Film and Media Studies Commons^™

Iranian Women, Iranian Cinema: Negotiating With Ideology And Tradition, Najmeh Moradiyan Rizi

Journal of Religion & Film

Throughout the ruptures of Iran’s history, Iranian women have been at the core of any social and political changes and challenges. In this historical context, Iranian women’s body, sexuality, and individuality have been confined within the constitution of religion and tradition. In recent years, however, the new generation of Iranian women is negotiating the notions of femininity, sexuality, and modernity in Iran’s society. Along with this negotiation, Iranian cinema, as the visual showcase of Iranian culture and society, has recently represented an unprecedented portrayal of Iranian women on the screen. This portrayal stems from the gender consciousness of Iranian women …

Buddhism (The Conversion Of Captain American: Buddhism And Postwar Us Popular Culture), James Mark Shields

Faculty Contributions to Books

No abstract provided.

Taming The Teesta: Exploring The Holistic Effects Of Hydroelectric Dam Development On The Teesta River Through Documentary Film, Taylor Graham

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Since time immemorial, the Lepcha people have called the Himalayan region that makes up the modern state of Sikkim their home and have held sacred the rivers, mountains, and forests that make up the biologically diverse region. Over the past two decades, India’s rapid development has generated a powerful thirst for electricity, and the country has increasingly looked to the cold, powerful rivers thundering from the Himalayas to supply that desired power. Hydroelectric projects have been proposed and implemented throughout the Himalayan region. Nowhere, however, are the dams as numerous or their effects as acutely felt as in India’s northwestern …

Review Of Buddhism And American Cinema Edited By John Whalen-Bridge And Gary Storhoff, Ronald S. Green

Philosophy and Religious Studies

No abstract provided.

Review Of Riding The Wind With Liezi By Ronnie Littlejohn And Jeffrey Dippmann, Ronald S. Green

Philosophy and Religious Studies

No abstract provided.

Unexpected Virtue Of Ignorance, Bob De Smith

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"We have within us capacities only hinted at by our capes and birdfeather costumes."

Posting about ­­­­­­­­the central metaphor in the movie "Birdman" 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/the-unexpected-virtue-of-ignorance/

Staging Quakerism In American Theatre And Film, James Emmett Ryan

Quaker Studies

Arguing that Quakers have been used as influential stock characters in American performance culture, this essay profiles several examples of Quakers as represented in American theater and film: John Murdock's play The Triumphs of Love (1795), Harry F. Millarde's lost silent film The Quack Quakers (1916), and the Academy Award winning film High Noon (1952). Paradoxically, in each of these productions, which range from farce to serious drama, Friends are shown as either claiming or as striving for unattainable moral and religious human ideals, but also as an exemplary community of individuals against which other Americans might and should be …

Buddhism, Uncertainty And Modernity In A Hometown In Heart, Ronald S. Green, Chanju Mun

Philosophy and Religious Studies

A Hometown in Heart (Maeumui gohyang, 1949), written by Ham Sedeok (1915-1950) and directed by Yun Yonggyu (b.1913), is said to be the first Korean Buddhist film. It depicts Buddhism in a remote mountain region without even electricity. The main character of the film, an orphaned child monk, must decide what to do with his life. This paper argues that the central aspect of the Buddhism-related symbols represent Korean tradition and that the supporting characters represent socio-political forces in post-liberation Korean society just after liberation, pulling the young generation of Koreans in various directions. In particular, the film centers on …

La Manzana Mordida: Sexo Y Religión En El Cine De Luis Buñuel, Micaela Downey

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

La extensa y variada obra fílmica de Luis Buñuel permite observar la repetición obsesiva de motivos, imágenes y objetos que constituyen lo que podría denominarse el universo personal de Buñuel. La proliferación de zapatos, pies, cajas misteriosas y armas de fuego (sin olvidar los tambores de Calanda, los insectos y las gallinas) ha atraído la atención de la crítica convirtiéndolos en objetos detallados de análisis. Este ensayo no intenta proponer una “obsesión” más, sino reparar en un motivo que, a pesar de su recurrencia (y, por lo tanto, de su importancia) ha pasado inadvertido: la reescritura de la historia bíblica …

