Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Nouvelle Vague, Sherry Coman

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Nouvelle Vague (2025), directed by Richard Linklater.

Quasi-Feminism And Identity Exploration In The Film Laapata Ladies, Dr. Bharat Dhiman, Nausheen Khan

Journal of Religion & Film

The film Laapata Ladies (2024), directed by Kiran Rao, is a social commentary revolving around misogyny and the socio-cultural barriers faced by women in rural India, serving as a brilliant ode to womanhood and conveying its message effectively without any melodrama, thereby reflecting social realities at a ground level. The film explores the protagonists’ inner dilemmas, constraints, struggles, and hardships, advocating the cause for inclusivity from a quasi-feminist perspective, poignantly urging us to re-examine our perspectives and stirring conversations around the need for women to establish their own identities, away from the standard kaleidoscope of the male gaze.

28 Years Later, Dennis Etzel Jr

Journal of Religion & Film

In 28 Years Later, Alex Garland creates another screenplay of mythological elements based on Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey and archetypal characters. The family unit of son, mother, and father are examined alongside the two Hero's Journeys the son Spike takes--a false one and a true one. Ultimately, the positive trickster of the scientist-priest sage represents the example using rituals of being human in a chaotic world.

Sinners, John C. Lyden

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Sinners (2025), directed by Ryan Coogler.

Transmodern Cinema And Decolonial Film Theory: A Study Of Youssef Chahine’S Al Maṣīr, Joshua Polanski

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a book review of Robert K. Beshara, Transmodern Cinema and Decolonial Film Theory: A Study of Youssef Chahine’s Al Maṣīr (Bloomsbury, 2024).

Iranian Culture In Bahram Beyzaie’S Cinema And Theatre: Paradigms Of Being And Belonging (1959-79), Hessam Abedini

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a book review of Saeed Talajooy, Iranian Culture in Bahram Beyzaie’s Cinema and Theatre: Paradigms of Being and Belonging (1959-79) (London: I.B. Tauris, 2023)

Subjectivity And Decolonisation In The Post-Independence Novel And Film, Heather Bigley

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a book review of Sarah Jilani, Subjectivity and Decolonisation in the Post-Independence Novel and Film (Edinburgh University Press, 2024).

Cinema Illuminating Reality: Media Philosophy Through Buddhism, Teng-Kuan Ng

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a book review of Victor Fan, Cinema Illuminating Reality: Media Philosophy through Buddhism (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2022)

Transnational Horror: Folklore, Genre, And Cultural Politics, Damon T. Berry

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a book review of Cüneyt Çakırlar, ed. Transnational Horror: Folklore, Genre, and Cultural Politics (Liverpool, 2025)

Mapping Muslimness In Hindi Cinema, Syed Haider

Journal of Religion & Film

This essay reviews two books: Nadira Khatun, Postcolonial Bollywood and Muslim Identity: Production, Representation, and Reception (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2024), and Mohammed Asim Siddiqui, Muslim Identity in Hindi Cinema (New York: Routledge, 2025).

Lived Islam In Films: Faith-Based Resilient Responses Of Syrian Refugees, Jumana S. Al-Ahmad

Journal of Religion & Film

This article provides educators in fields such as Middle Eastern studies, refugee studies, cultural and Islamic studies with a framework from documentaries to challenge stereotypes about Muslim refugees and migrants. Using the framework of lived Islam, the article explores how Syrian Muslim migrants, as seen in documentaries, draw on their faith to build resilience that enables them to continue striving for better lives. Resilience is defined as the ability to overcome challenges and catastrophes, envision solutions, and lead a purposeful life. This article conceptualizes resilience not only as a personal trait but also as a collective tool for survival and …

Monstrous Girls And Celestial Lovers: Fantasy, Fear, And Female Adolescence In The Malayalam Films Ennu Swantham Janakikutty And Njan Gandharvan, Helena Reddington

Journal of Religion & Film

The Malayalam films Ennu Swantham Janakikutty and Njan Gandharvan reimagine figures from Kerala folklore, namely the Yakṣi and the Gandharva, within coming-of-age narratives. Both films position the characters of the Yakṣi and the Gandharva as fantastical figures who usher the young female protagonist into maturity. Rather than offering a pan-Hindu survey, this study focuses specifically on Kerala’s unique reimaginings of these celestial beings, where these figures carry distinct cultural meanings. This interpretive analysis is situated at the intersection of film studies, religious studies, as well as gender and sexuality studies, drawing particularly on feminist theory and critical approaches to vernacular …

