PRELIMINARY PROGRAM

Wednesday, September 1

7:00 – 8:30 p.m. Welcome

Plenary: “Reframing Violent News,”

Jolyon Mitchell, University of Edinburgh

Respondent: Mark Silk, Trinity College

8:30 – 10:00 Reception

Thursday, September 2

8:00 – 9:15 a.m.

International Contexts

Chair: Sydney Rebeiro, University of Delhi

“The Serbian Orthodox Church and the Media in Serbia,” Milja Radovic, Theological Faculty of Serbian Orthodox Church

"A Crucial Role: Television, Sex Abuse, and the Churches in Ireland", Colum Kenny, Dublin City University

“How Buddhism is Depicted on Television in Japan,” Nanako Tamaki, Center for Information on Religion

“The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God: Media Strategies of a Brazilian Church in Search for Global Expansion,” Alexandre Brasil Fonseca, University of Estadual de Londrina

Panel: New Scenarios and Subjects in Religion in Latin America

Dennis Smith, Guatemala

Rolando Pérez, Peru

Reneé de la Torre, Mexico

9:30-10:45 a.m.

Journalism

Chair: Judith Buddenbaum, Colorado State University

“Foreign Correspondents, Religion, and the Holy Land,” Yoel Cohen, Netanya Academic College

“The Problem with Paul: Seeds of the Culture Wars and the Dilemma for Journalists,” Doug Underwood, University of Washington

“The American Religious Fringe as Media Discourse: Journalists as Heresiographers in Mass Market Magazines, 1955-65,” Sean McCloud, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Panel: Televised Redemption: Race, Religion and Media

Marla Frederick, Harvard University

John Jackson, Duke University

Carolyn Rouse, Princeton University

11:00 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.

Perspectives

Chair: Knut Lundby, University of Oslo

“Problems with Communication and Theology: Why so Little has Developed,” Paul Soukup, Santa Clara University

“The Dreams of the Autonomous and Reflexive Self: Exploring the Religious Significance of Contemporary Lifestyle Media,” Gordon Lynch, University of Birmingham

“Material Biographies of S-E European Icons,” Gabriel Hanganu, Exeter College

“Constructing Religion as a Social Problem: The Role of the Media,” Titus Hjelm, University of Helsinki

Panel: The Television-Radio Audience and Religion Revisited (49 years later)

Stewart Hoover, University of Colorado

Peter Horsfield, RMIT University

1:30 – 2:45 p.m.

A Sense of Place

Chair: Pamela Calvert, The Working Group

“Globalization and Religion,” Maria Way, University of Westminster

“Mainline Religion and Global Media Culture: Curtain Line or Kairos? Some Theological Reflections,” Ineke de Feijter, Free University of Amsterdam

“Medium Religion or Religious Media: A Study of Cultural and Theological Principles of Proximity of the Media and Religions,” Seyyed Hassan Hosseini, Sharif University of Technology

Panel: Negotiating Narratives of Self and Society: Fieldwork from the Religion, Meaning, and the New Media@Home Projects

Stewart Hoover, University of Colorado

Lynn Schofield Clark, University of Colorado

Jin Kyu Park, University of Colorado

2:45 – 3:45 p.m. Refreshments

Book Sale

3:45 – 5:30 p.m.

Panel: Markets, Media and Meaning: Representations of the Religious Across National and Media Borders

Hillary Warren, Otterbein College

Mara Einstein, Queens College, CUNY

Eric Gormly, University of North Texas

Joyce Smith, Ryerson University

Panel: New Communalistic Rituals of African Communication in Pentecostalism,
Cinema, and Politics

Robert White, The Gregorian University

Joseph Oládèjo Fáníran, Catholic Institute of West Africa

Walter Ihejirika, Catholic Institute of West Africa

R. Chukwubunna Anasiudu, Catholic Institute of West Africa

Discussant: J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, Trinity Theological Seminary, Ghana

Friday, September 3

8:00 – 9:15 a.m.

Cyberspace

Chair: Lynn Schofield Clark, University of Colorado

“The Internet in Kenya: Religious and Social Implications of a New Technology,” Mary Kizito, Daystar University and Mark Fackler, Calvin College

“Seekers in Cyberspace: Youth Maintaining and Challenging Religion Online,” Mia Lövheim and Anders Sjöborg, Uppsala University

“Interactivity on Online Protestant Communities: An Analysis of Local Korean and American Church Websites,” Deborah Soun Chung, University of Kentucky

Panel: Religion, Media and Culture: Recovering the Social in Audience Research

Daniel Stout, University of South Carolina

Judith Buddenbaum, Colorado State University

Thomas Lindlof, University of Kentucky

Toy Lisa Mitchell, University of Kentucky

Moderator/discussant: Eric Gormly, University of North Texas

9:30-10:45 a.m.

Cyberspace

Chair: Heidi Campbell, University of Edinburgh

“Emancipation and Empowerment through Digituality: A Cultural Construction of Spirituality in Virtual Cemetery,” Joon Lee, Ohio University

“Getting a Life Online: Metaverses, Ritual, and Sacred Space,” Jason Shim, Wilfrid Laurier University

“The Role of the Internet and Other Communication Forums in Church Sexual Abuse Scandals: A New Challenge for Churches,” Frances Forde Plude, Notre Dame College

Panel: Icons as Visual and Material Media

Gabriel Hanganu, Exeter College

Neal Sobania, Hope College

Heikki Hanka, University of Jyväskylä

Juha Malmisalo, University of Helsinki and University of Jyväskylä

11:00 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.

Ethics

Chair: Pamela Calvert, The Working Group

“War in the Public Sphere: The Use of Ethical of Ethical Frameworks in Newspaper Coverage of the Iraq Wars,” Valeria Ona Funk, University of Chicago

“‘Wicked Truth’: The Dilemmas of Culturally Sensitive Media Coverage of a Drug Bust in the Amish Community,” Diane Zimmerman Umble, Millersville University

“Hindu Faith Communities and the ‘New Religious’ America: Toward a Covenantal Model of Public Relations,” Donn James Tilson, University of Miami; Anuradha Venkateswaran, Wilberforce University

Panel: Researching Religion Online: Current Questions, Approaches and Where do we go from here?

Heidi Campbell, University of Edinburgh

Lynn Schofield Clark, University of Colorado

Stewart Hoover, University of Colorado

Mia Lövheim, University of Uppsala

Peter Horsfield, RMIT University

1:15 – 2:30 p.m.

Religious Experience

Chair: Knut Lundby, University of Oslo

“‘Worship is a Lifestyle’: Current Christian Worship Practice and the Commodification of Contemporary Worship Music, Anna Nekola, University of Wisconsin-Madison”

“What is Christian about Christian Rock? On the Definition of a Genre, its Expressions, and its Boundaries,” Andreas Häger, Åbo Akademi University

“Uses of Mass Media in Protestant Churches: A Comparative Analysis of US and African Churches,” Maccamas Ikpah, Rowan University

Panel: Content Analysis of Religion Coverage: An Idea Whose Time has Passed?

Mark Silk, Trinity College

Mark Fackler, Calvin College

Sean McCloud, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Respondent: Jan Shipps, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis

2:45 – 4:00 p.m.

Audiences

Chair: Tomas Axelson, Dalarna University

“The Use of Religious Media Among a Community of African American Baptists: An Ethnographic Study,” Eric Jones, Claflin University

“Media and Metanoia: Documentary ‘Impact’ Through the Lens of Conversion,” Pamela Calvert, The Working Group

“Secular Producers, Spiritual Texts? Religious Discourses in the Production and Reception of Recent New Zealand Films,” Ann Hardy, Waikato University

Panel: The Visual Cultures of Pentecostalism

Panel Chair and Discussant: Tamar Gordon, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, Trinity Theological Seminary, Ghana

Elizabeth McAlister, Wesleyan University

Martijn Oosterbaan, University of Amsterdam

Marleen de Witte, University of Amsterdam

4:15 – 5:30 p.m.

