In the example below, parents at an American public high school balk at the secular study of Islamic calligraphy because the writing’s legacy is sacred for Muslims. Emily Egolf helps us think through the dispute.
If one’s working definition of “religion” is more capacious than “beliefs in supernatural powers,” if the purpose of the course is to view American history and culture through the lens of “religion” – as a category of analysis, rather than a found thing – then new possibilities emerge.
I am not so much interested in what religions exist in Star Wars but why they may be there and why we read the “texts” the way we do. Although space is a vacuum, Star Wars was not constructed there. Instead it was constructed in a context that influenced Lucas and the rest of the moviemakers.
...one of the most vivid accounts of baptism in the Black Church tradition while contextualizing the role of race and Christianity in American life.
The New Testament is a collection of first-century Mediterranean notes between people interested in the burgeoning Jesus movement. Translated, edited, and collated, these writings have since become a touchstone in the cultural heritage of the West. We will attempt to situate New Testament texts in light of the artifacts and social drama of the period … Continue reading REL 226 (WCH): The New Testament