Women’S Bonds And Chance Encounters: An Analogical Reading Of The Book Of Ruth And Joshua Marston’S Film Maria Full Of Grace, Luigi De Angelis Soriano

Journal of Religion & Film

This article offers an analogical reading of the biblical book of Ruth and Joshua Marston’s 2004 film Maria Full of Grace, examining how both narratives portray migrant women who form strategic social bonds to navigate precariousness within limiting power structures. While Ruth and María inhabit vastly different cultural and historical contexts, their stories meet in their emphasis on female solidarity and human agency. Focusing on key verses from Ruth and pivotal scenes from Maria Full of Grace, this study highlights how emotional and ethical relationships among women—whether covenantal or born of desperation—become sources of strength in the absence …

The Secular Eschatology Of Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood, Timothy Winterstein

Journal of Religion & Film

This article considers the ending of Quentin Tarantino's 2019 film Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood in light of Christian eschatology. I argue that Tarantino gives us an image of a temporal, partial eschatological moment, which relates to and interacts with a scriptural, Christian perspective on hope and the universal human longing for things to be other than what they are.

Hermeneutical Priming And Linguistic Hijacking In The God’S Not Dead Series, Brant Entrekin

Journal of Religion & Film

In this paper, I analyze the evangelical Christian film series God's Not Dead. I argue that the film series functions as Christian Nationalist propaganda through its rhetoric and aesthetic choices. I then develop two forms of epistemic manipulation that the film uses to fulfill its propagandistic function: hermeneutical priming and linguistic hijacking. I suggest that the film series' use of these rhetorical strategies highlights some of the ways that evangelical Christian cinema is engaging with rising right-wing political movements and developing unique evangelical imaginations.

100 Years Of Sergei Eisenstein: Iconographic Language And Revolution, Milja Radovic

Journal of Religion & Film

As we commemorate the 100th anniversary of Sergei Eisenstein’s masterpiece Броненосец Потёмкин / Battleship Potemkin (1925), it is essential to re-examine the film that has had enduring influence on film theory, history, and scholarship. Voted one of the greatest films of all time, Eisenstein’s cinematic genius has been crucial to understanding the power of film language. This paper focuses on the underexplored relationship between Eisenstein’s film language and iconography, examining the ways in which Orthodox Christian iconography shaped the story of revolution. The paper delves into the ways in which Eisenstein conveyed complex ideas, demonstrating the technical developments of film …

Program: 2025 Featured Lecture, "The Good And The Right: A Philosopher Wrestles With An Ancient Problem For Christian Ethics, Caleb Clanton Dr.

William M. Green Distinguished Christian Lecture Program

Program for the Forty-Fifth Annual William M. Green Distinguished Christian Scholar Lecture Program with featured lecturer Dr. Caleb Clanton, Distinguished University Chair in Philosophy and Humanities at Lipscomb University

Building A Growth Mindset Via Continuous Revision: A Case Study Of A Basic Writing Classroom, Adrian J. Rivera

Journal of Response to Writing

Continuous revision policies provide sizable benefits to students, though one previously unexplored avenue of research is how such policies can help students develop a growth mindset. For the purposes of this article, a continuous revision policy is one where students are able to revise their work on a rolling basis up until a predetermined point in the semester, with multiple rounds of revision being accepted and encouraged. This article details the results of a semester-long study of a basic writing classroom wherein the objective was to determine how a continuous revision policy can help students develop a growth mindset. By …

Generative Ai In Chinese Esl Students’ Writing Processes: Stages, Methods, And Language Use, Runzhou Shan

Journal of Response to Writing

This paper explores how Chinese ESL students utilize Generative AI (Gen AI) in their writing processes, focusing on the stages of writing, specific methods of use, and language practices. The study was carried out in an English-medium instruction (EMI) environment at a Sino-American university in China. Data were collected through online surveys with 157 participants and follow-up interviews with nine students. Quantitative analysis of the survey data uncovered general patterns, while analysis of the interview data, using Polio & Freedman’s (2017) coding method to identify themes, provided detailed illustrations. Subsequent analysis indicates that students primarily engage with Gen AI in …

