RST 293 Religion, Media, and Pop Culture
Religion and culture are co-constitutive, both shaping and shaped by the other. But what does this sociological reality mean for religion as it encounters the complex and shifting directions of popular culture? Additionally, how does popular culture utilize and appropriate religion in its symbolization of humankind’s encounters with changing cultural landscapes? Considering religion as both institution and lived experience, students in this course will examine the interrelationship of religion and popular culture, [and corresponding meaning-making,] in particular exemplars and contexts. Utilizing film, television, music, art, literature, and/or media, etc., students will explore the popular construction of religion and sacrality, the boundaries of religion in public spaces or popularized contexts, the nature of religious or spiritual activity, and/or the religious and cultural experience of popularized religious ideologies.
Distribution
RST