REL 330 Religion and American Popular Culture

This course starts with the position that "religion" cannot be neatly confined to "beliefs," "institutions," or "worship," but rather that "religion" is an expansive concept that can be found in many unexpected places. One such place is the realm of popular culture. Students in this course will explore and analyze the ways that movies, television, sports, novels, and other types of popular culture can shape, cultivate, interact with, and even serve as religion.

Credits

4 sh

Course Types

American Studies elective

Course Outcomes

1. Students will be able to identify some ways that religion and popular culture influence, shape, and overlap each other
2. Students will demonstrate an understanding of and ability to apply at least one theoretical approach to religion and popular culture
3. Students will be able to explain how religious ideals can be embedded within larger narratives, both implicitly and explicitly
4. Students will become sharper observers and analysts of American culture