College Students’ Perceptions Of Barriers To Seeking Health Care, Harika Medavarapu

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Access to health care is important to obtain health equity and improve quality of life (Healthy People, 2012). Various factors such as religion, education, family income, geographic location, and travel constraints act as barriers to access health care (Celeya et al., 2010). On the other hand, the health behaviors of medical students vary from general population of same age (Clair, Wilson, & Clore, 2004). Consequently, the perceived barriers may also vary based on the majors of students. Therefore, the main purpose of this research was to identify the difference in perceived barriers between students with health-based majors and non-health based …

Case Study Two: Jewish Time Jump: New York, Owen Gottlieb

Articles

Gottlieb presents an early case study of his mobile augmented reality game Jewish Time Jump: New York design on the ARIS platform for the iPhone and iPad (iOS). The game is set on-location in Washington Square Park in New York city. Players in 5th-7th grade take on the role of time-traveling reporters, landing on site on the eve of the Uprising of 20,000, the largest women-led strike in U.S. History. Based on their GPS location they receive media from over 100 years in the past, interactive with digital characters as they work to gather a story for the fictional Jewish …

"If You Can Hold On...": Counter-Apocalyptic Play In Richard Kelly’S Southland Tales, Marcus O'Donnell

Journal of Religion & Film

Richard Kelly’s Southland Tales (2006) presents a dystopic, post-apocalyptic, near-future through an aesthetic, which fuses contemporary postmodern screens with the phantasmagorical of traditional apocalyptic visions. This article argues that Southland Tales is an example of what feminist theologian Catherine Keller calls the “counter-apocalyptic” (Keller 1996:19-20). Through strategies of ironic parody Kelly both describes and questions the apocalyptic and its easy polarities. In situating the film as counter-apocalyptic the paper argues that the film both resists the apocalyptic impulse however it is also located within it. In this sense it produces a unique take on the genre of the post-apocalyptic film …

Cloud Atlas’ Queer Tiki Kitsch: Polynesians, Settler Colonialism, And Sci-Fi Film, Gabriel S. Estrada

Journal of Religion & Film

Polynesian theories of film reception, visual sovereignty, feminisms, and worldview offer critical insights into The Wachowskis' and Tykwer's 2012 film Cloud Atlas. From Indigenous and Native feminist film perspectives, Cloud Atlas offers a sci-fi future deeply entrenched in the queer tiki kitsch of settler colonialism as situated within a comparative context of other queer Indigenous film. As an example of heteropatriarchal settler colonialism, the Cloud Atlas plot supports the heterosexual triumphs of cross-racial couples and sublimates the possibilities of transgender reincarnation. Although Cloud Atlas attempts to critique Christian slavery and defend a secular abolitionist stance in the 1848 South Pacific, …

Faith, Doubt, And Chiasmus In Krzysztof Kieslowski's Decalogue I, William Bartley

Journal of Religion & Film

This article proposes a reinterpretation of Krzysztof Kieslowski’s exploration of the first commandment in Decalogue I. It argues that the narrative structure of the story is chiastic—i.e., inversely parallel—which follows from recognizing for the first time the crucial role that Irena, the devoutly Catholic sister of Krzysztof, a professor and religious skeptic, plays in the story. The pattern of inverse parallelism (chiasmus) emerges as Krzysztof and Irena respond separately to the tragic death of Krzysztof’s son, Pawel: as Krzysztof’s skepticism gives way to a new faith in God, inversely and unexpectedly Irena’s faith retreats into doubt. This outcome, in …

The Wolf Of Wall Street, Daniel Ross Goodman

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), directed by Martin Scorsese.

