The Research Project
Purpose & Objectives
Background
Religious Education
Faith and New Media Seminar
Student projects
Related resources
Handouts
The CD-ROM
Theological Education
Digital tools in graduate pedagogies
Online courses
Related resources
Handouts
Bibliography
How to Contact Us
Phone/Address/E-Mail
Directions
Sponsors
The Symbolism, Media and the
Lifecourse Project
Luther Seminary
Background
The idea behind this research project was developed and supported by the International Study Commission on Media, Religion and Culture. The Commission is a group of scholars and practitioners who have gathered to consider the shape and direction of both productive and reflective work in the three intersecting fields of media, religion, and culture. It is part of the wider ongoing process of reflection and study which is being conducted currently by organizations and individuals throughout the world. In particular, the Commission facilitates continuing dialogue and stimulates and supports both scholarship and media production in the area.
The Commission is intrigued by the preliminary results from the Lilly Endowment funded "Symbolism, Media and the Lifecourse" study that Dr. Stewart Hoover directs at the University of Colorado, Boulder. There is a general sense that that study is raising provocative and interesting questions for religious communities, among them: how can and should we shape religious practice amidst a culture in which religious experience is increasingly taking place in mass-mediated venues, using a "symbolic inventory" arising from mass-mediated commercial culture, rather than within historically grounded religious communities?
This project is one attempt to look for answers to these questions.
Our first effort was a one-day workshop on these topics that was held for a variety of different educators (parish educators, seminary faculty, and graduate students in related fields). Those workshops were held during 1998, and have since been the subject of numerous papers presented in various scholarly contexts. More information is available at:
Our second effort was a monthly brown bag luncheon held at the Institute of Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry at Boston College in 1998 and 1999. In addition to basic networking, we occasionally welcomed scholars from around the world such as H. Bert Roebben, of Tilburg (Holland) and the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium), who presented "Religious Education in/and Cyberspace: Propadeutical Reflections" in November of 1998. In January of 1999 we welcomed Eloisa Chouy and Roberto Viola, both of Uruguay, who joined us to talk about their innovative catechetical program that includes a video component. That effort made clear the necessity of connecting religious education scholars from around the world to share their efforts in relation to media culture. We are building a networking space to do this using the web, and our initial efforts can be found at:
Our third project was an advanced level working seminar that allowed pastoral ministers (religious ed, liturgists, ministers, and so on) to collaborate with new media/digital artists (from television, video, film, music, and so on). This seminar was held from July 30 to August 5th, 2000 and supported a number of critical collaborations. Work from that seminar continues, and you can find some initial information about the people involved and the projects they are pursuing at: We hope to be able to hold such seminars again in the future.
Coincident to that seminar our project director, Dr. Mary Hess, moved from Boston College to Luther Seminary. Since then we have been in the process of retooling the project and getting it back up to speed under new institutional sponsorship. Inevitably the shift has broken new ground for us, as we are drawn into the more specialized discussion of what impact digital technologies have upon graduate theological education.
Our next major effort will be a focused conference in late 2003 that will bring together an invited group of theological school faculty and media scholars to work on the emerging implications of digital technologies for non-instrumental pedagogies in the seminary context. More information on the conference is available at: