How might Christian art influence the imagination in the growth, or hindrance, of faith? Through a seminar style class involving lecture, discussion and student presentations, this course will introduce and examine a practical application of theological aesthetics in relation to the imagination and Christian art in education and faith formation (catechesis). Participants will specifically examine the intersection between theological aesthetics, Christian artworks and faith formation while exploring the role of the imagination as the principal faculty of reception, translation and appropriation of the Christian message. Class members will develop the ability to articulate and employ pastoral applications of the course content with those whom they serve. Course evaluation will consist of class participation, a written paper and the preparation and presentation of an educational session. This course is open to M.Div students, as well as to MA/MTS, DMin, and STL students with some additional work. This course is co-taught by PhD student Lawrence Fraher with a Newhall Award. [PIN code required; 12 max enrollment; Auditors with faculty permission]
How can a theologian use an object as an independent resource? This course offers an introduction to the methods used for critically analyzing non-textual sources, like religious art, architecture, and material culture. It includes formal analysis, iconography, semiotics, socio-cultural interpretation, gender-based, post-colonial and reception- oriented approaches. Seminar/discussion. Active class participation, presentations, three critiques/papers. No previous knowledge of art history required. This course fulfills M.Div. requirements in Art and Religion. [12 max enrollment; auditors excluded]
Geoffrey Chaucer famously wrote that 'folks long to go on pilgrimage.' Indeed, travelling over long distances to a sacred destination is an important ritual practice that has crossed cultures and time. Such journeys have inspired legends, folk-stories, and artistic representations from the early Christian centuries to today. Using a cross-disciplinary approach, this course surveys the relationship of art, material culture, and Christian pilgrimage practice through a close examination of major shrines and their dedications and decorations, paintings, pilgrimage badges and other souvenirs, films, and surrogate sites of pilgrimage such as maps, labyrinths, and manuscripts. We will address the literal and metaphorical meanings of pilgrimage and the conjunction of artistic practice and contemplative prayer. Slide lecture format with in-class discussion and weekly reading assignments. Students will be evaluated through final research papers on an original topic of their choice (70% of final grade), class participation (10% of final grade), and an oral presentation (20% of final grade). Intended audience: any interested graduate student. Class meets in JST Conference Room.
This survey course will examine the history of the Christian Church from the Apostolic Age to today through a close reading of 50 objects, inspired by the BBC and British Museum's recent collaboration A History of the World in 100 Objects. Prompted by the increasing scholarly interest in the art and material culture(s) of religion across a number of academic disciplines (including religious studies, history, literature, and anthropology) a select corpus of monuments, spaces, sculptures, pictures, liturgical art, and other objects will serve as a framework for discussion. Students will be evaluated through final research papers on an original topic of their choice (70% of final grade), class participation (10% of final grade), and an oral presentation (20% of final grade). Intended audience: any interested graduate student.
Queen of Heaven, Immaculate Conception, Mother, Advocate, Star of the Sea: from the early Christian centuries to today, representations of the Virgin Mary have evolved and changed, and are as diverse as her many titles. Using a cross-disciplinary approach, this course will examine the making, meaning, and reception of Marian images within the various social, religious, and cultural milieus from which they emerged. We will consider Theotokos icons, Italian Renaissance imagery of the Virgin and Child, nineteenth-century portrayals of Mary as the Immaculate Conception, the miraculous Madonnas at Guadalupe and Czestochowa, and vernacular Marian shrines. The course will include film screenings, gallery trips, and a visit to a mission church. Students will be evaluated through final research papers on an original topic of their choice (70% of final grade), class participation (10% of final grade), and an oral presentation (20% of final grade). Final projects with creative art components encouraged.
This course will map the relationships between religion, literature, and the visual arts through the lens of J.R.R. Tolkien's epic novel, The Lord of the Rings (1954). We will begin with a critical reading of Tolkien's texts, considering questions of intertextuality and influence, religion, mythography, cultural context, and belief. In conjunction with the readings, we will examine his little-known illustrations in the collection of the Bodleian Library, Oxford, and assess the compelling relationship between text and image. Using reception aesthetics as a critical approach, the second half of the course will investigate a wide variety of visual art that has evolved out of Tolkien's works, including Peter Jackson's blockbuster films. Major themes will include the legacy of 20th-century literature, the relationship between text and image, and the notion of the Catholic Imagination as conceived by Andrew Greeley, Wendy Wright, and others. Seminar format with film screenings and weekly reading assignments. Students will be evaluated through final research papers on an original topic of their choice (70% of final grade), class participation (10% of final grade), and an oral presentation (20% of final grade).