Hell Of A Life, Julia Frantzen

Fall 2014, Storytelling and the Life of Faith

This paper reflects on the work completed for the Storytelling and the Life of Faith Colloquium. It reflects on the author's time in college, time abroad, life, and the course itself. It includes not only introspections on the course readings but also the larger course themes including the use of memory, and universal truths — be there any. It’s about struggle, the internal and the external, it’s an overview of a lot of realizations the author had during her college career. It’s about learning to be ok with the fluctuation called life.

Nurturing Play-Makers & Active Investigative Agents: Schwartz Tag, Good Video Games And Futures Of Jewish Learning, Owen Gottlieb

Articles

How can an experiential approach to education, in combination with a games-based orientation, help us reach often-elusive educational goals? In many ways the study of games and game design bring us back to tenets of education that we have long known, including the benefits of self-directed learning and project-based work. Games-based design and learning may provide a way to shift the discussion from “What should an educated Jew know?” to “How does a learner develop a taste for Jewish learning and living?”

Cybertheology: Thinking Christianity In The Era Of The Internet, Antonio Spadaro S.J., Maria Way

Religion

How has Christianity and theology changed in the wake of the internet and mass communication? Tracing concepts in media studies, anthropology, and theology, Spadaro investigates this complex and enlightening topic.

Using The Spatial Variability Of Lead In Urban Soils And Demographic Variables To Predict Exposure Risks: An Environmental Justice Analysis In Terre Haute, Indiana, Heather A. Foxx

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Terre Haute, Indiana, is similar to many older cities throughout the United States with a history of manufacturing and industry that relied on extensive road and rail networks. This industrial history has resulted in the presence of over 20 brownfields and even a Superfund Site within the city today. Historic neighborhoods and abundance of pre-1950’s homes is another characteristic of the city. Unfortunately, improper removal and deterioration of lead (Pb) paints, as well as high Pb solder used in gutters, appear to be significant sources of soil Pb in Terre Haute. Despite the fact that most new environmental sources of …

Acoustic Communication In The Temperate Treefrogs Pseudacris Crucifer And Acris Crepitans, John Keating

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Spring peepers and cricket frogs produce advertisement calls to attract females. As ectotherms their body temperatures are greatly affected by ambient air temperature. Some characteristics of their advertisement calls are correlated with temperature. I analyzed advertisement calls of both species recorded in western-central Indiana. I compared call characteristic correlations with temperature found in our populations to those in populations in other geographic areas and found similar trends throughout the range of both species. Secondly, I examined aggressive calls in the spring peepers. Aggressive calls are used in male-male interactions, and in the spring peeper are a distinct call type different …

Acoustic Communication In The Temperate Treefrogs Pseudacris Crucifer And Acris Crepitans, John Keating

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Spring peepers and cricket frogs produce advertisement calls to attract females. As ectotherms their body temperatures are greatly affected by ambient air temperature. Some characteristics of their advertisement calls are correlated with temperature. I analyzed advertisement calls of both species recorded in western-central Indiana. I compared call characteristic correlations with temperature found in our populations to those in populations in other geographic areas and found similar trends throughout the range of both species. Secondly, I examined aggressive calls in the spring peepers. Aggressive calls are used in male-male interactions, and in the spring peeper are a distinct call type different …

Multi-Timescale Dynamics Of Land Surface Temperature, Peng Fu

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Spatial and temporal patterns of land surface temperature (LST) have been used in studies of surface energy balance, landscape thermal patterns and water management. An effective way to investigate the landscape thermal dynamics is to utilize the Landsat legacy and consistent records of the thermal state of earth’s surface since 1982. However, only a small proportion of studies emphasize the importance of historical Landsat TIR data for investigating the relationship between the urbanization process and surface thermal properties. This occurred due to the lack of standardized LST product from Landsat and the unevenly distributed remote sensing datasets caused by poor …

Philomena, Chad Bolton

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Philomena (2013), directed by Stephen Frears.

