Syllabus

Communication 482

Media and World Religion

Section 001:  T, Th 1:00-2:15, 220 BRMB

Fall 2016

Instructor: Steve Thomsen, Ph.D.

Office: 324 BRMB

Office Hours: M, W 1:30-4:00 p.m., or by appointment

Phone: 801-422-2078 (office), 801-361-5697 (cell)

Email: steven.r.thomsen@gmail.com

Class Website: communication482.blogspot.com

Course Description

New and traditional media are creating fundamental changes in the way people participate in religion, define and interact with religious texts, how they worship, and even how they describe spirituality. Media are not only affecting religion, but in some ways are becoming “religion” for some. Because of these changes, fascinating questions begin to emerge: Are religions that have been more regional in nature becoming more global? How do media shape the way we view world religions and faith-based views that differ from our own? How do these views shape the way we interact with other social, cultural and political systems or institutions? Do new media devices change the way we interact with religious texts? In a digital world, what is the role of a “Church?”

I invite you to join the class discussion as we objectively, but passionately, tackle these questions and explore research issues and theory associated with the growing sub-discipline that scrutinizes the nexus between media and religion. As with any university course, your effort and preparation will determine in large part what you take away from this class. Always come to class prepared.

Learning Outcomes

o   Critically discuss and write about contemporary issues regarding media and religion (3.4)

o   Know and apply relevant theory to communication practice and phenomena (3.1)

o   Examine and appreciate diverse media-religion issues outside your own tradition (4.1)

Text and Materials

o   All materials and readings will be placed on course reserve in the HBLL and on our class blogspot site.

Classroom Procedures and Policies

Attendance. Students are expected to practice professionalism by attending class regularly and being punctual and prepared to participate in class discussions. I reserve the right to lower a student’s final grade if he or she has more than two absences. For a pattern of unexcused absences that exceed the limit, a failing grade may be assigned.

Participation. I will create an index card for each student in the course. This will include your photo and will be used to help me quickly get to know you. I will use these in class to call on students during discussions. I will make notes about your attendance, readiness, and participation.

Deadlines. In our professional world nothing is more sacred than a deadline. You simply can’t miss them. In this class, deadlines will be sacred—right down to the minute. Nothing will be accepted late for any reason. So plan accordingly.

Grades

Midterm Exam                                                          100 points

Blogs (23 @ 10 points each)                                      230 points

Final Exam                                                                 100 points

Grading Scale. Final grades will be based on the following criteria: 92 percent of greater = A, 90-91 percent = A-, 88-89 percent = B+, 82-87 percent = B, 80-81 percent = B-, 78-79 percent = C+, 72-77 percent = C, 70-71 percent = C-, 68-69 percent = D+, 62-67 percent = D, 60-61 percent = D-, 59 percent or less = E.

Blogs

For most of our class sessions you have been given a pre-class preparation assignment. They are included in the course outline section of this syllabus. These assignments are to be completed the day prior to class. To find these assignments, please go to communication482.blogspot.com. I will post each assignment (in advance) as my blog. You are to post your blog (response to the assignment) as a comment/response to my blog. Please make sure you are clearly identified as the author of the blog so that you can receive credit for the assignment. I expect each blog to contain clear, coherent, grammatically sound, well thought-out ideas. Each blog should be approximately 350 (or more) words. Each blog must respond to the questions and prompts contained in my blog posting for the assignment, which you should read carefully (including supplementary documents and hyperlinks). Each blog must be posted by 5 p.m. on the day before we discuss that particular assignment in class. Remember, this is a Tuesday, Thursday class. Tuesday’s blogs are due Monday at 5 p.m., and Thursday’s blogs are due Wednesday at 5 p.m.

Honor Code

In keeping with the principles of the BYU Honor Code, students are expected to be honest in all of their academic work. Academic honesty means, most fundamentally, that any work you present as your own must in fact be your own work and not that of another. Violations of this principle may result in a failing grade in the course and additional disciplinary action by the university. Students are also expected to adhere to the Dress and Grooming Standards. Adherence demonstrates respect for yourself and others and ensures an effective learning and working environment. It is the university's expectation, and my own expectation in class, that each student will abide by all Honor Code standards. Please call the Honor Code Office at 422-2847 if you have questions about those standards.

