Arts and Humanities Commons^™

"I Am Your Father", Joshua Matthews

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"Star Wars is supposed to be a generic mythological story with archetypes and narrative structures that transcend all cultures, both in space and in time."

Posting about ­­­­­­­­the influence of movies on our culture from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation.

https://inallthings.org/i-am-your-father/

Blade Runner 2049 (Movie Review), Joshua Matthews

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"'Blade Runner 2049' tries to ask the question of whether androids, like humans, are souls."

Posting about ­­­­­­­­the movie Blade Runner 2049 from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation.

https://inallthings.org/blade-runner-2049/

Logan Lucky (Movie Review), Joshua Matthews

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"If it’s watched closely, 'Logan Lucky' offers a complete artistic experience. It is a movie that both exists in and transcends its genre."

Posting about ­­­­­­­­the movie Logan Lucky from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation.

https://inallthings.org/logan-lucky/

The Dark Tower (Movie Review), Joshua Matthews

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"The Dark Tower destroys, through its reductive vision, creative possibilities for good fantasy storytelling."

Posting about ­­­­­­­­the movie The Dark Tower from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation.

http://inallthings.org/the-dark-tower/

Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets (Movie Review), Joshua Matthews

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"Midway through Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, I thought we were witnessing one of the greatest visual experiences in movie history."

Posting about ­­­­­­­­the movie Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation.

http://inallthings.org/valerian-and-the-city-of-a-thousand-planets/

Dunkirk (Movie Review), Joshua Matthews

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"In an era of superhero movies galore, Dunkirk reminds us again of real human fragility and fear."

Posting about the movie Dunkirk from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation.

http://inallthings.org/dunkirk

War For The Planet Of The Apes (Movie Review), Joshua Matthews

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"This movie asks us to side with the apes, to root against the human army that they face, and to feel elated at the prospect of a planet full of sentient apes, without sentient humans."

Posting about ­­­­­­­­a review of the movie War for the Planet of the Apes from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation.

http://inallthings.org/war-for-the-planet-of-the-apes/

Wonder Woman (Movie Review), Joshua Matthews

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"'I used to want to save the world, but I knew so little then.'” So says Diana the Amazon in the opening of Wonder Woman, a movie that mixes the worlds of comic books, World War I, and ancient Greek myths."

Posting about ­­­­­­­­the movie Wonder Woman from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation.

http://inallthings.org/wonder-woman/

King Arthur: Legend Of The Sword (Movie Review), Donald Roth

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"First, I really liked this movie, and, second, I think it says something really interesting about the nature of evil."

Posting about the movie King Arthur: Legend of the Sword from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation.

http://inallthings.org/king-arthur-legend-of-the-sword/

The Case For Christ (Movie Review), Joshua Matthews

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"The Case for Christ tries to present a rational defense of Christ’s death and resurrection."

Posting about ­­­­­­­­the movie The Case for Christ from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation.

http://inallthings.org/the-case-for-christ/

The Circle (Movie Review), Joshua Matthews

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"The prevailing point in The Circle is that privacy-eliminating technology exemplifies a growing, heinous class division in American society."

Posting about the movie The Circle from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation.

http://inallthings.org/the-circle/

Life (Movie Review), Joshua Matthews

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"Given the name 'Life,' the title of this new outer-space science-fiction thriller, I was looking for a grand artistic gesture."

Posting about ­­­­­­­­the movie Life from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation.

http://inallthings.org/life/

The Shack (Movie Review), Joshua Matthews

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"[The Shack] deals head-on with the vexing questions of why a good God allows evil to exist and why people have to suffer."

Posting about ­­­­­­­­the movie The Shack from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation.

http://inallthings.org/the-shack/

Take Long Looks At Anything, Luke Hawley

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

Posting about the podcast S-Town by Brian Reed from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation.

http://inallthings.org/take-long-looks-at-anything/

Hell Or High Water: Tattered And Familiar, Bob De Smith

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"Turns out the hell or high water of the title is less about lines in the sand than it is about commitments."

Posting about ­­­­­­­­the movie Hell or High Water from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation.

http://inallthings.org/hell-or-high-water-tattered-and-familiar/

"Beauty And The Beast", Joshua Matthews

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"There are two movies here, neither of which get along well with the other."

Posting about the movie Beauty and the Beast from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation.

http://inallthings.org/beauty-and-the-beast/

Logan (Movie Review), Joshua Matthews

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"It could well be that Logan is the best superhero movie of 2017, or even the best of the last five years."

Posting about the movie Logan from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.

http://inallthings.org/logan/

Silence: A Movie Review, Joshua Matthews

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"Scorsese has made his most 'Christian' movie here—at least, overtly Christian. Silence says in a hundred creative ways that God is Not Dead, although not, thankfully, in the title."