The Virgin Mary On Screen: Mater Dei Or Just A Mother In Guido Chiesa’S Io Sono Con Te (I Am With You), Timothy J. Johnson, Barbara Ottaviani-Jones

Journal of Religion & Film

Guido Chiesa’s Io Sono con Te (I Am with You) offers a unique, albeit controversial take on Mary, the mother of Jesus. Filmed in Tunisia, and subject to criticism by Italian Catholic authorities and film critics alike, Io Sono con Te presents a rich anthropological-theological reflection on religion, culture, gender, and sacrifice. Not surprisingly, Chiesa draws on René Girard’s scapegoat theory throughout his film as he fashions Mary as the forceful protagonist in a familiar yet controversial story.

The Holy Fool In Late Tarkovsky, Robert O. Efird

Journal of Religion & Film

This article analyzes the Russian cultural and religious phenomenon of holy foolishness (iurodstvo) in director Andrei Tarkovsky’s last two films, Nostalghia and Sacrifice. While traits of the holy fool appear in various characters throughout the director’s oeuvre, a marked change occurs in the films made outside the Soviet Union. Coincident with the films’ increasing disregard for spatiotemporal consistency and sharper eschatological focus, the character of the fool now appears to veer off into genuine insanity, albeit with a seemingly greater sensitivity to a visionary or virtual world of the spirit and explicit messianic task.

“Love, What Have You Done To Me?” Eros And Agape In Alfred Hitchcock's I Confess, Catherine M. O'Brien

Journal of Religion & Film

Despite its pre-Vatican II setting, Alfred Hitchcock’s I Confess (1953) has retained a notable relevance in the twenty-first century. Although the titular act of confession is unsurprisingly significant, the diegesis actually foregrounds Matrimony and Holy Orders – two sacraments that remain under the spotlight during a tumultuous era for the Catholic Church. Alongside the traditional Hitchcockian theme of “an innocent man wrongly accused,” the plot really hinges on love – a subject that is intelligible to people of all religions and none. While examining the mise-en-scène of the director’s most Catholic film, this article offers an exploration of I Confess …

Filming Reconciliation: Affect And Nostalgia In The Tree Of Life, M. Gail Hamner

Journal of Religion & Film

This paper uses the affect theory of Gilles Deleuze, Raymond Williams, and Lauren Berlant, and the phenomenology of Merleau-Ponty to examine how affect constellates to film Christian reconciliation in Terrence Malick’s 2011 release, The Tree of Life. As a working shorthand, we can understand affect as the fungible set of bodily processes that affirm, sear, or reshape a body’s and society’s relational structures. I contend that the film’s fluid montage—analyzed with Deleuzian film theory—generates a non-reactionary nostalgia that binds Christian theological hope to the persistent melancholy of loss through the blurring of perception, memory, dream, and fantasy. Such blurring …

Plato's Watermelon: Art And Illusion In The Brothers Bloom, David L. Smith

Journal of Religion & Film

Rian Johnson’s The Brothers Bloom is a sophisticated film about storytelling, pitting the idea that stories are an enhancement of life against the suspicion that stories are a deception. Set in a world of con artistry and illusion, it raises issues similar to those introduced in Plato’s allegory of the cave and in the critique of religion as illusion. Specifically, it follows one character’s desire for an “unwritten life”—a life free from artifice—through various logical and interpersonal challenges, and ends with a profound meditation on the coinherence of faith and skepticism.

Closing The Loop: "The Promise And Threat Of The Sacred" In Rian Johnson’S Looper, Brian W. Nail

Journal of Religion & Film

This article examines the ways in which Rian Johnson’s recent film Looper (2012) portrays the complex relationship between violence and the sacred in contemporary society through its exploration of the theme of retribution. Utilizing René Girard’s theory of sacrifice and Roberto Esposito’s explication of the immunitary logic of the sacred, this study argues that the film reveals the double nature of the sacred as a source of both life and death within society. Through an examination of crucial elements of Looper’s plot and setting, and in particular its enigmatic climax, I argue that as a religious film, Looper challenges its …

Scoring Transcendence: Contemporary Film Music As Religious Experience, Brandon A. Konecny

Journal of Religion & Film

An earlier version of this book review appeared in Film Interernational, Nov. 13, 2013 (http://filmint.nu/?p=10038). It appears here by permission.