Required Readings:
1. G. Goethals, The TV Ritual: Worship at the TV
Altar
2 J. Nelson, Your God is Alive and Well and Appearing in
Popular Culture.
3. Myers, Kenneth A., All God's Children and Blue Suede
Shoes
4. S. Hauerwas, A Community of Character, Chps. 4, 11
& 12.
5. The course lectures.
6. Read the book review of The Emerging Order, by Jeremy
Rifkin, and the explanation of the concept of Peter Berger's
"Sacred Canopy," both by the instructor and available in the
online library.
Course Requirements:
High School diploma, G.E.D., (for foreign,
international, and advanced placement students, an
equivalent degree or a demonstrated ability to write
reference papers, with citations and footnotes) or
exceptions granted by the instructor.
Goals of the Course:
The goal of the course is to compare and
contrast the beliefs and values of the Christian
community with those of contemporary culture; with a
special emphasis on U.S. culture. The first goal of the
course is to awaken the student to cultural influences
and values which Christians in the United States may have
adopted, some of which may be in direct conflict with the
Truth of Jesus Christ. The second purpose of the course
is to enable the student to understand the language of
and speak prophetically to the contemporary popular
culture from a biblical standpoint and to enable the
student to communicate the eternal truths of Christ in a
language this world can understand. The intent is to
heighten awareness in the student of a biblical worldview
as contrasted with contemporary society.
Format of the Course:
The course is divided into six lecture segments. In these
lectures, the instructor will give concepts and perspectives
helpful in the analysis of pop culture in relation to the
life of the Christian community. The student will be asked
to participate in pop cultural events and to analyze these
events from a Christian perspective, drawing special
attention to the religious and ritual elements of such
events. Short papers ( 5 pages or less) will be required on
these events.
A final paper on a specific area of study of American
culture will also be required (15 pages). Graphics can be
included in the file if using cross platform media or sent
separately as GIF, PICT, TIFF, EPS files (try to keep them
small!).
Suggestions:
- music & lyrics
- advertisements (magazine, TV, radio)
- the news media
- sci fi
- pulp romance novels
- pulp detective novels
- pop psychology and self-help books
- popular magazines, e.g., Reader's Digest, Charisma
- Women's Magazines, e.g., Ms. Glamour
- TV sit. com., e.g., Home Improvements,
- elections and political campaigns ( limit your focus)
- TVsoaps, game shows, crime shows, etc.
- social or moral issues as they reflect a prevailing cultural ideology, e.g., pro-choice or homosexual agendas, homelessness, soup kitchens.
- Christian TV, Televangelism, etc.
- News media and the treatment of Religion in the U.S.
In the first section, give a "history" of this cultural
genre, indicate varieties, degree of popularity, consistent
patterns. Use the second section to introduce he "religious"
dimension of this form of culture and show how this form of
culture represents or conflicts with the message of Christ.
Finally, show how the Church should or could respond to this
situation, and what would be the ideal outcome of such
engagement. Suggest solutions for real ills, if
appropriate.
Student papers will be kept on file in the library for
future reference for other students, if the instructor finds
them of sufficient merit and with the student's
permission.(A sample paper is available with the course)
Reading Assignments as available (will be posted in the
library if we have permission from the author).The grade for
the course will depend on the quality of the papers. Each of
these will count about 16% of the grade.
Lecture Subjects and
Assignments:
1. Definition of Culture, Pop Culture, Ritual, Symbol:
A Religious Hermeneutic of Pop Culture Objects and
Events.
Assignment: briefly identity 3 contemporary items or
events that fit the definition of folk, elite, and popular
culture. Explain very briefly why these items fit those
categories.
Read the book review of The Emerging Order, by Jeremy
Rifkin and the explanation of the concept of Peter Berger's
"Sacred Canopy."
Nelson: pp. 15-29
TV: pp. 1-31
Myers: pp. 1-52
2. The Study of Ritual, its characteristics, in being
a Model of and Model for social behavior and
identity.
Assignment: Take a particular aspect of pop or
contemporary culture, analyze it and identify these 5
elements of ritual religion. Briefly comment on it from the
perspective of the questions raised in number 5.
Nelson: pp. 111-162 (chps. 5 &6).
TV: pp. 33 -86.
Myers: 53- 102.
3. A Look at the TV NEWS
Assignment: Watch the evening news on two separate
national networks on a single average news night (no
thermonuclear explosions or major earthquakes). If you can
get a Christian TV news station do that as well. Tape one,
both, or all, and compare the order of news events (top
stories vs. second vs. third, etc.) Comment on the editing
and ordering process of what is and what is not considered
important for that night. Note also any commentary or
opinions on the events and what bias is being revealed.
Nelson: pp. 87-110 (chp.4).
TV: pp. 87-124.
Myers: 103-177.
