Spring 2018/Pasadena

TC553

Taylor and Lee

TC553: THEOLOGY AND EAST ASIAN POP CULTURE (4 Units: 161 Hours). Barry Taylor and Daniel D. Lee.

DESCRIPTION: This course will engage students in a mutually enriching dialogue between pop culture and theology, focusing on music, movies and TV from South Korea, Japan, and China/Hong Kong/Taiwan with their crosscultural and transnational dimensions. Students will develop a biblical, theological, cultural, and historical understanding of these art forms and a critical understanding of the consumerism, economics, identity constructions, and politics that drive East Asian pop culture in the global context.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Having successfully completed this course students will demonstrate: (1) a capacity to engage in public theology as related to pop cultural products, joining the broad conversation regarding faith and culture, (2) a basic understanding of various streams of East Asian culture in its transnational and hybridic dimensions, (3) the ability to articulate the relationship between the theories introduced in class and their practical application for the interpretation of elements of East Asian popular culture, and (4) the ability to practically apply these interpretive skills for church, ministry, and therapeutic settings.

COURSE FORMAT: This class meets once per week for three hour sessions for a total of 30 hours of classroom instruction for lecture and discussion plus 10 hours of directed learning activities for a total of 40 instructional hours.

REQUIRED READING: 1,200 total pp. required.

Detweiler, Craig, and Barry Taylor. A Matrix of Meanings. Baker Academic, 2003. ISBN: 978-0801024177, Pub. Price $28.00 [140 pp. assigned].

Hong, Euny. The Birth of Korean Cool. Picador, 2014. ISBN: 978-1250045119, Pub. Price $17.00 [130 pp. assigned].

Lynch, Gordon. Understanding Theology and Popular Culture. Blackwell, 2005. ISBN: 978-1405117487, Pub. Price $46.95 [254 pp.].

Napier, Susan J.Anime from Akira to Howl's Moving Castle: Experiencing Contemporary Japanese Animation. St. Martin's Griffin, 2005. ISBN:978-1403970527, Pub. Price $23.99[156 pp. assigned].

Course Reader [521 pp.].

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

Class attendance and participation (5% of the final grade) [30 hours].  
1,200 pp. of required reading (5% of the final grade). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1-4]. [70 hours].
Viewing of cultural artifacts, i.e. film, TV shows, etc. This will be assessed in the viewing journal. [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1-4] [20 hours].
A viewing journal chronicling personal reflection and questions responding to cultural artifacts. The journal posts should be 250 words long weekly (20% of the final grade). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1-4] [10 hours of DLAs].
A 750-word analysis and theological reflection paper on one of the cultural artifacts assigned in the class. (30% of the final grade) [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1-4] [6 hours]
A 3,000-word research paper rooted on one of the genre covered in the course. Papers will forge a theological response to the research gathered. Students will analyze specific cultural artifacts not assigned in class and include a plan for a theological presentation in their life and ministry (40% of the final grade) [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1-4] [25 hours].

PREREQUISITES: None.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Option to meet the C1 or C2 requirement in the 120 MDiv and 80 MATM Programs (Fall 2015). Option to meet the TH5 requirement in the 120 MDiv Program.

FINAL EXAMINATION: None.