Religion and Film

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

Many film theorists value cinema’s realist abilities above all else. Many religious studies theorists contend that religion deals with our relationship to the transcendental, in other words: with the relationship to that which is beyond physical reality. Is it possible then to have religious cinema? What is religious cinema? This course explores religion beyond the abstract and private; it explores religion as it interacts with physical reality and human bodies, with human history and politics, with representation and narrative. Through our viewing of global cinema we will study questions of faith and the quest for meaning in different traditions, with a particular focus on gender and sexuality (queer cinema). This course has both synchronous and asynchronous learning. Students will be responsible for 90 minutes of preparatory work weekly through online lectures, discussion boards. podcasts, group work, readings and more. Then the entire class will meet at the same time each week for 60 minutes of live Zoom structured discussion and learning to go deeper into the asynchronous elements.