Sexual Harassment

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits sex discrimination against any participant in an educational program or activity that receives federal funds. The act is intended to eliminate sex discrimination in education and pertains to admissions, academic and athletic programs, and university-sponsored activities. Title IX also prohibits sexual harassment of students by university employees, other students, and visitors to campus. If you encounter sexual harassment or gender-based discrimination, please talk to your professor; contact the Equal Employment Office at 801-422-5895 or 1-888-238-1062 (24-hours), or http://www.ethicspoint.com; or contact the Honor Code Office at 801-422-2847.

Student Disability

Brigham Young University is committed to providing a working and learning atmosphere that reasonably accommodates qualified persons with disabilities. If you have any disability which may impair your ability to complete this course successfully, please contact the Services for Students with Disabilities Office (422-2767). Reasonable academic accommodations are reviewed for all students who have qualified, documented disabilities. Services are coordinated with the student and instructor by the SSD Office. If you need assistance or if you feel you have been unlawfully discriminated against on the basis of disability, you may seek resolution through established grievance policy and procedures by contacting the Equal Employment Office at 422-5895, D-285 ASB.

Academic Honesty

The first injunction of the BYU Honor Code is the call to be honest. Students come to the university not only to improve their minds, gain knowledge, and develop skills that will assist them in their life's work, but also to build character. President David O. McKay taught that "character is the highest aim of education" (The Aims of a BYU Education, p. 6). It is the purpose of the BYU Academic Honesty Policy to assist in fulfilling that aim. BYU students should seek to be totally honest in their dealings with others. They should complete their own work and be evaluated based upon that work. They should avoid academic dishonesty and misconduct in all its forms, including but not limited to plagiarism, fabrication or falsification, cheating, and other academic misconduct.

Plagiarism

Writing submitted for credit at BYU must consist of the student's own ideas presented in sentences and paragraphs of his or her own construction. The work of other writers or speakers may be included when appropriate (as in a research paper or book review), but such material must support the student's own work (not substitute for it) and must be clearly identified by appropriate introduction and punctuation and by footnoting or other standard referencing. The substitution of another person's work for the student's own or the inclusion of another person's work without adequate acknowledgment (whether done intentionally or not) is known as plagiarism. It is a violation of academic, ethical, and legal standards and can result in a failing grade not only for the paper but also for the course in which the paper is written. In extreme cases, it can justify expulsion from the University. Because of the seriousness of the possible consequences, students who wonder if their papers are within these guidelines should visit the Writing Lab or consult a faculty member who specializes in the teaching of writing or who specializes in the subject discussed in the paper. Useful books to consult on the topic include the current Harcourt Brace College Handbook, the MLA Handbook, and James D. Lester's Writing Research Papers.