Posting about a 2017 Academy Awards Best Achievement in Cinematography nominee ­­­­­­­­ from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.

http://inallthings.org/silence-a-movie-review/

Hacksaw Ridge: A Movie Review, Joshua Matthews

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

“'Hacksaw Ridge' is a rare bird among war movies, neither pro- nor anti-war."

Posting about ­­­­­­­­a 2017 Academy Awards Best Picture nominee from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.

http://inallthings.org/hacksaw-ridge-a-movie-review/

Taking My Daughter To Hidden Figures, Howard Schaap

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"For me, Hidden Figures is most important as a beginning. It made me want to talk with my daughter about the conditions it takes to create more Katherine Goble Johnsons, Dorothy Vaughans, and Mary Jacksons."

Posting about ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­a 2017 Academy Awards Best Picture nominee from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.

http://inallthings.org/taking-my-daughter-to-hidden-figures/

Manchester By The Sea: A Movie Review, Joshua Matthews

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"Manchester by the Sea is one of those rare realistic movies that seems like a documentary, as if the movie screen were a window onto lives elsewhere."

Posting about ­­­­­­­­a 2017 Academy Awards Best Picture nominee from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.

http://inallthings.org/manchester-by-the-sea-a-movie-review/

You And Me And West Texas: Review Of Hell Or High Water, James C. Schaap

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"Hell or High Water isn’t about bank robberies. It’s about hard-pressed brothers, bad dudes who love each other and will do just about anything to right their own family’s ship."

Posting about a 2017 Academy Awards Best Picture nominee from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.

http://inallthings.org/you-and-me-and-west-texas-review-of-hell-or-high-water/

Countdown, Howard Schaap

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

No abstract provided.

Ex Machina: Notes For Viewing, Bob De Smith

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"The film is engaging and disconcerting, and looks at what it means to be human in an age of the machine."

Posting about questions raised in the movie Ex Machina from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.

http://inallthings.org/ex-machina-notes-for-viewing/

Mediating The Sacred: Popular Culture As Liturgical Icon In A Secular Age, Jason Lief

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

This presentation explores how popular culture and the new forms of technology that mediate it function as a "cultural liturgy" within the immanent frame of secularity. Poetic and symbolic expressions that mediate the sacred within the lived experience of young people will be shared. Icons within the secular experience of young people in the West can be seen positively by Christians. This paper draws from research conducted for a forthcoming book on the relationship between Heavy Metal music and Theology.

Politics Of Bob Dylan, Jeff Taylor

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

Bob Dylan’s political worldview has remained essentially the same over six different decades and numerous private and public transformations. Whether he appeared as a New Left protest icon, rock music and Counterculture innovator, rural family man, Christian associated with the Jesus People, or cantankerous social critic distrustful of worldly leaders, Dylan’s notions of freedom and justice, power and sin, have tied all of these roles together.

Values Of Western Society Play A Role In Terrorism, John Visser

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

Guest editorial by Dr. Visser published in the Des Moines Register, February 26, 2015.

New Leviathan: How I Implemented The Aas’S Periodicals Database In My Traditional American Literature Survey Class, And Lived To Tell The Tale, Joshua Matthews

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

This past summer, our small college’s library purchased a permanent subscription to the American Antiquarian Society’s new Historical Periodicals Collection (series 1-5). In northwest Iowa, where there is no such database for hundreds of miles, this purchase is a research boon for local scholars. The catch, though? I needed to implement the database thoroughly in the college’s only early American literature class, a traditional survey spanning 1492 to 1865. Beyond all of the topics, authors, and agendas that could be covered—and the typical dilemma between coverage and depth in a survey class—now I needed to incorporate the teaching of periodical …

Some Kind Of Monstrosity: What Youth Ministry Can Learn From Heavy Metal, Jason Lief

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

This article brings Slovoj Zizek’s articulation of Pauline Christianity into conversation with Norwegian Black Metal (Gorgoroth) in order to demonstrate the subversive role of popular culture as it challenges the panoptic ideological power of the status quo. Through dialogue with elements of popular culture, like Black Metal, youth ministry is reminded of its prophetic function to challenge the powers of this age as it proclaims the monstrosity of the crucified and resurrected Christ.

Pilgrim’S Progress Progress: How A Novel Can Affect An Entire Culture’S Communication, Bruce Kuiper

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

In this discussion of The Pilgrim’s Progress, three main areas will be explored as ways to show why this book is so worthy of communication study and why it has endured for so long. The first area will be a deeper exploration of the book’s historical background and contemporary role at the end of the 17th century. For the second point, the cultural, social, literary, and communication effects will be examined, reinforcing the concept that the book’s impact was especially substantial in American history. Finally is an argument listing the reasons why a communication scholar should study The Pilgrim’s …