""Art soothes pain! Art wakes up sleepers! Art fights against war & stupidity! ART SINGS HALLELUJA!"" - Peter Schumann, Glover, VT 1984 Art within the context of a Christian worship space has the potential to be transformative and healing, inspirational and meditative, educational and democratizing. It can be a powerful way to bring us closer to God. The goal of this part-workshop, part-art history course is to prepare and empower students to make aesthetic decisions for their churches and worship spaces by providing historical background and practical tools for locating and commissioning ecclesiastical artists. We will consider the iconographic content, use, and reception of chapel and shrine decorations, religious statues, icons, Stations of the Cross, textiles such as altar cloths and banners, and windows. Seminar format with in-class discussion and weekly reading assignments. Students will be evaluated through a project detailing their own ""mock-up"" design of a worship space (70% of final grade), class participation (10% of final grade), and an oral presentation on a historical issue relating to liturgical art and/or the spiritual role of matter (20% of final grade). Intended audience: MDiv, ThD, MTS, STD.
This survey course will examine the history of the Christian Church from the Apostolic Age to today through a close reading of 50 objects, inspired by the BBC and British Museum's recent collaboration, 'A History of the World in 100 Objects'. Prompted by the increasing scholarly interest in the art and material culture(s) of religion across a number of academic disciplines (including religious studies, history, literature, and anthropology) a select corpus of monuments, spaces, sculptures, pictures, liturgical art, and other objects will serve as a framework for discussion. Students will be evaluated through final research papers on an original topic of their choice (70% of final grade), class participation (10% of final grade), and an oral presentation (20% of final grade). Intended audience: any interested graduate student.
A stereotyped understanding of Asian Christian art, for instance, one featuring an Asian-faced Jesus in tropical surroundings, betrays a notable bias. It illustrates an Asia imagined as an oriental, distant land, rather than an invitation to a renewed creativity or reimaging of Jesus from the contemporary perspective in which Asian Christian art is actually emerging. This course would take the present social-historical context as a starting point to analyze the many ways Christian art of Asia has intertwined inculturation and social-political commitment within a non-Christian world. By using cultural symbols and narratives, this form of art has followed the trends of ethnic concerns, including theories of hybridity, cultural criticism and exchange. Our investigation will privilege Asian aesthetic traditions and movements that are being reinvigorated in contemporary artistic production. For example, we will examine He Qi's Ecce Homo in China, which draws from Chinese literature, while at the same time reconstructing the Christian teaching of crucifixion. Japanese artist Sadao Watanabe's biblical figures appear garbed in kimonos, hinting at a more complex political vision of a nation steeped in Buddhist aesthetics. This course explores manifestations of artistic acculturation in non-Western art history and invites students to examine the Christian message in light of Eastern wisdom and religions. Course requirements include a mid-term presentation, a group facilitation, and a final research paper. This course, taught by a doctoral student in Art and Religion under the supervision of a JST professor in mission studies, is open to MA/MTS, STL, MDiv, and DMin students. Auditors are welcome with permission of the instructors. This course is taught by PhD student Su-Chi Lin with a Newhall Award, under the supervision of Eduardo Fernandez.[Auditors with faculty permission]
Geoffrey Chaucer famously wrote that ""folks long to go on pilgrimage."" Indeed, travelling over long distances to a sacred destination is an important ritual practice that has crossed cultures and time. Such journeys have inspired legends, folk-stories, and artistic representations from the early Christian centuries to today. Using a cross-disciplinary approach, this course surveys the relationship of art, material culture, and Christian pilgrimage practice through a close examination of major shrines and their dedications and decorations, paintings, pilgrimage badges and other souvenirs, films, and surrogate sites of pilgrimage such as maps, labyrinths, and manuscripts. We will address the theological underpinning of pilgrimage, as well as the conjunction of artistic practice and contemplative prayer as pilgrimage. Slide lecture format with in-class discussion and weekly reading assignments. Students will be evaluated through final research papers on an original topic of their choice (70% of final grade), class participation (10% of final grade), and an oral presentation (20% of final grade).