Course Outline

Date	Topic	Readings & Assignments
8/30	Introduction to the course and review of the syllabus. Overview: The study of media and religion.
9/1	“Spirituality” vs. “Religion” in a post-modernistic world. Establishing a foundation for our discussions.	Read: “None of the Above” and “The Surprising Reason Why More Americans Aren’t Going to Church” Due: Blog #1, 8/31 @ 5 p.m.
9/6	Give me that old time gospel: Religious radio and TV 1930-1970	Read: “The Beginnings of Religious Broadcasting” Due: Blog #2, 9/5 @ 5 p.m.
9/8	The rise and fall of modern televangelism: Millionaires, crises, and the Gospel of Prosperity	Read: “Modern Televangelism” Due: Blog #3, 9/7 @ 5 p.m.
9/13	Religion and entertainment TV: Angels and demons?	Read: “Religion and Entertainment TV,” “Where Is God on the Small Screen?” Due: Blog #4, 9/12 @ 5 p.m.
9/15	The Gospel according to the Simpsons	Read: “Saint Flanders,” “Religious rhetoric and the comic frame in the Simpsons” Due: Blog #5, 9/14 @ 5 p.m.
9/20	Religion and the movies: “Does God really need a Starship?”	Read: “The Gods of Film: Representing God and Jesus at the Movies” Due: Blog #6, 9/19 @ 5 p.m.
9/22	Mormon Cinema: Do we have our own genre (and what is it and how good is it)?	Read: “Mormon Cinema,” and “What is Mormon Cinema? Defining the Genre” Due: Blog #7, 9/21 @ 5 p.m.
9/27	A Mormon Moment? Mormons in the Media: A Short History.	Due: Blog #8, 9/26 @ 5 p.m.
9/29	LDS Church teachings about the media; The roots of Mormon Media Studies	Read: “LDS Teachings,” “Protecting the family: Mormon teachings about mass media,” and “Things as they really are.” Due: Blog #9, 9/28 @ 5 p.m.
10/4	General Conference	Due: Blog #10, 10/3 @ 5 p.m.
10/6	Islam	Read: “Islam,” and “Images of Islam in the US news media and their educational implications” Due: Blog #11, 10/5 @ 5 p.m.
10/11	What does the Mohammad cartoon controversy teach us? A critical examination of a crisis.	Read: “The Mohammed Cartoon Controversy and National Identity: Confronting the “Other” in Scandinavian Society” Due: Blog #12, 10/10 @ 5 p.m.
10/13	Judaism	Read: “Judaism,” and “The Fockerized Jew? Questioning Jewishness as cool in American popular culture” Due: Blog #13, 10/12 @ 5 p.m.
10/18	Midterm Exam	Available: 10/13 Due: 10/18 @ 3 p.m.
10/20	Hinduism and Buddism. Cultural Imperialism, Post Colonial Theory.	Read: “Hinduism and Buddhism,” and “The Oriental Monk in American Popular Culture” Due: Blog #14, 10/19 @ 5 p.m.
10/25	Catholicism	Read: “Catholicism,” and “Catholic media needed now more than ever” Due: Blog #15, 10/24 @ 5 p.m.
10/27	Protestant Christianity and the Evangelicals: Don’t be “Left Behind”	Read: “Protestant Christianity,” and “The Cross at Willow Creek” Due: Blog #16, 10/26 @ 5 p.m.
11/1	Religion, “Jesus Music,” “Saturday’s Warrior,” and the rise of the secular hymn Guest speaker: Quint Randle	Read: “Religion and Music,” and “Evangelicals and Popular Music” Due: Blog #17, 10/31 @ 5 p.m.
11/3	Media cooptation of religious holidays: The Gospel according to Frosty, the Grinch, and Linus	Read: “Religious Holidays,” and “Consecrating Consumer Culture” Due: Blog #18, 11/2 @ 5 p.m.
11/8	Religious Advertising and Public Relations: An Overview	Read: “Advertising and PR,” and “From the sacred to the profane: A critical analysis of the changing nature of religious imagery in advertising” Due: Blog #19, 11/7 @ 5 p.m.
11/10	The “Homefront,” “Truth Restored,” and “I’m a Mormon” Campaigns	Read: “Mormon Campaigns” Due: Blog #20, 11/9 @ 5 p.m.
11/15	The Internet and Religion: God in Cyberspace	Read: “Religion in Cyberspace,” and “The chronicles of me: Understanding blogging as a religious practice” Due Blog #21, 11/14 @ 5 p.m.
11/17	No class
11/22	No class: Thanksgiving
11/24	No class: Thanksgiving
11/29	Sports and Religion, or Sports as Religion?	Read: “The Church of Sports,” and “An American Apotheosis: Sports as Popular Religion,” Due: Blog #22, 11/28 @ 5 p.m.
12/1	Sports as Religion, Pt. 2: Religious themes in sport movies	Read: “Is this heaven?” Due: Blog #23, 11/30 @ 5 p.m.
12/6	Review for final exam
	Final Exam	Available: 12/6 Due: 12/12 @ 3 p.m.