The Critical Thinking and Critical Theory series features instructional videos used in my courses. They are designed to stoke student questions before classroom instruction to allow for nuance and application during classroom time.

 

This video uses the concept of “signifying” as a theoretical framework for mapping out the study of religion.

 

This video is part of a series on “Critical Thinking and Critical Theory.” It introduces a version of attribution theory based upon Anne Taves’s work on the meaning-making process.

 

This video introduces Wilfred Cantwell Smith’s idea of scripturalizing as a way of thinking about meaning-making and the tools we devise to do it. Rather than fixating on texts, Smith challenges us to consider what people are doing with texts.

 

This video uses Michel DeCerteau’s idea of scriptural economies to think about related ideas from Wilfred Cantwell Smith, Ann Taves, Pierre Bourdieu, Vincent Wimbush, and Richard Newton. It presents a framework for thickly describing meaning-making.

 

This video represents a critical twist on Huston Smith’s “spiritual technologies” to double-excavate what phenomena people designate as technology. Hopefully it raises an eye about calling some technologies “spiritual” as well.

 

This video is a guide to help students think through Stephen Sharot’s Sociology of World Religions. It is based on Max Weber’s understanding of social action.