4. Concept of American Civil Religion.
Assignment: 5 page paper on some aspect of American Pop
Culture analyzed from the perspective of ACR. Use the tenets
and beliefs of ACR in your analysis.
Hauerwas: pp. 72-86 (chp. 4).
TV: pp. 125-144.
Myers: 178-186.
5. A Look at the Movies:
Assignment: View a contemporary hit movie and analyze it
within the context of the value structures being assumed.
Use the existing categories or create a new one if the movie
does not fit. Show how the movie reinforces or challenges
ACR.
Nelson: pp. 30-86 (chps. 2 &3).
TV: pp. 87-124.
6. Christians and the problem of communicating with
contemporary culture.
Assignment: take a current issue or pop cultural value
and analyze it from both a Christian perspective and a
non-Christian one. Show how the values and assumptions about
the particular subject differ or agree. Show especially if
and when the tenets of ACR are in conflict with the tenets
of Christianity
Nelson: pp. 163-206 (chps. 7 & 8).
Hauerwas: pp. 196-229 (chps. 11 & 12)
7: Final Paper Due
Selected Bibliography:
Armstrong, Ben., The Electric Church, Thos. Nelson, Inc.
1979.
Berger, Peter, The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a
Sociological Theory of Religion, Doubleday, 1967.
Bird, M., "Film as Hierography," Horizons, Spring (1979)
6.
Bluch, John, Beyond Neutrality, WCC, 1978.
Boorstein, The Image: Guide to Pseudo Events in American
Culture.
Browne, Roy B., Grogs, Sam, Jr.; Sandrum, Larry, Theories
and Methodologies
of Popular Culture, Bowling Green Popular Press,
1975.
Browne, Roy; Fishwick, Marshall (editors), Icons of
America, Bowling Green
Popular Press, 1970.
Casby, Alan, Mass Media and Mass Man, Holt Rinehardt
& Winston, 1973.
Cooper, John C.; and Skrade, Carl, eds., Celluloid and
Symbols, Fortress
Press, 1970.
Drew, D., Images of Man: A Critique of Contemporary
Cinema, Inter Varsity Press.
Fore, William F., Image and Impact: How Man Comes Through
in the Mass Media (New York: Friendship Press, 1970).
Geertz, Clifford, The Interpretation of Cultures.
Ch. 1. Thick Description: Towards an Interpretive Theory
of Culture.
Ch. 4. Religion as A Cultural System.
Ch. 5. Ethos, World View and the Analysis of Sacred
Symbols.
New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1973.
Goethals, Gregor, The TV Ritual: Worship at the TV Altar,
(Boston,Mass.:
Beacon Press, 1981).
Goffman, Erving, Gender Advertisements, Harper & Row,
1976.
Gordon, George, The Languages of Communication, New York:
Hastings House,
Publishers, 1969.
Hamel, William M., ed., The Popular Arts in America, New
York: Harcourt,
Brace, Jovanovich, 1972.
Haseldon, Kyle, Morality and the Mass Media, Nashville:
Broadman Press, 1968.
Jacobs, Norman, ed., Culture for the Millions, Boston:
Beacon Press, 1959.
(Also an Issue of Daedelus)
Key, Wilson B., Subliminal Seduction, New Jersey:
Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1973.
Kuhns, William, The Electronic Gospel, New York: Herder
& Herder, 1969.
Lange, David L., et al., Mass Media and Violence, U.S.
Government Printing
Office, 1969.
McLuhan, Marshall, Understanding Media: The Extensions of
Man, Signet Books, 1965.
Myers, Kenneth, All God's Children and Blue Suede Shoes:
Christians and Popular Culture, Crossway Books, Westchester,
Ill. 1989/
Monaw, James, Media Culture, Delta Book, 1978.
Morgan, John H., (ed), Understanding Religion and
Culture: Anthropological and Theological Perspectives,
(Washington, D.C., University Press of America,
1979), esp. Chapters I, III, V, VII, X.
Nelson, John Wiley, Your God is Alive and Well and
Appearing in Popular
Culture, Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1976.
Nye, Russell, The Unembarrassed Muse: The Popular Arts in
America, New York, Dial Press, 1970.
Payne, R. and Heyer, R., Discovery in Advertising,
Paulist, 1969.
Real, Michael R., Mass-Mediated Culture, New Jersey:
Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1977.
Rosenberg, Bernard; White, David Manning (eds.), Mass
Culture, New York: The
Free Press, 1957.
Small, William, To Kill a Messenger: TV News and the Real
World, NY Communication Arts Book.
Tudor, A., Theories of Film, Viking Press.
Tillich, Paul, Theology of Culture, Oxford U. Press, New
York, 1959.
Wall, Church and Anemia, Eerdmans, 1971.
Wright, Nachbor J; Wright, John (eds), The Popular
Culture Reader, Bowling
Green Popular Press.
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