Theology and Culture with Various Professors

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Overview

The amazing diversity of expression in contemporary culture presents a multi-faceted challenge for Christians who desire to serve in a way that is faithful to their callings and appropriate in their worlds.  Within this environment theological questions become ever more urgent:  How can theology contribute to genuinely biblical and contextual ministry?  How  do we understand God's presence and activity in the context of modern cultural expressions, such as film and the visual arts? How can postmodernism provide resources for the study of theology and culturally appropriate ministry?   These questions will help shape the nature of theology and church life in the years ahead, and this concentration is designed to help students effectively engage them.

Students in the Theology and Culture sequence will begin their studies with a look at the relationship between theology and the primary storytelling medium in contemporary culture, film.  Students will develop a theological framework for viewing and dialoguing with film, and will then develop their skills in engaging and dialoguing with popular culture and contemporary literature. 

Course Sequence

Fall: TC530: Theology and Film.  Preparation for ministry too often assumes students possess skills in cultural analysis and interaction. This course will help students to see Western "culture" by providing a critical and theological framework for viewing cinema. While such cultural engagement is not sufficient for effective ministry, it is supportive of, if not necessary for, all aspects of ministry. Johnston and Barsotti

Winter: TC509: Theology and Pop Culture.   This course will engage students in a two-way dialogue between pop culture and theology, with particular emphasis upon music, movies, TV, art, fashion, and sports. Students will develop a biblical, theological and historical understanding of these art forms and a critical understanding of the advertising, consumerism and celebrity that drives pop culture.  Detweiler

Spring: TC521: Theology and Contemporary Literature. This course will explore (1) contemporary attitudes toward the "spiritual" found in selected American novels and (2) the means of theological dialogue with these works. While debunking or listening, symbolizing or secularizing, arguing or affirming, current American fiction is often found interacting with the religious currents that pervade our culture. As such, it invites dialogue from a theological perspective. Johnston