Winter 2015/Pasadena
CO521
Moore
CO521: ETHNIC IDENTITIES IN THE MEDIA (4 Units: 160 Hours). Joy J. Moore.
DESCRIPTION: This course will consider and reflect upon the portrayals of ethnicity, race and religion that have been communicated through the media. It will provide the opportunity to examine the ways in which media has communicated and cultivated racial subjectivity in the modern Christian social imagination. Participants will be expected to convey a playfully orthodox ecclesiology within contemporary contexts of personal, social, and cultural change through written word, speech, and visual media.
LEARNING OUTCOMES: Course objectives are that students will demonstrate their ability to: (1) identify the political and racializing role that the media’s portrayal of ethnicity has played in the construction of Americans’ religio-racial imagination; (2) prepare and present a theologically-framed critical interpretation of cultural myths; (3) create a media presentation that engages a biblical text, the context of the audience, theological issues, and the hearts and minds of listeners; and to present it meaningfully; and (4) articulate their own coherent vision of the public role of Christian speech describing their own sense of call to such a ministry.
COURSE FORMAT: This class meets twice weekly for three hour sessions for five weeks 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: 1,363 pp. required.
de Zengotita, Thomas. Mediated: How the Media Shapes Our World and the Way We Live in It. Bloomsbury, 2005. ISBN: 978-1596910324, Pub. Price $16.00 [304 pp.].
Jennings, Willie James. Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race. Yale University Press, 2011. ISBN: 978-0300171365, Pub. Price $25.00 [384 pp.].
Johnson, Lakesia D. Iconic: Decoding Images of the Revolutionary Black Woman. Baylor University Press, 2012. ISBN: 978-1602586444, Pub. Price $29.95 [128 pp.].
Recinos, Harold J., and Hugo Magallanes (eds). Jesus in the Hispanic Community: Images of Christ from Theology to Popular Religion. Westminster John Knox, 2009. ISBN: 978-0664234287, Pub. Price $30.00 [204 pp.].
Taylor, Yuval and Jake Austen. Darkest America: Black Minstrelsy from Slavery to Hip-Hop W.W. Norton & Company, 2012. ISBN: 978-0393070989, Pub. Price $26.95 [308 pp.].
RECOMMENDED READING:
Roth, Veronica. Divergent. Katherine Tegen Books/HarperCollins Publishers, 2011. ISBN: 978-0062024022, Pub. Price $18.00 [487 pp.].
ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:
Class lectures and discussion [30 hours].
1,363 pp. of required reading [68 hours].
Participation in online theological reflection on class readings and 250-word weekly forum posts [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1] (20%) [10 hours].
6 minute Informative Speech (15%) [This assignment is related to outcomes #1, 2] [15 hours].
One (1) group presentation [a collaborative media presentation with accompanying manuscript] (35%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #3]. [27 hours].
Submission of a 1,250 word reflection on the group project articulating a personal vision for faith in the public square (30%) [This assignment is related to learning outcome # 4] [10 hours].
PREREQUISITES: None.
RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Option to meet the C5 requirement in the 120 MDiv Program. This course meets the Communication requirement (COMM) in MA programs and also meets the four-unit requirement for CO500 and CO503 in any applicable pre-2007 MA program. Option to count in the Just Peacemaking emphasis.
FINAL EXAMINATION: None.