Florent Schmitt's Dionysiaques, Op. 62, Trevor Frost

Faculty Scholarship

This article by Trevor Frost explores Dionysiaques, Op. 62, a groundbreaking work for wind band by French composer Florent Schmitt, situating it within its historical, cultural, and musical contexts. Written in 1913 for the elite Musique de la Garde Républicaine, Dionysiaques stands out as a rare example of original symphonic band repertoire during a time when military bands primarily played marches and transcriptions. Schmitt’s composition blends French impressionism with rhythmic intensity, drawing on the influence of composers like Debussy, Ravel, and his teacher Gabriel Fauré, while also aligning with the forward-looking aesthetics of Stravinsky and early neoclassicism.

Frost discusses …

He Called Me Too: A Look At Women In Ministry, Trinita Benson

Expo Student Presentations

2025 Fall Expo Online Poster Presentation

• Arts & Humanities

The Legacy Of Joy Young, Victoria Gibbs

Expo Student Presentations

2025 Fall Expo Online Poster Presentation

• Arts & Humanities
• Works in Progress
• Works in Progress - class project

Psychological Adjustment And Coping Strategies In Middle-Aged Adults Following Parental Loss, Tommye Pruett, Jennie Koehler

Expo Student Presentations

2025 Fall Expo Online Poster Presentation

• Arts & Humanities

Liturgical Aesthetics: A Case For Beauty In The Church, Charlotte Ostric

Philosophy Student Projects

This paper is intended to challenge the contemporary church in America to consider the ways it can reflect beauty in liturgical practices and the importance of beauty in an ecclesial setting. It dispels notions such as "aesthetic autonomy" and offers a method of "fittingness" for churches and ecclesial settings to inform their own liturgical practices.

Theopathic Analogy: A Canonical-Theological Approach To God’S Emotions, Hunter Tabor

Philosophy Student Projects

The philosophical and theological problem of divine impassibility has received much attention in recent years. One way of articulating this problem in Christian theology is this: can one truthfully ascribe emotions to God? This paper responds in the affirmative. After explaining the problem of anthropomorphism leveled against religious language, I argue that analogy best accounts for human speech about God and effectively responds to this critique. Second, I outline a canonical-inductive approach to the Bible that takes seriously the unity of God’s self-disclosure. From these commitments, I argue that God’s emotions are not anthropopathic—“bottom-up” human projections. Instead, human emotions are …

An Imperfect Explication Of An Ambiguous Constitution: The Federalist Papers, Ian J. Penner

History Senior Capstone

With the rise of originalism as a viable legal philosophy, American legal scholars have seen an increased appeal to writings contemporary to 1787 -- first among these sources being the Federalist Papers. However, it may be time for a critical study of Hamilton, Madison, and Jay's essays in order to prevent over-citation of the papers. By understanding the context of the papers, who wrote them, and what the intention of Publius were, legal scholars and historians can both learn the proper place of the Federalist papers as valid, yet conditioned source of Constitutional meaning.

Sports Evangelism On Wheels: An Evaluation Of The Efficacy And Development Of Athletic Evangelism, Keira B. Martin

History Senior Capstone

This thesis includes how sports evangelism operates and develops conceptually, evaluating the program Wandering Wheels as a qualitative case study. Wandering Wheels was a cycling program that began in Upland, IN in 1964 to illustrate the toughness of the Christian life. Drawing on oral histories, archival records, and documentary material, it argues that community, activism, athletic maturation, and personal spiritual growth were pivotal to Wandering Wheels' model. This evaluation demonstrates the extent to which this program exemplified the concept of sports evangelism.

What Veracity Looks Like, Stewart Justman

Global Humanities and Religions Faculty Publications

The first victim of the first school shooter.

Nyc Dj Henry Memorial Event, Jimmy Luckman

Social Justice Week

The Pace community on the New York City campus was invited to celebrate the life and legacy of DJ Henry over dinner. Attendees came together as a community to learn more about the life of DJ Henry, while also engaging in artistic expression to show our resistance and social justice.

The Call, October 2025, Lindenwood University

The Call

The Call is an electronic newsletter produced by the Lindenwood College of Arts and Humanities.