This call for papers came to my attention via Jack Hunter through a Facebook group: Partly inspired by my son’s lockdown viewing, I am currently considering putting together an edited collection on Scooby Doo and the Paranormal. Here’s some of my thinking, and some of the themes the book would be exploring: Mystery Inc. first scrambled across our television screens – likely pursued by some kind of ghoul, monster, ghost, or creep – on September 13th 1969. In the intervening 50... Read more
I am delighted to share another episode of the ReligionProf Podcast, featuring as my special guests the team of filmmakers behind the new movie Hosea: Producers Avril Z. Speaks and Suzanne Watson and writer/director Ryan Daniel Dobson. The film explores how the story of Hosea and Gomer in the Bible might unfold in a modern-day setting, and told from the female protagonist’s perspective. It is a powerful and provocative movie that you’ll want to see, and once you’ve done so... Read more
As I recently mentioned, I have now completed my endeavor to blog my way through every episode of classic Doctor Who. I have also blogged extensively about the more recent series and will work on collecting those links and seeing whether there are any episodes that I failed to blog about over the years, with a view to rectifying such oversights. The links below each takes you to a list of blog posts organized by the titles of episodes listed... Read more
DEADLINE EXTENDED TO DECEMBER 31, 2020 Afrofuturisms: Re-Imagining Contemporary Blackness: History, Art, Technology, and Culture Contributors are invited to submit chapters for a book project on Afrofuturism, an emerging and increasingly relevant area in Africana/Africanist fields. The scholarly essays will analyze, discuss, or examine Afrofuturism. The purpose of the book project is to gather in one volume current research that both outlines the academic field and conceptualizes it as a growing site of interdisciplinary exploration. We encourage essays that assess... Read more
I had the privilege of meeting David Williams (follow him on Twitter as @BelovedSpear) when we were both on a panel at the 2018 annual Religion News Association conference with the title “Close Encounters of the God Kind: Religion in Science Fiction.” I’ll include the video of that panel, which also featured John Scalzi and Farah Rishi, at the end of this post. David published a book recently with the title Christ in the Multiverse: Following Jesus in Our Wild, Infinite Creation.... Read more
A really important work in the history of music, never mind the musical reception of the Bible, is Arnold Schoenberg’s Moses und Aron. In my class on the Bible and music, it provides an opportunity for us to talk about one of the most significant shifts in the history of music, namely the serial approach to music that Schoenberg developed. That Schoenberg was Jewish but converted to Protestantism provides an opportunity to talk about antisemitism with students. Before getting to Exodus, we... Read more
This post was sparked by a blog post by Ivy Helman focused on the example of a wooden chair and whether it is “natural.” I wrestle with this question about what is “natural” since human beings are natural and so in one sense anything human is “natural.” I think the big problem is in assuming that the natural must be good or better. Pandemics, cancers, and wildfires are all natural. Human actions and ways of life can make them worse, to... Read more
While many genres offer the potential for theological reflection and exploration of religious issues, the nature of horror provides unique ways to wrestle with these questions. Since the EC Comics of the 1950s, horror comics have performed theological work in ways that are sometimes obvious, sometimes subtle, but frequently surprising and provocative. This volume will bring together essays covering the history of horror comics, with a focus on their engagement with religious and theological issues. Essays have been accepted on... Read more
Here’s a round up of my blogging about Tom Baker’s era as the Doctor, the most episodes from any one actor in the role in the show’s history…at least so far! Robot The Ark in Space The Sontaran Experiment Genesis of the Daleks Revenge of the Cybermen Terror of the Zygons Planet of Evil Pyramids of Mars The Android Invasion The Brain of Morbius The Seeds of Doom The Masque of Mandragora The Hand of Fear The Deadly Assassin The... Read more
Video Games and Religion: Apocalypse and Utopia: Thursday 19 November 2020 Call for Papers: Submission Deadline: Friday 30 October 2020 With the growth of scholarly interest in the religious and theological tropes encountered in video games, there is a developing awareness of the special valence of apocalypticism, millenarianism, and associated themes in video game narratives and gameplay. This virtual symposium invites academic explorations of the role of apocalypse and utopia in video games. We welcome discussions of a wide-range of... Read more
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