implications of your responses. Locate your comment or question in relationship to the text we are discussing.  It might usually take between 100 to 250 words to make a substantive post, but I will be looking for substance, not counting words. Typically, when discussing the course readings this might look something like this.

Timely Canvas posting and Google discussion is your primary area of accountability for items 1-4. Failing to post, or posting late constitutes absence and more than three absences in the quarter may be grounds for failure.  Participation will count for 25% of the grade - 25 possible points.

 5)   Website Report:  Each student will follow a website related in some way to religion and media throughout the first seven weeks of the quarter. See the notes on choosing a web site listed under “Preparatory Tasks."  The goal is to participate in the public culture of the site, not simply consume its content or “lurk” in its discussion forums. You might participate by responding to online conversations there, contributing material, or by blogging about the site. Visit the website each week and reflecting on it in light of the questions raised by your reading and class discussion.

In Week Eight you will post a brief (400 to 500 word) reflection about your website in the weekly discussion forum.  There are reflection questions posted at the Week Eight. You will then read and discuss your colleagues report in Canvas that week.  25% of Grade - 25 possible points.

6)    Additional Reading: In week Five your reading group will discuss the additional book you selected in Google Hangout.  The group will prepare a Reading Report of 800 to 1,200 words that introduce the rest of the class to the book. We will organize the writing of that during the Google Hangout discussion. Submit your group's report to by 12:00 PM Friday of Week Six. Discussion and Reading Report, 25% of Grade - 25 possible points.

7)    Independent Project: Each student will develop an independent project. This might be a 10 page double spaced research paper related to some aspect of the relationship of religion and media.  Or, it might be an alternative project, negotiated with the instructor, involve developing a website or other media resource for a particular religious community or around an issue or theme. An alternative project should be accompanied by a 5 page reflection on how the project addresses questions raised in the course.

Submit your final paper or project by Wed. at 11:59PM, of the ninth week.  25% of the grade - 25 possible points.

Submit a project proposal of 200-400 words (typically 3/4 of a page to a page and half double spaced) outlining the topic, research question you are pursuing,  preliminary resources, the and approach you are planning to take. . The proposal should be more than a sentence of two suggesting a general topic of your paper. By this point you should have identified an a connection between religion and media that you want to study, articulated a clear research question that will shape how you think about the topic, and identified some preliminary resources. I will respond with any concerns or suggestions to help you shape the project.

Submitt proposal by Thursday, at 11:59PM of the fifth week.

8)  Grades: There are 100 total points available for this course, 25 for discussion participation, and 25 for each of the three assignments described above. The grading scale is as follows:

A:   25pts

A-: 23 - 25 pts

B+: 22 -23 pts

B:  21

B-: 20

C+:19

C:  18

C-: 17

D:  15

Discussion Participation grades will be adjusted for absence. Failing to post, or posting late constitutes absence and more than three absences in the quarter may be grounds for failure.

9. Comments on written work: With the final papers and paper proposals that you post of Canvas I will typically both respond in the comment box and make marginal comments. To see the marginal comments you need to return to the paper and click the Submission Details link as described here http://guides.instructure.com/s/2204/m/4212/l/54359-how-do-i-view-  instructor-comments

Attendance/Participation: While our connections are non-synchronous online, supplemented by synchronous Google Hangout, the success of the course depends on the consistent and timely participation of each class member. Failure to post on time, or to sign up and be present for Google Hangouts constitutes absence, and more than three absences in the quarter may be grounds for failure. 

Incomplete Policy:  Incomplete policies and procedures are described in the Masters Student Handbook; Students who believe their situation meets the standards described there apply for an incomplete through the registrar’s office.

Academic Integrity Standards: Academic integrity lies at the foundation of academic progress.  Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, acts of fraud and deception on an examination or class assignment, acts of forgery or unauthorized alteration of any official academic record or document and attempt to gain credit for work that one has plagiarized from the work of another person.  Working in the online context where access to sources is particularly easy requires particular vigilance in clarifying where and how one draws on the work of others. Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated in this course or any other at Iliff School of Theology and there are serious consequences to students who engage in it.  For more information on these and other rules regarding academic progress at Iliff consult the Masters Student Handbook. 

Please be aware that assignments for this course are routinely submitted through turnitin.com, where they are checked for un-footnoted similarities to published work. 

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): Iliff engages in a collaborative effort with students with disabilities to reasonably accommodate student needs.  Students are encouraged to contact their assigned advisor to initiate the process of requesting accommodations.  The advising center can be contacted at advising@iliff.edu or by phone at 303-765-1146.   

Additional Readings

Sign up to read and discuss one of the following three books by clicking on the tab below and then the tab for the appropriate book. There should be no more than six students in each group.

• Tanya Erzen, 2013, Fanpire: The Twightlight Saga and the Women Who Love it, Boston: Beacon Press. (An ethnographic study of the fans of the Twightlight series that enables a consideration of fan culture as a creative location for identity formation and expression.)
• Greg Garrett, 2015, Entertaining Judgement: The Afterlife in Popular Imagination, 2015, Oxford: Oxford University Press. (Examines popular culture's exploration of death, the undead, angels, demons, heaven and hell from a Christian theological perspective.)
• Campbell, Heidi A., 2012, Understanding Religious Practice in New Media Worlds, New York: Routledge. (Examines the ways that different religions of the world are engaging new media such as cell phones, video games and blogging.)

Please select a reading by clicking on the author's name at this link.

Sign up for a Google Hangout group discussion and log in at the announced time.You will have the chance to introduce yourself by sharing your geographic location, time at Iliff, degree program and vocational goal.We will discuss any questions arising out of your review of the syllabus. In preparation you should review the syllabus as we will also discuss any questions about the course structure and assignments. In addition we will talk about your experience in keeping a 48 hour media log.

Additional Readings

Sign up to read and discuss one of the following three books by clicking on the tab below and then the tab for the appropriate book. There should be no more than six students in each group.

• Tanya Erzen, 2013, Fanpire: The Twightlight Saga and the Women Who Love it, Boston: Beacon Press. (An ethnographic study of the fans of the Twightlight series that enables a consideration of fan culture as a creative location for identity formation and expression.)
• Greg Garrett, 2015, Entertaining Judgement: The Afterlife in Popular Imagination, 2015, Oxford: Oxford University Press. (Examines popular culture's exploration of death, the undead, angels, demons, heaven and hell from a Christian theological perspective.)
• Campbell, Heidi A., 2012, Understanding Religious Practice in New Media Worlds, New York: Routledge. (Examines the ways that different religions of the world are engaging new media such as cell phones, video games and blogging.)

Please select a reading by clicking on the author's name at this link.

Technology Issues : If you need assistance managing Canvas and/or Google Hangouts please contact Help Desk or call them at 303-909-9321. Please leave a message and the staff will get back to you as soon as possible. They are typically available 8:30AM - 7:00ish in the Mountain Time Zone.