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Blog 4: Catholic Tradition Then & Now as Religious Backstory

In blog post number 4 you are asked to reflect on how Catholic perceptions of community, authority structures OR approaches to text  have changed over time.  This correlates to the first part of the Religious Social Shaping of Technology Approach which asks researchers to consider how certain aspect of religious history and tradition may inform and influence their beliefs about media. In blog post 3 you were asked to explore one of these categories.  In this new blog post you will select another of these categories to reflect on. 

Please identify which category you are talking about and how you see Catholics as defining and understanding this category in your topic sentence. Your blog posts should also offer a definition/description of this category  that draws on readings you have done for class and/or material from class lectures. 

Also your discussion should engage with two images.  You are to select and post two images, one that reflect ancient or historical understanding of the Catholic view of texts/community/authority and one that represents contemporary manifestations or understandings of texts/community/authority. At least one of these images should come from somewhere in Florence, either images from the Uffizi or other sites you have previously visited.

This blog post is being used as a way to  help you reflect and engage in research on topics you are being asked to integrate into Essay 1.

Happy Blogging

Blog 3: Catholic Tradition as Media Backstory

In Blog 3 you are being asked to reflect on one aspect of the Catholic Tradition and History that you see as potentially informing the Catholic position to the media. In class we talked about how understanding a religious group's definition of community, authority structure and their relationship to text, especially their sacred text, can provide important insights into who they are as a group and their approach to media.

In your blog  you are being asked to reflect one of these three areas (community, authority or text) for your post.  Please use 1 or 2 scholarly articles from the optional reading list to help you define your ideas and and back up you claims.  You are expected to quote from at least one of these article directly.  Also you are asked to post an image from your photo collection that helps illustrate this area of Catholic tradition you are writing on.  An explanation of how you see this image related to the theme you are writing about is also required.

Blog Post 2-Final Version

Today you will work on revising your second blog post.  The aim is to turn you personal reflection on popular culture representations of St Francis of Assisi into a formal mini-report of what your research revealed.  You are also being asked to reflect on what Catholic core value or belief the souvenirs or artifacts you observed seem to reflect, as discussed in the Church of San Francisco in CF this afternoon.

Remember your revised  post should be written using formal language describing what you observed. This means using third person or formal framing, instead of a first person (I) reflection.

Also your first sentence should clearly introduce your claim or argument you are presenting, followed by a discussion of evidence from the images/observations made. The final sentence of your post should summarize your claim or argument and how your report illustrated or proved this.

Blog 2-Religious Popular Art & Culture in Assisi

For Blog post two you are asked to reflect on how religious popular art and culture presents religious beliefs and ideals. Together we will be exploring the home town of Francis of Assisi. Besides visiting the monastery and cathedral dedicated to him and his ministry, with classical murals and paintings of the saint, you will also have a chance to explore many shops that have offer religious pilgrims the opportunity to bring a home a token of their visit.  These mass produced pieces of low or popular art are often refer to as kitsch.  Yet each tells a story about certain beliefs about the saint, the Church and Catholic faith and beliefs.  Your job is to take a picture of 3 different images that stand out to you as unique or memorable that to you tell a certain story about St Francis and his faith.  For Thursday you will select 2 of these images to post and blog about. Please reflect on the following questions:

What seems to be the main purpose of these popular art objects? i.e. storytelling, reflection, prayer/prayer,  or something else)? 

What message about St Francis and the Catholic Faith do they seem communicate?  

How might church leaders or teacher view these object (in a positive or problematic light)?  

Please use concrete descriptions of the object and where you found them to explain your thoughts.  Also please draw on notes and ideas from Monday's lecture to back up your argument.

And remember, extra point given to anyone who can point me towards purchasing a St Francis Bobble head!

Comm to Italy Blogging on Religion and Media Across Tuscany-Blog 1

Welcome to Religious Communication-Tuscany Version.  In the class we will specifically exploring how the Catholic Church uses and responds to different forms of media. As part of the class students will be keeping a blog to reflect on a number of different aspects of how religion and media intersect. Your first blogging assignment involves exploring how religious art, as an early form of media, express different religious beliefs and how Catholic church leaders have expressed positive and negative views about using art to capture and translate religious stories and values.

For your first blog post you are to select at least 2 images from two different locations that present a common form or representation of a religious, specifically Catholic focused beliefs.  Your blog should address the following question:

What message do your chosen images (2-3) communicate about religion and how the Catholic church uses media? 

Use concrete examples based on description of images and contexts in which they were found to back up claim. Also use ideas from presented from lectures 1 &2 to make your argument. Your Blog Posts should be 250+ words and posted along with the images you talk about on your own personal blogs.

Blog 5- Considering the Relationship between Online & Offline Authority in Shaping Meme Messages

This week in class we are looking at understandings of religious authority within digital culture. We discussed Bruce Lincoln’s approach to authority, which he defines as  an “effect of a posited, perceived or institutionally ascribed asymmetry between speaker and audience that permits certain speakers to command not just the attention but the confidence, respect, and trust of their audience,- or an important proviso- to make audiences act as if this were so.” (Lincoln, 1994, p. 4) This draws us to look at how religious authority is created through distinctive relationships between religious leaders and community members. This authoritative relationship is based on the leader’s ability to cultivate and maintain trust and respect with their congregation or community, which provides them with a platform for influence.

In this week’s blog you are being asked to reflect on how your collection of memes speaks to issues of religious authority. In other words you are being asked to consider how the specific religious issues/actors/community you are studying are presented and in what ways religious authority are being undermined or affirmed through your sample. 

Please respond to the following questions;

In light of Aguilar et.al’s work describe in detail which Internet meme GENRES AND religion FRAMES are evidenced in your sample?  

What specific religious issues/actors/community are being undermined or affirmed? What does this tell us about how the authority of this religious group is being interpreted? (Provide concrete evidence to support these claims)

How might aspects of religious authority discussed in this week’s readings and in the class lecture, inform the way someone would read your collection religious internet memes or understand the influence their messages may have within digital culture?