Panel: Lights! Reverence! Action! Picturing Faith in the Pursuit of Justice

Macky Alston, Auburn Media

Judith Helfand, Working Films/New York University

Robert West, Working Films

Angela Zito, New York University

6:00 p.m. Board busses for Churchill Downs Museum

Dinner

Plenary: “Online Training in Digital Culture Ministry:

Preparing for Community Building Through Media,”

Thomas E. Boomershine, United Theological Seminary

James E. Coyle, Jr., Fransciscan University of Steubenville

              Respondent: Clifford G. Christians, University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign

Saturday, September 4

9:00 – 10:15 a.m.

Approaches to the Study of Media, Religion, and Culture

Chair: Knut Lundby, University of Oslo

“The Religions of ‘the Book’ and Social Justice in Literate and Digital Culture,” Thomas Boomershine, United Theological Seminary

“Studying Popular Religion in the Context of American Studies,” Mark Hulsether, University of Tennessee

“Locating the Study of Media, Religion, and Culture: Within the Debate between Culturalism and Structuralism,” Jin Kyu Park, University of Colorado

Panel: Posthuman Discourses in an Age of Digital Media

Heidi Campbell, University of Edinburgh

Mike Hübler, University of Alabama at Huntsville

Elaine Graham, University of Manchester

10:30 – 11:45 a.m.

Humor

Chair: Mark Fackler, Calvin College

“Amusing Grace: Skeptical Humor from Franklin to Free Inquiry,” Jeffery Smith, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

“Black Comedians’ Social Construction of Religion in the Black Church on Television,” Lorraine Fuller, Southern University

“The Pedophile Crisis as Viewed through Political Cartoons,” Christopher Lynch, Kean University

Panel: International Lives of Images: The Migration of Religious Imagery and the Transmutation of Meaning

David Morgan, Valparaiso University

Heikki Hanka, University of Jyväskylä

Sandy Brewer, University of East London

Erika Doss, University of Colorado

12:00 – 2:00 p.m. Luncheon

Plenary: “Communio Sanctorum: Sacred Visual Communities in the Media Age,” Johanna Sumiala-Seppänen, University of Jyväskylä, Finland

Respondent: Colum Kenny, Dublin City University

2:15 – 3:30 p.m.

Film

Chair: Maria Way, University of Westminster

“Duck Amuck and Job: A Case Study in the Potentiality of Animated Film as a Bearer of Religious Meaning,” Joanne Mercer, Queen’s College

“Of Anti-Semitism, Romans de Sade, and Celluloid Christianity:  The Cases For and Against Gibson's Passion,” Tom Cooper, Emerson College

“The Standard by which Other Reviews are Measured”: Exploring Fundamentalist Christian Film Reviews,” James Trammell, University of Iowa

“The Cinema and the Brazilian Issue: The Catholic Church Faces Brazilian Productions,” Maria de Lourdes Beldi de Alcantara, University of São Paulo

Panel: Teaching In and About Media, Religion and Culture

Mary Hess, Luther Seminary

Rebekah Bane, Claremont School of Theology

Lynn Schofield Clark, University of Colorado

3:45 - 5:00 p.m.

Producing Protestantism: Mediating Religion and Politics at Home and Abroad

Chair: Dane Claussen, Point Park University

“Religious Freedom and the Ethics of Conversion: Islam and Contemporary Christian Evangelism,” Stephen O’Leary, University of Southern California

“Images and Idols in British Evangelical Discourse, 1795 to 1830,” David Morgan, Valparaiso University

“Non-Christian Media Ethics and Constructed Religious Image and Identity,” Claire Badaracco, Marquette University