E-Book Overview
In a culture increasingly focused on visual media, students have learned not only to embrace multimedia presentations in the classroom, but to expect them. Such expectations are perhaps more prevalent in a field as dynamic and cross-disciplinary as religious studies, but the practice nevertheless poses some difficult educational issues -- the use of movies in academic coursework has far outpaced the scholarship on teaching religion and film. What does it mean to utilize film in religious studies, and what are the best ways to do it? In <em>Teaching Religion and Film, an interdisciplinary team of scholars thinks about the theoretical and pedagogical concerns involved with the intersection of film and religion in the classroom. They examine the use of film to teach specific religious traditions, religious theories, and perspectives on fundamental human values. Some instructors already teach some version of a film-and-religion course, and many have integrated film as an ancillary to achieving central course goals. This collection of essays helps them understand the field better and draws the sharp distinction between merely "watching movies" in the classroom and comprehending film in an informed and critical way.
E-Book Content
Teaching Religion and Film
TEACHING RELIGIOUS STUDIES SERIES SERIES EDITOR Susan Henking, Hobart and William Smith Colleges A Publication Series of The American Academy of Religion and Oxford University Press TEACHING LEVI-STRAUSS Edited by Hans H. Penner TEACHING ISLAM Edited by Brannon M. Wheeler TEACHING FREUD Edited by Diane Jonte-Pace TEACHING DURKHEIM Edited by Terry F. Godlove Jr. TEACHING AFRICAN AMERICAN RELIGIONS Edited by Carolyn M. Jones and Theodore Louis Trost TEACHING RELIGION AND HEALING Edited by Linda L. Barnes and Ine´s Talamantez TEACHING NEW RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS Edited by David G. Bromley TEACHING RITUAL Edited by Catherine Bell TEACHING CONFUCIANISM Jeffrey L. Richey
Teaching Religion and Film edited by gregory j. watkins
1
2008
3 Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further Oxford University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education. Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam
Copyright # 2008 by The American Academy of Religion Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 www.oup.com Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Teaching religion and film / edited by Gregory J. Watkins. p. cm.—(Teaching religious studies) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-19-533598-9 1. Motion pictures—Religious aspects. 2. Motion pictures—Moral and ethical aspects. 3. Religion—Study and teaching. I. Watkins, Gregory J. PN1995.5.T37 2008 791.43'682—dc22 2007040450
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
The manuscript for this volume happened to be completed a couple of days after the death of Ingmar Bergman. A classroom screening of Bergman’s The Seventh Seal my freshman year of college had a profound impact on me. Having come to college from a small farming town in Idaho, I had no idea such a movie was possible. My now deep and abiding interest in the connection between religion